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Distributed Cloud connected clusters use a local control plane deployed on your
Distributed Cloud connected hardware. When the connection to Google Cloud
is lost, such clusters enter survivability mode and your workloads continue to run for up to 7 days.
When you create a Distributed Cloud connected cluster, the following rules apply:
You must create Distributed Cloud connected clusters in their own Google Cloud project.
Distributed Cloud connected clusters cannot coexist in the same Google Cloud project
with any other type of clusters, including non-Distributed Cloud
connected clusters. Mixing Distributed Cloud connected clusters
with any other type of clusters in the same Google Cloud project can result in data loss.
If you reassign a node between Distributed Cloud connected clusters,
that node is wiped clean and reset to the default configuration.
By default, the local control plane workloads run in high availability mode
with three replicas that span across three nodes chosen automatically
by Distributed Cloud. This is true unless there are fewer
than three nodes in the cluster, or you specifically configure the cluster to use
one node to run the local control plane workloads. You also have the option to specify
the three nodes for high availability mode by using the --control-plane-machine-filter flag.
No other node combinations are supported.
The nodes that run the local control plane workloads also run your application workloads.
The IP addresses of local control plane endpoints are accessible on your local
network. You must ensure that your local network's security configuration
prevents external access to those IP addresses.
When in survivability mode, a Distributed Cloud connected cluster
operates as follows:
Control over workloads through the Google Cloud CLI, the kubectl CLI, and the
Distributed Cloud Edge Container API is disabled.
Distributed Cloud software updates, SLOs, and hardware
repair are unavailable.
Limited logs and metrics are synchronized with Google Cloud after the
connection to Google Cloud is re-established.
By default, if a node reboots while the cluster is disconnected from Google Cloud,
it cannot rejoin its cluster until the connection to Google Cloud is
re-established because its authentication key cannot be refreshed. You have the option
to specify an offline reboot window during which a node can rejoin a cluster after
rebooting while the cluster is running in survivability mode. For more information,
see Create a cluster.
Check the connection state of a cluster
You can check the state of your Distributed Cloud cluster's to Google Cloud
by completing the steps in Get information about a cluster.
The command returns the value for the connectionState field. This field can have one of the
following values:
CONNECTED: The cluster is connected to and fully synchronized with Google Cloud.
DISCONNECTED: The cluster is not connected to Google Cloud.
CONNECTED_AND_SYNCING: The cluster has reconnected to Google Cloud and is synchronizing
offline data with Google Cloud. Do not disconnect this cluster from Google Cloud until
synchronization has completed.
[[["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 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eDistributed Cloud connected clusters utilize a local control plane on your hardware, allowing workloads to run for up to 7 days in survivability mode if the connection to Google Cloud is lost.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThese clusters must reside in their own Google Cloud project and cannot be mixed with other cluster types due to potential data loss.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe local control plane typically runs in high availability mode with three replicas across different nodes, which also host application workloads.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eWhen in survivability mode, control over workloads via Google Cloud tools is disabled, and software updates, SLOs, and hardware repair become unavailable.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eA cluster's connection state can be checked using a specific command, with states including \u003ccode\u003eCONNECTED\u003c/code\u003e, \u003ccode\u003eDISCONNECTED\u003c/code\u003e, and \u003ccode\u003eCONNECTED_AND_SYNCING\u003c/code\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Survivability mode\n\nDistributed Cloud connected clusters use a local control plane deployed on your\nDistributed Cloud connected hardware. When the connection to Google Cloud\nis lost, such clusters enter survivability mode and your workloads continue to run for up to 7 days.\n\nWhen you create a Distributed Cloud connected cluster, the following rules apply:\n\n- You must create Distributed Cloud connected clusters in their own Google Cloud project. Distributed Cloud connected clusters cannot coexist in the same Google Cloud project with any other type of clusters, including non-Distributed Cloud connected clusters. Mixing Distributed Cloud connected clusters with any other type of clusters in the same Google Cloud project can result in data loss.\n- If you reassign a node between Distributed Cloud connected clusters, that node is wiped clean and reset to the default configuration.\n- By default, the local control plane workloads run in high availability mode with three replicas that span across three nodes chosen automatically by Distributed Cloud. This is true unless there are fewer than three nodes in the cluster, or you specifically configure the cluster to use one node to run the local control plane workloads. You also have the option to specify the three nodes for high availability mode by using the `--control-plane-machine-filter` flag. No other node combinations are supported.\n- The nodes that run the local control plane workloads also run your application workloads.\n- The IP addresses of local control plane endpoints are accessible on your local network. You must ensure that your local network's security configuration prevents external access to those IP addresses.\n\nWhen in survivability mode, a Distributed Cloud connected cluster\noperates as follows:\n\n- Control over workloads through the Google Cloud CLI, the `kubectl` CLI, and the Distributed Cloud Edge Container API is disabled.\n- Distributed Cloud software updates, SLOs, and hardware repair are unavailable.\n- Limited logs and metrics are synchronized with Google Cloud after the connection to Google Cloud is re-established.\n- By default, if a node reboots while the cluster is disconnected from Google Cloud, it cannot rejoin its cluster until the connection to Google Cloud is re-established because its authentication key cannot be refreshed. You have the option to specify an offline reboot window during which a node can rejoin a cluster after rebooting while the cluster is running in survivability mode. For more information, see [Create a cluster](/distributed-cloud/edge/1.7.1/docs/clusters#create).\n\nCheck the connection state of a cluster\n---------------------------------------\n\nYou can check the state of your Distributed Cloud cluster's to Google Cloud\nby completing the steps in [Get information about a cluster](/distributed-cloud/edge/1.7.1/docs/clusters#get-cluster-info).\nThe command returns the value for the `connectionState` field. This field can have one of the\nfollowing values:\n\n- **`CONNECTED`**: The cluster is connected to and fully synchronized with Google Cloud.\n- **`DISCONNECTED`**: The cluster is not connected to Google Cloud.\n- **`CONNECTED_AND_SYNCING`**: The cluster has reconnected to Google Cloud and is synchronizing offline data with Google Cloud. Do not disconnect this cluster from Google Cloud until synchronization has completed.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- [How Distributed Cloud connected works](/distributed-cloud/edge/1.7.1/docs/how-it-works)"]]
