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# [Solved] gke-gcloud-auth-plugin, was not found or is not executable
- URL: https://devopscube.com/gke-gcloud-auth-plugin-not-found/
- Published: 2024-03-28T15:22:15.000Z
- Updated: 2025-03-15T05:33:19.000Z
- Author: devopscube
- Tags: GOOGLE CLOUD, HOW TO GUIDES, TROUBLESHOOTING, #Migrated-1741795015845, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2025-03-12 15:57, #blog

If you have [installed gcloud CLI](https://devopscube.com/setup-google-cloud-clisdk/) and [setup a GKE cluster](https://devopscube.com/setup-kubernetes-cluster-google-cloud/). However, when you try to connect to the GKE cluster using gcloud command you get the following error.

```
CRITICAL: ACTION REQUIRED: gke-gcloud-auth-plugin, which is needed for continued use of kubectl, was not found or is not executable. Install gke-gcloud-auth-plugin for use with kubectl by following https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/how-to/cluster-access-for-kubectl#install_plugin
```

This issue is caused due to the authentication changes in **GKE v1.26**. To rectify this issue you need to install the kubectl **gke-gcloud-auth-plugin** so that you can use kubectl to connect to GKE clusters.  

**gke-gcloud-auth-plugin** is based on the official [client-go credential plugins](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/authentication/?ref=devopscube.com#client-go-credential-plugins) that is focussed on client side integration with support or LDAP, Kerberos, OAuth2, SAML, etc. gcloud auth is based on OAuth2.

## Install gke-gcloud-auth-plugin

You can install the **gke-gcloud-auth-plugin** plugin using the following gcloud command.

```
gcloud components install gke-gcloud-auth-plugin
```

![Install gke-gcloud-auth-plugin](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5f/2f/5f2f4d20-2abf-4534-8d40-7aa233aedd43/content/images/2025/03/image-48-8.png)

## Validate gke-gcloud-auth-plugin

To validate the gke-gcloud-auth-plugin, you can run the gcloud command to connect to the [Kubernetes cluster](https://devopscube.com/setup-kubernetes-cluster-kubeadm/).

Here is an example command that you get from the GKE console.

```
$ gcloud container clusters get-credentials prometheus-cluster --zone us-central1-c --project aerial-reef-417506

Fetching cluster endpoint and auth data.
kubeconfig entry generated for prometheus-cluster.
```

As you can see from the output, the authentication is successfull and the GKE cluster configuration is added as the [kubeconfig](https://devopscube.com/kubernetes-kubeconfig-file/) entry.

If you are getting started with Kubernetes, check out our list of [comprehensive Kubernetes tutorials.](https://devopscube.com/kubernetes-tutorials-beginners/)