Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is Google Cloud’s managed Kubernetes service. Google runs the control plane; Ankra provisions the cluster, then manages everything on top - node pools, Kubernetes upgrades, addons, stacks, GitOps, and AI-assisted operations. This page covers GKE specifically. For the shared concepts across all managed providers - live options, discovery/import, and day-2 API patterns - see Managed Kubernetes.

Already running GKE? You can bring it into Ankra two ways. A managed import uses your GCP credential: in Clusters, click Create cluster and choose Import existing, or run ankra cluster managed discover --provider gke and ankra cluster managed import --provider gke. Ankra fetches the kubeconfig and installs the agent, so there is nothing to run on the cluster, and the cluster gains the same node-pool and upgrade operations as clusters Ankra created. The Helm import needs no cloud credential and works for any cluster: run the one helm command the Import dialog gives you - see Import an existing cluster.

Why GKE with Ankra

Standard or Autopilot - run node pools you size yourself, or let Google manage nodes with Autopilot.
Release channels - pin the cluster to the RAPID, REGULAR, or STABLE channel.
Live pricing and options - locations, Kubernetes versions, and machine types are fetched live with your service account, including GPU and spot capacity where available.

Prerequisites

A GCP service account key stored in Ankra, with the Kubernetes Engine Admin (roles/container.admin) and Service Account User (roles/iam.serviceAccountUser) roles, and the Kubernetes Engine API enabled on the project. To create VPC networks from the cluster wizard, the service account additionally needs Compute Network Admin (roles/compute.networkAdmin) for the compute.networks.create permission. See Google Cloud (GCP) Credentials. GitOps is optional: connect a repository at creation and Ankra commits the cluster’s stack definitions to Git.

Creating a GKE cluster

Portal
CLI
API

Create Cluster

Go to Clusters → Create Cluster and pick Google Cloud’s Cloud Managed action.

Credential & Location

Select the GCP credential and a location - a zone (europe-west1-b) or a region (europe-west1). Locations load live from Google Cloud.Then pick the VPC Network the cluster attaches to. Ankra lists the project’s networks live; if the project has a default network it is preselected. Create new network provisions a fresh VPC from Ankra without leaving the wizard - see VPC networking.

Mode & Node Pools

Choose Standard and define worker pools (name, machine type with live pricing, count, labels, autoscaling), or choose Autopilot and let Google manage the nodes.

Kubernetes

Pick a Kubernetes version or keep the default, and select a release channel.

GitOps (optional) & Create

Optionally connect a Git repository, then create. Ankra runs GKE preflight checks, provisions the cluster, retrieves the kubeconfig, and installs the Ankra Agent.

ankra cluster managed create \
  --provider gke \
  --name my-gke-cluster \
  --credential-id <gcp-credential-id> \
  --location europe-west1 \
  --node-pool-name workers \
  --node-pool-size e2-standard-4 \
  --node-pool-count 2

The release channel and Autopilot mode are set from the portal or the API; --autoscaling with --autoscaling-min and --autoscaling-max sets the initial pool’s bounds.

curl -X POST https://platform.ankra.app/org/clusters/managed/gke \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANKRA_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-gke-cluster",
    "credential_id": "<gcp-credential-id>",
    "location": "europe-west1",
    "kubernetes_version": "1.32.3",
    "node_pools": [
      {
        "name": "workers",
        "size": "e2-standard-4",
        "count": 2,
        "autoscaling": {"enabled": true, "min_count": 2, "max_count": 5}
      }
    ],
    "gke": {"release_channel": "REGULAR", "mode": "standard"}
  }'

GKE options

Field	Description
`gke.release_channel`	`RAPID`, `REGULAR`, or `STABLE`
`gke.mode`	`standard` (you manage node pools) or `autopilot` (Google manages nodes)
`gke.network`	The VPC network the cluster attaches to, by name. Omitted, GKE assumes a network literally named `default` - which many projects don’t have, so pick one explicitly
`gke.subnetwork`	Optional subnetwork override. For custom-mode networks Ankra resolves the subnetwork in the cluster’s region automatically when this is omitted

Autopilot clusters ignore node-pool sizing - Google manages the nodes automatically. Cluster names are lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, and must start with a letter.

VPC networking

Every GKE cluster attaches to a VPC network. The wizard lists the project’s networks live with your credential and preselects default when the project has one; projects without a default network must pick one explicitly - otherwise the GKE API fails the create with “no network named default”. The subnetwork for the cluster’s region is resolved automatically (auto-mode networks have one per region; for custom-mode networks Ankra picks the region’s subnetwork). Don’t have a usable network? Create new network in the wizard provisions one from Ankra: the VPC is created in auto subnet mode - Google creates a subnetwork in every region, exactly like the built-in default network - so the cluster can attach in any location with no further subnet setup. The same flow is available on the API:

curl -X POST https://platform.ankra.app/api/v1/clusters/managed/gke/networks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANKRA_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"credential_id": "<gcp-credential-id>", "name": "my-vpc"}'

Creating a network requires the compute.networks.create permission, which is not part of the base GKE provisioning roles. Grant Compute Network Admin (roles/compute.networkAdmin) to the service account - see Google Cloud (GCP) Credentials. Without it, the create fails with Required 'compute.networks.create' permission; attaching to an existing network keeps working.

Verify

The create progress view follows the control plane, the node pools, kubeconfig retrieval and the Ankra Agent install. The cluster shows Online once the agent has connected. Then point kubectl at it through Ankra - this needs a Cluster Access grant - and check that every node is Ready:

ankra cluster kubeconfig add <cluster-name> --use
kubectl get nodes

See Accessing Clusters with kubectl.

Day-2 operations

Node pools, upgrades, and deletion work from the CLI, portal, or API. The CLI examples use --provider gke:

# scale a pool to a fixed count
ankra cluster managed node-pool scale <cluster_id> workers --provider gke --count 5

# upgrade the cluster
ankra cluster managed upgrade <cluster_id> --provider gke --version 1.32.3

# delete the cluster
ankra cluster managed delete <cluster_id> --provider gke

Autoscaling bounds are set from the portal, with ankra cluster managed node-pool update --autoscaling --autoscaling-min <n> --autoscaling-max <n>, or with the PATCH .../node-pools/{name} endpoint. See Managed Kubernetes - day-2 operations for the shared mechanics.

Importing an existing GKE cluster

Already running GKE? Discover clusters in your project and adopt them into Ankra without touching them. Discovery and import run from the portal, the CLI (ankra cluster managed discover|import --provider gke) or the API - see Managed Kubernetes - importing existing clusters.

Get Started

Concepts

Create and Run Clusters

Ship Your App

Stacks and Add-ons

Observe and Troubleshoot

Ankra AI

Connect Tools

Source Control

Security and Access

Cost and Backups

Organisation and Account

Reference

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

Why GKE with Ankra

Prerequisites

Creating a GKE cluster

GKE options

VPC networking

Verify

Day-2 operations

Importing an existing GKE cluster

​Why GKE with Ankra

​Prerequisites

​Creating a GKE cluster

​GKE options

​VPC networking

​Verify

​Day-2 operations

​Importing an existing GKE cluster

​Related

Why GKE with Ankra

Prerequisites

Creating a GKE cluster

GKE options

VPC networking

Verify

Day-2 operations

Importing an existing GKE cluster

Related