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Your clusters use a container runtime to create and run Kubernetes Pods and
Google Distributed Cloud requires your container runtime to be containerd.
You must continue to install Docker on your
admin workstation
because bmctl requires Docker for operations, such as cluster creation. You
can still use Docker to create images and build application containers. Those
containers still work inside your cluster.
Check the status of the container runtime
To check the status of the container runtime, run the following command:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-08-29 UTC."],[],[],null,["Your clusters use a container runtime to create and run Kubernetes Pods and\nGoogle Distributed Cloud requires your container runtime to be `containerd`.\n| **Note:** In earlier versions of Google Distributed Cloud, you chose your container runtime, Docker or `containerd`, by specifying a value in the `spec.nodeConfig.containerRuntime` field in your cluster configuration file. This field is no longer included in cluster configuration files generated by `bmctl` and is ignored if it's added.\n\nYou must continue to install Docker on your\n[admin workstation](/kubernetes-engine/distributed-cloud/bare-metal/docs/installing/install-prereq#workstation_prerequisites)\nbecause `bmctl` requires Docker for operations, such as cluster creation. You\ncan still use Docker to create images and build application containers. Those\ncontainers still work inside your cluster.\n\nCheck the status of the container runtime\n\nTo check the status of the container runtime, run the following command: \n\n systemctl status containerd"]]
