Version 1.12. This version is no longer supported. For information about how to upgrade to version 1.13, seeUpgrading Anthos on bare metalin the 1.13 documentation. For more information about supported and unsupported versions, see theVersion historypage in the latest documentation.
The admin workstation is where you download thebmctlcommand-line interface
(CLI) tool and install the Google Cloud CLI. The admin workstation hosts
configuration files to provision clusters during installation andkubectlfor
interacting with provisioned clusters post-installation. The admin workstation
must meet the following prerequisites:
Operating system is the same supported Linux distribution running on the
cluster node machines. For more information, see,Select your operating
system.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe admin workstation requires the \u003ccode\u003ebmctl\u003c/code\u003e command-line interface (CLI) tool, Google Cloud CLI, and hosts configuration files for cluster provisioning and \u003ccode\u003ekubectl\u003c/code\u003e for interacting with clusters.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe admin workstation must run the same supported Linux distribution as the cluster nodes, have Docker version 19.03 or later installed, and have a non-root user as a member of the \u003ccode\u003edocker\u003c/code\u003e group.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIt requires over 50 GiB of free disk space, Layer 3 connectivity to all cluster nodes, and passwordless root access to all nodes via SSH.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eIf Docker is installed by snap it must be checked to ensure it is not in strict confinement mode, or that the bmctl-workspace folder is in the $HOME directory.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["# Admin workstation prerequisites\n\n\u003cbr /\u003e\n\nThe admin workstation is where you download the `bmctl` command-line interface\n(CLI) tool and install the Google Cloud CLI. The admin workstation hosts\nconfiguration files to provision clusters during installation and `kubectl` for\ninteracting with provisioned clusters post-installation. The admin workstation\nmust meet the following prerequisites:\n| **Note:** Google Distributed Cloud supports CPUs and vCPUs from the x86 processor family only. This requirement applies to your admin workstation and all cluster nodes.\n\n- Operating system is the same supported Linux distribution running on the cluster node machines. For more information, see, [Select your operating\n system](/anthos/clusters/docs/bare-metal/1.12/installing/os-reqs).\n- Docker version 19.03 or later installed.\n\n | **Warning:** Docker installed by [snap](https://snapcraft.io/) is in [strict confinement mode](https://snapcraft.io/docs/snap-confinement) by default, which means Docker can't access files outside the `$HOME` directory. Verify that Docker is in strict confinement mode by running `snap\n | info --verbose docker | grep confinement` on your admin workstation. If this applies to you, make sure that the `bmctl-workspace` folder is in the `$HOME` directory.\n- Non-root user is member of`docker` group (for instructions, go to [Manage\n Docker as a non-root\n user](https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/linux-postinstall/#manage-docker-as-a-non-root-user)).\n\n - gcloud CLI installed.\n- More than 50 GiB of free disk space.\n\n- Layer 3 connectivity to all cluster node machines.\n\n- Access to all cluster node machines through SSH via private keys with\n passwordless root access. Access can be either direct or through `sudo`.\n\n- Access to the control plane VIP.\n\nWhat's next\n-----------\n\n- [Node machine prerequisites](/anthos/clusters/docs/bare-metal/1.12/installing/node-machine-prerequisites)"]]
