Stay organized with collections
Save and categorize content based on your preferences.
Kubernetes cluster deletion unregisters the cluster from the
Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped instance and deletes the workloads, node pools,
control plane nodes, and corresponding resources.
Before you begin
To get the permissions needed to delete a Kubernetes cluster, ask your Organization
IAM Admin to grant you the User Cluster Admin role (user-cluster-admin). This
role is not bound to a namespace.
Delete a Kubernetes cluster and its resources
Complete the following steps to delete a Kubernetes cluster and its resources:
Console
In the navigation menu, select Kubernetes Engine > Clusters.
In the cluster list, click the cluster that you want to delete.
Click deleteDelete
Cluster.
When prompted, type the given confirmation phrase and click Delete to
delete the cluster.
API
To delete a Kubernetes cluster, remove the Cluster custom resource from the
GDC instance:
KUBERNETES_CLUSTER_NAME: The name of the
cluster to delete.
MANAGEMENT_API_SERVER: The zonal API server's
kubeconfig path where the Kubernetes cluster is hosted. If you have
not yet generated a kubeconfig file for the API server in your
targeted zone, see
Sign in for details.
Terraform
To delete a Kubernetes cluster using Terraform, run:
[[["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."],[[["\u003cp\u003eDeleting a Kubernetes cluster unregisters it from the Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped instance and removes all associated workloads, node pools, control plane nodes, and resources.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou must have the User Cluster Admin role (\u003ccode\u003euser-cluster-admin\u003c/code\u003e) to delete a Kubernetes cluster, which is granted by your Organization IAM Admin.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eClusters with Kubernetes version 1.26 or greater can be deleted using the GDC console or API, while versions below 1.26 require the \u003ccode\u003ekubectl\u003c/code\u003e CLI.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eDeleting a cluster via the API involves removing the \u003ccode\u003eCluster\u003c/code\u003e custom resource using a \u003ccode\u003ekubectl\u003c/code\u003e command, and this process can take up to 20 minutes to complete.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eYou can also delete a kubernetes cluster using Terraform by executing the \u003ccode\u003eterraform destroy\u003c/code\u003e command targeting the cluster manifest.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Delete a Kubernetes cluster\n\nKubernetes cluster deletion unregisters the cluster from the\nGoogle Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped instance and deletes the workloads, node pools,\ncontrol plane nodes, and corresponding resources.\n\nBefore you begin\n----------------\n\nTo get the permissions needed to delete a Kubernetes cluster, ask your Organization\nIAM Admin to grant you the User Cluster Admin role (`user-cluster-admin`). This\nrole is not bound to a namespace.\n\nDelete a Kubernetes cluster and its resources\n---------------------------------------------\n\nComplete the following steps to delete a Kubernetes cluster and its resources:\n**Important:** Your cluster's Kubernetes version must be 1.26 or greater to delete it using the GDC console or API. If your Kubernetes version is less than 1.26, you must use the `kubectl` CLI. \n\n### Console\n\n1. In the navigation menu, select **Kubernetes Engine \\\u003e Clusters**.\n\n2. In the cluster list, click the cluster that you want to delete.\n\n3. Click delete **Delete\n Cluster**.\n\n4. When prompted, type the given confirmation phrase and click **Delete** to\n delete the cluster.\n\n### API\n\n- To delete a Kubernetes cluster, remove the `Cluster` custom resource from the\n GDC instance:\n\n kubectl delete clusters.cluster.gdc.goog/\u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eKUBERNETES_CLUSTER_NAME\u003c/var\u003e -n platform \\\n --kubeconfig \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eMANAGEMENT_API_SERVER\u003c/var\u003e\n\n | **Note:** The deletion can take up to 20 minutes. If you want the deletion process to run in the background, append the `--wait=false` parameter to the command.\n\n Replace the following:\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eKUBERNETES_CLUSTER_NAME\u003c/var\u003e: The name of the cluster to delete.\n - \u003cvar translate=\"no\"\u003eMANAGEMENT_API_SERVER\u003c/var\u003e: The zonal API server's kubeconfig path where the Kubernetes cluster is hosted. If you have not yet generated a kubeconfig file for the API server in your targeted zone, see [Sign in](/distributed-cloud/hosted/docs/latest/gdch/platform/pa-user/iam/sign-in#cli) for details.\n\n### Terraform\n\n- To delete a Kubernetes cluster using Terraform, run:\n\n terraform destroy -target kubernetes_manifest.cluster-create"]]
