vCluster (vind) Management

Manage vCluster (virtual Kubernetes clusters) instances using vind. Use when creating, managing, or operating lightweight virtual clusters for development, testing, or multi-tenancy.

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

Requires the vind toolset: start kubectl-mcp-server with --toolsets default,vind (or MCP_TOOLSETS=default,vind).

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	detect_ecosystem
2	Check cluster status before operations	HIGH	vind_status
3	Connect before kubectl operations	HIGH	vind_connect
4	Pause unused clusters to save resources	MEDIUM	vind_pause

Quick Reference

Task	Tool	Example
Detect vCluster	detect_ecosystem	detect_ecosystem()
List clusters	vind_list_clusters	vind_list_clusters()
Create cluster	vind_create_cluster	vind_create_cluster(name)
Connect to cluster	vind_connect	vind_connect(name)

Prerequisites

• vCluster CLI: Required for all vind tools

  bash

  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

python

detect_ecosystem()

List Clusters

python

vind_list_clusters()

Get Cluster Status

python

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

Get Kubeconfig

python

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

Status

python

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

Cluster Lifecycle

Create Cluster

python

vind_create_cluster(name="dev-cluster")

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

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

Delete Cluster

python

vind_delete_cluster(name="dev-cluster")

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

Pause Cluster (Save Resources)

python

vind_pause(name="dev-cluster")

Resume Cluster

python

vind_resume(name="dev-cluster")

Connect/Disconnect

Connect to Cluster

python

vind_connect(name="dev-cluster")

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

Disconnect from Cluster

python

vind_disconnect()

Upgrade Cluster

python

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

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

Describe Cluster

python

vind_describe(name="dev-cluster")

Development Workflow

Quick Dev Environment

python

vind_create_cluster(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

python

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

vind_list_clusters()

Resource Management

python

vind_pause(name="dev")

vind_resume(name="dev")

Docker-Specific Configuration

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

python

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

Troubleshooting

Cluster Not Starting

text

1. detect_ecosystem()
2. vind_status(name="my-cluster")
3. vind_describe(name="my-cluster")

Connection Issues

text

1. vind_disconnect()
2. vind_connect(name="my-cluster")
3. vind_get_kubeconfig(name="my-cluster")

Resource Issues

text

1. vind_pause(name="unused-cluster")
2. vind_delete_cluster(name="old-cluster", delete_namespace=True)

CLI Installation

Install vCluster CLI:

bash

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