# Upgrading Windows nodes

LLMS index: [llms.txt](/llms.txt)

---

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  <div class="feature-state-notice feature-beta">
      <span class="feature-state-name">FEATURE STATE:</span>
      <code>Kubernetes v1.18 [beta]</code>
    </div>
  



This page explains how to upgrade a Windows node created with kubeadm.

## Before you begin
 
<p>You need to have shell access to all the nodes, and the kubectl command-line tool must
be configured to communicate with your cluster. It is recommended to run this tutorial
on a cluster with at least two nodes that are not acting as control plane hosts.</p>
 
 
 Your Kubernetes server must be at or later than version 1.17.
  <p>To check the version, enter  <code>kubectl version</code>.</p>

* Familiarize yourself with [the process for upgrading the rest of your kubeadm
cluster](/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/kubeadm/kubeadm-upgrade). You will want to
upgrade the control plane nodes before upgrading your Windows nodes.

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## Upgrading worker nodes

### Upgrade kubeadm

1.  From the Windows node, upgrade kubeadm:

    ```powershell
    # replace 1.36.0 with your desired version
    curl.exe -Lo <path-to-kubeadm.exe>  "https://dl.k8s.io/v1.36.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubeadm.exe"
    ```

### Drain the node

1.  From a machine with access to the Kubernetes API,
    prepare the node for maintenance by marking it unschedulable and evicting the workloads:

    ```shell
    # replace <node-to-drain> with the name of your node you are draining
    kubectl drain <node-to-drain> --ignore-daemonsets
    ```

    You should see output similar to this:

    ```
    node/ip-172-31-85-18 cordoned
    node/ip-172-31-85-18 drained
    ```

### Upgrade the kubelet configuration

1.  From the Windows node, call the following command to sync new kubelet configuration:

    ```powershell
    kubeadm upgrade node
    ```

### Upgrade kubelet and kube-proxy

1.  From the Windows node, upgrade and restart the kubelet:

    ```powershell
    stop-service kubelet
    curl.exe -Lo <path-to-kubelet.exe> "https://dl.k8s.io/v1.36.0/bin/windows/amd64/kubelet.exe"
    restart-service kubelet
    ```

2. From the Windows node, upgrade and restart the kube-proxy.

    ```powershell
    stop-service kube-proxy
    curl.exe -Lo <path-to-kube-proxy.exe> "https://dl.k8s.io/v1.36.0/bin/windows/amd64/kube-proxy.exe"
    restart-service kube-proxy
    ```


<div class="alert alert-info" role="note"><h4 class="alert-heading">Note:</h4>If you are running kube-proxy in a HostProcess container within a Pod, and not as a Windows Service,
you can upgrade kube-proxy by applying a newer version of your kube-proxy manifests.</div>


### Uncordon the node

1.  From a machine with access to the Kubernetes API,
bring the node back online by marking it schedulable:

    ```shell
    # replace <node-to-drain> with the name of your node
    kubectl uncordon <node-to-drain>
    ```
 ## What's next

* See how to [Upgrade Linux nodes](/docs/tasks/administer-cluster/kubeadm/upgrading-linux-nodes/).