K8s Vind

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

Quick Reference

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

vCluster Workflow Reference

Common vCluster patterns and workflows.

Development Workflows

Quick Development Environment

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

vind_connect_tool(name="dev")

kubectl_apply(manifest="""
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-app
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-app
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: app
        image: myapp:dev
        imagePullPolicy: Never
""")

Feature Branch Environment

vind_create_cluster_tool(
    name=f"feature-{branch_name}",
    namespace=f"feature-{branch_name}"
)

vind_delete_cluster_tool(
    name=f"feature-{branch_name}",
    delete_namespace=True
)

Multi-Tenancy Patterns

Per-Team Clusters

teams = ["frontend", "backend", "platform"]

for team in teams:
    vind_create_cluster_tool(
        name=f"{team}-dev",
        namespace=f"{team}-vcluster"
    )

vind_list_clusters_tool()

Per-Environment Isolation

vind_create_cluster_tool(name="staging", namespace="staging-vcluster")
vind_create_cluster_tool(name="qa", namespace="qa-vcluster")
vind_create_cluster_tool(name="integration", namespace="integration-vcluster")

Resource Management

Cost-Saving Workflow

vind_pause_tool(name="dev-cluster")

vind_resume_tool(name="dev-cluster")

Scheduled Pause (Nights/Weekends)

clusters = ["dev", "staging", "qa"]

for cluster in clusters:
    vind_pause_tool(name=cluster)

for cluster in clusters:
    vind_resume_tool(name=cluster)

CI/CD Integration

Test Environment Lifecycle

test_cluster = f"ci-test-{build_id}"
vind_create_cluster_tool(name=test_cluster, connect=True)

kubectl_apply(manifest=test_manifests)

vind_delete_cluster_tool(name=test_cluster, delete_namespace=True)

PR Preview Environments

def create_preview(pr_number):
    vind_create_cluster_tool(
        name=f"pr-{pr_number}",
        namespace=f"pr-{pr_number}",
        connect=True
    )
    return vind_get_kubeconfig_tool(name=f"pr-{pr_number}")

def cleanup_preview(pr_number):
    vind_delete_cluster_tool(
        name=f"pr-{pr_number}",
        delete_namespace=True
    )

Cluster Upgrade Patterns

Rolling Upgrade

vind_status_tool(name="prod-vcluster")

vind_upgrade_tool(
    name="prod-vcluster",
    kubernetes_version="v1.30.0"
)

vind_status_tool(name="prod-vcluster")

Blue-Green Upgrade

vind_create_cluster_tool(
    name="new-prod",
    kubernetes_version="v1.30.0"
)

vind_connect_tool(name="new-prod")
kubectl_apply(manifest=production_workloads)

vind_delete_cluster_tool(name="old-prod")

Troubleshooting Workflows

Cluster Not Starting

vind_detect_tool()

vind_logs_tool(name="my-cluster", tail=200)

vind_status_tool(name="my-cluster")

get_events(namespace="my-cluster-vcluster")

Connection Issues

vind_disconnect_tool()

vind_connect_tool(name="my-cluster")

kubeconfig = vind_get_kubeconfig_tool(name="my-cluster")

Describe for Details

vind_describe_tool(name="my-cluster")

Configuration Patterns

Sync Resources to Host

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

Custom K8s Version

vind_create_cluster_tool(
    name="k8s-129",
    kubernetes_version="v1.29.0"
)

With Specific Distro

vind_create_cluster_tool(
    name="k3s-cluster",
    set_values="controlPlane.distro=k3s"
)

Platform UI

Start UI for Management

vind_platform_start_tool()

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

Comparison: vCluster vs Host Resources