vCluster (vind) Management

Manage virtual Kubernetes clusters using kubectl-mcp-server's vind tools (14 tools).

vCluster enables running fully functional Kubernetes clusters as lightweight workloads inside a host cluster, combining multi-tenancy with strong isolation.

When to Apply

Use this skill when:

• User mentions: "vCluster", "vind", "virtual cluster", "lightweight cluster"

• Operations: creating dev environments, multi-tenant isolation, ephemeral clusters

• Keywords: "virtual Kubernetes", "dev cluster", "pause cluster", "tenant isolation"

Priority Rules

Priority Rule Impact Tools

1 Detect vCluster CLI first CRITICAL vind_detect_tool

2 Check cluster status before operations HIGH vind_status_tool

3 Connect before kubectl operations HIGH vind_connect_tool

4 Pause unused clusters to save resources MEDIUM vind_pause_tool

Quick Reference

Task Tool Example

Detect vCluster vind_detect_tool

vind_detect_tool()

List clusters vind_list_clusters_tool

vind_list_clusters_tool()

Create cluster vind_create_cluster_tool

vind_create_cluster_tool(name)

Connect to cluster vind_connect_tool

vind_connect_tool(name)

Prerequisites

• vCluster CLI: Required for all vind tools curl -L -o vcluster "https://github.com/loft-sh/vcluster/releases/latest/download/vcluster-$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')-$(uname -m)" chmod +x vcluster && sudo mv vcluster /usr/local/bin/

Check Installation

vind_detect_tool()

List Clusters

vind_list_clusters_tool()

Get Cluster Status

vind_status_tool(name="my-vcluster", namespace="vcluster")

Get Kubeconfig

vind_get_kubeconfig_tool(name="my-vcluster", namespace="vcluster")

View Logs

vind_logs_tool(name="my-vcluster", namespace="vcluster", tail=100)

Cluster Lifecycle

Create Cluster

vind_create_cluster_tool(name="dev-cluster")

vind_create_cluster_tool( name="dev-cluster", namespace="dev", kubernetes_version="v1.29.0", connect=True )

vind_create_cluster_tool( name="custom-cluster", set_values="sync.toHost.pods.enabled=true,sync.toHost.services.enabled=true" )

Delete Cluster

vind_delete_cluster_tool(name="dev-cluster")

vind_delete_cluster_tool( name="dev-cluster", namespace="dev", delete_namespace=True )

Pause Cluster (Save Resources)

vind_pause_tool(name="dev-cluster")

Resume Cluster

vind_resume_tool(name="dev-cluster")

Connect/Disconnect

Connect to Cluster

vind_connect_tool(name="dev-cluster")

vind_connect_tool( name="dev-cluster", namespace="dev", kube_config="~/.kube/vcluster-config" )

Disconnect from Cluster

vind_disconnect_tool()

Upgrade Cluster

vind_upgrade_tool( name="dev-cluster", kubernetes_version="v1.30.0" )

vind_upgrade_tool( name="dev-cluster", values_file="new-values.yaml" )

Describe Cluster

vind_describe_tool(name="dev-cluster")

Platform UI

vind_platform_start_tool()

vind_platform_start_tool(host="0.0.0.0", port=9898)

Development Workflow

Quick Dev Environment

vind_create_cluster_tool(name="dev", connect=True)

kubectl_apply(manifest=""" apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata: name: my-app namespace: default spec: replicas: 1 selector: matchLabels: app: my-app template: metadata: labels: app: my-app spec: containers: - name: app image: nginx:alpine """)

Multi-Tenant Setup

vind_create_cluster_tool(name="team-a", namespace="team-a-vcluster") vind_create_cluster_tool(name="team-b", namespace="team-b-vcluster")

vind_list_clusters_tool()

Resource Management

vind_pause_tool(name="dev")

vind_resume_tool(name="dev")

Docker-Specific Configuration

For vCluster in Docker (vind) deployments, use --set values:

vind_create_cluster_tool( name="docker-cluster", set_values="experimental.docker.network=my-network,experimental.docker.ports[0].containerPort=80" )

Troubleshooting

Cluster Not Starting

1. vind_detect_tool()
2. vind_logs_tool(name="my-cluster", tail=200)
3. vind_status_tool(name="my-cluster")

Connection Issues

1. vind_disconnect_tool()
2. vind_connect_tool(name="my-cluster")
3. vind_get_kubeconfig_tool(name="my-cluster")

Resource Issues

1. vind_pause_tool(name="unused-cluster")
2. vind_delete_cluster_tool(name="old-cluster", delete_namespace=True)

CLI Installation

Install vCluster CLI:

curl -L -o vcluster "https://github.com/loft-sh/vcluster/releases/latest/download/vcluster-$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')-$(uname -m)" chmod +x vcluster sudo mv vcluster /usr/local/bin/

vcluster version

Related Skills

• k8s-multicluster - Multi-cluster management

• k8s-helm - Helm chart operations

• k8s-operations - kubectl operations