Install kubectl on Ubuntu (Step-by-Step 2026)

Here is how to install kubectl on Ubuntu in 2026. Tested and verified.

Method 1: APT Repository (Recommended)

# Add Kubernetes APT repository
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg
curl -fsSL https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.31/deb/Release.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg
echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg] https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.31/deb/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list

# Install kubectl
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y kubectl

Method 2: Direct Download

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl
rm kubectl

Method 3: Snap

sudo snap install kubectl --classic

Verify

kubectl version --client
kubectl cluster-info  # If connected to a cluster

Enable Shell Completion

# Bash
echo 'source <(kubectl completion bash)' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'alias k=kubectl' >> ~/.bashrc
echo 'complete -o default -F __start_kubectl k' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Related Resources

• Kubernetes Cheat Sheet
• Install kubectl on macOS
• Install kubectl on Windows