Frequently asked questions.
Quick answers about downloading, installing, and verifying Kubernetes binaries.
Is this an official Kubernetes site?
No. This site mirrors the install and download information published at kubernetes.io. All canonical binaries are hosted at dl.k8s.io and reached directly from the links on this site. Kubernetes is a registered trademark of The Linux Foundation.
Where do the actual binaries come from?
Every download link on this site points to dl.k8s.io, the official Kubernetes release-artifact host. We never proxy or re-host binaries. You always download from the same place the official documentation directs you to.
Which Kubernetes version should I use?
Use the latest stable minor release for production deployments. Patch releases of older supported minors are appropriate when you cannot upgrade immediately. The Kubernetes project supports three minor versions at a time, with each minor receiving about 14 months of patch support.
How do I verify a downloaded binary?
Download the binary, then download the matching .sha256 file from dl.k8s.io and compare hashes (sha256sum -c on Linux, shasum -a 256 -c on macOS, Get-FileHash on Windows). For signature verification, the .sig and .cert files alongside each binary can be verified with cosign. See the Verify page on this site for full commands.
Is curl | bash safe?
It is safe when (1) the URL is HTTPS, (2) you trust the host, and (3) you can read the script before piping it. We always link the install script next to any curl | bash command on this site so you can review it. For the highest assurance, download the binary directly and verify its checksum and signature.
What is the difference between kubectl, kubeadm, and kubelet?
kubectl is the command-line client you use to interact with a cluster. kubeadm bootstraps a cluster (it installs and configures the control plane on a fresh machine). kubelet is the node agent that runs on every Kubernetes node and starts containers based on the cluster’s desired state.
Do you support ARM and other architectures?
Yes. The downloads page lists every architecture published by the Kubernetes project: amd64, arm64, arm, 386, ppc64le, and s390x for Linux; amd64 and arm64 for macOS; and amd64, arm64, and 386 for Windows. The recommended-download flow auto-selects the most likely architecture but every variant is always one click away.
How often is this site updated?
The release list is a static file in the repository. It is updated promptly when a new minor or patch ships from upstream Kubernetes, then the site is rebuilt and redeployed. Because we link to dl.k8s.io directly, binaries are always current the moment they ship upstream — only the index of versions needs to be refreshed here.