# Cluster Administration > Lower-level detail relevant to creating or administering a Kubernetes cluster. --- LLMS index: [llms.txt](/llms.txt) --- The cluster administration overview is for anyone creating or administering a Kubernetes cluster. It assumes some familiarity with core Kubernetes [concepts](/docs/concepts/). ## Planning a cluster See the guides in [Setup](/docs/setup/) for examples of how to plan, set up, and configure Kubernetes clusters. The solutions listed in this article are called *distros*.

Note:

Not all distros are actively maintained. Choose distros which have been tested with a recent version of Kubernetes.
Before choosing a guide, here are some considerations: - Do you want to try out Kubernetes on your computer, or do you want to build a high-availability, multi-node cluster? Choose distros best suited for your needs. - Will you be using **a hosted Kubernetes cluster**, such as [Google Kubernetes Engine](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/), or **hosting your own cluster**? - Will your cluster be **on-premises**, or **in the cloud (IaaS)**? Kubernetes does not directly support hybrid clusters. Instead, you can set up multiple clusters. - **If you are configuring Kubernetes on-premises**, consider which [networking model](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/networking/) fits best. - Will you be running Kubernetes on **"bare metal" hardware** or on **virtual machines (VMs)**? - Do you **want to run a cluster**, or do you expect to do **active development of Kubernetes project code**? If the latter, choose an actively-developed distro. Some distros only use binary releases, but offer a greater variety of choices. - Familiarize yourself with the [components](/docs/concepts/overview/components/) needed to run a cluster. ## Managing a cluster * Learn how to [manage nodes](/docs/concepts/architecture/nodes/). * Read about [Node autoscaling](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/node-autoscaling/). * Learn how to set up and manage the [resource quota](/docs/concepts/policy/resource-quotas/) for shared clusters. ## Securing a cluster * [Generate Certificates](/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/certificates/) describes the steps to generate certificates using different tool chains. * [Kubernetes Container Environment](/docs/concepts/containers/container-environment/) describes the environment for Kubelet managed containers on a Kubernetes node. * [Controlling Access to the Kubernetes API](/docs/concepts/security/controlling-access) describes how Kubernetes implements access control for its own API. * [Authenticating](/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/authentication/) explains authentication in Kubernetes, including the various authentication options. * [Authorization](/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/authorization/) is separate from authentication, and controls how HTTP calls are handled. * [Using Admission Controllers](/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/admission-controllers/) explains plug-ins which intercepts requests to the Kubernetes API server after authentication and authorization. * [Admission Webhook Good Practices](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/admission-webhooks-good-practices/) provides good practices and considerations when designing mutating admission webhooks and validating admission webhooks. * [Using Sysctls in a Kubernetes Cluster](/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/sysctl-cluster/) describes to an administrator how to use the `sysctl` command-line tool to set kernel parameters . * [Auditing](/docs/tasks/debug/debug-cluster/audit/) describes how to interact with Kubernetes' audit logs. ### Securing the kubelet * [Control Plane-Node communication](/docs/concepts/architecture/control-plane-node-communication/) * [TLS bootstrapping](/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/kubelet-tls-bootstrapping/) * [Kubelet authentication/authorization](/docs/reference/access-authn-authz/kubelet-authn-authz/) ## Optional Cluster Services * [DNS Integration](/docs/concepts/services-networking/dns-pod-service/) describes how to resolve a DNS name directly to a Kubernetes service. * [Logging and Monitoring Cluster Activity](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/logging/) explains how logging in Kubernetes works and how to implement it. --- Section pages: - [Node Shutdowns](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/node-shutdown/) - [Swap memory management](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/swap-memory-management/) - [Node Autoscaling](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/node-autoscaling/): Automatically provision and consolidate the Nodes in your cluster to adapt to demand and optimize cost. - [Certificates](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/certificates/) - [Cluster Networking](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/networking/) - [Observability](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/observability/): Understand how to gain end-to-end visibility of a Kubernetes cluster through the collection of metrics, logs, and traces. - [Admission Webhook Good Practices](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/admission-webhooks-good-practices/): Recommendations for designing and deploying admission webhooks in Kubernetes. - [Good practices for Dynamic Resource Allocation as a Cluster Admin](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/dra/) - [Logging Architecture](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/logging/) - [Compatibility Version For Kubernetes Control Plane Components](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/compatibility-version/) - [Metrics For Kubernetes System Components](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/system-metrics/) - [Metrics for Kubernetes Object States](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/kube-state-metrics/): kube-state-metrics, an add-on agent to generate and expose cluster-level metrics. - [System Logs](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/system-logs/) - [Traces For Kubernetes System Components](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/system-traces/) - [Proxies in Kubernetes](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/proxies/) - [API Priority and Fairness](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/flow-control/) - [Installing Addons](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/addons/) - [Coordinated Leader Election](/docs/concepts/cluster-administration/coordinated-leader-election/)