cluster-credentials.html.md.erb

---
title: Retrieving Cluster Credentials and Configuration
owner: PKS
---

This topic describes how to use the `pks get-credentials` command in Pivotal Container Service (PKS) using the PKS Command Line Interface (CLI).

The `pks get-credentials` command performs the following actions:

  - Fetch the cluster's kubeconfig
  - Add the cluster's kubeconfig to the existing kubeconfig
  - Create a new kubeconfig, if none exists
  - Switch the context to the `CLUSTER-NAME` provided

When you run `pks get-credentials CLUSTER-NAME`, PKS sets the context to the cluster you provide as the `CLUSTER-NAME`.
PKS binds your username to the cluster and populates the kubeconfig file on your local workstation with cluster credentials and configuration.

The default path for your kubeconfig is `$HOME/.kube/config`.

If you access multiple clusters, you can choose to use a custom kubeconfig file for each cluster.
To save cluster credentials to a custom kubeconfig, use the `KUBECONFIG` environment variable when you run `pks get-credentials`.
For example:
<pre class="terminal">$ KUBECONFIG=/path/to/my-cluster.config pks get-credentials my-cluster</pre>

##<a id='get-credentials'></a> Retrieve Cluster Credentials

Perform the following steps to populate your local kubeconfig with cluster credentials and configuration:

1. <%= partial 'login-pks-api' %>

1. Run the following command:
  <pre>
  pks get-credentials CLUSTER-NAME
  </pre>
  Replace `CLUSTER-NAME` with the unique name for your cluster.
  For example:
  <pre class="terminal">$ pks get-credentials my-cluster</pre>
  <p class="note"><strong>Note</strong>: If you enable OpenID Connect (OIDC) in the PKS tile, PKS requires your password to run the <code>pks get-credentials CLUSTER-NAME</code> command. This allows PKS to retrieve valid tokens for the kubeconfig file. You can provide your password at the prompt or as the <code>PKS_USER_PASSWORD</code> environment variable. For more information, see the <em>Configure OpenID Connect</em> section of <a href="installing.html">Installing PKS</a> for your IaaS.</p>

##<a id='kubectl'></a> Run kubectl Commands

After PKS populates your kubeconfig, you can use the Kubernetes Command Line Interface (kubectl) to run commands against your Kubernetes clusters.

See [Installing the Kubernetes CLI](installing-kubectl-cli.html) for information about installing kubectl.

For information about using kubectl, refer to the [Kubernetes documentation](https://kubernetes.io/docs/user-guide/kubectl-overview/).