kubectl version in command- pod too old

Question

kubectl version in command- pod too old

Paul Vogt 0

How to get a newer kubectl version in the command- pod started in the aks-command namespace. After upgrading the aks kubernetes cluster to 1.32.6, I get the result below.

az aks command invoke
--resource-group $AKS_RESOURCE_GROUP
--name $AKS_CLUSTER_NAME
--command "kubectl $*"

results in

command started at 2025-08-07 13:45:05+00:00, finished at 2025-08-07 13:45:06+00:00 with exitcode=0 Client Version: v1.30.5 Kustomize Version: v5.0.4-0.20230601165947-6ce0bf390ce3 Server Version: v1.32.6 WARNING: version difference between client (1.30) and server (1.32) exceeds the supported minor version skew of +/-1

Durga Reshma Malthi 9,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-07T15:38:07.5+00:00
Hi Paul Vogt

Azure CLI doesn’t allow you to directly specify the container image used in az aks command invoke, but you can do this by creating your own pod with a newer kubectl version.

Firstly, confirm the current version of kubectl running in your command pod.

Then to upgrade kubectl to version 1.32.6 in your case, create a Dockerfile that installs the desired version of kubectl.

And then build and push the Docker Image to a container registry like Azure Container Registry or Docker Hub.

After that deploy a Pod using this custom image in your AKS cluster.

Now access the Pod and use the upgraded kubectl.
kubectl exec -it kubectl-pod -n aks-command -- /bin/sh

Additional Reference:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/access-private-cluster?tabs=azure-cli

Hope this helps!

Please Let me know if you have any queries.
Himanshu Shekhar 160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-11T19:59:10.4433333+00:00

Hello Paul Vogt

Could you please provide an update on this post?

Kindly let us know if the below helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

2 answers

Your answer

Durga Reshma Malthi 9,355 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-07T15:38:07.5+00:00

Hi Paul Vogt

Azure CLI doesn’t allow you to directly specify the container image used in az aks command invoke, but you can do this by creating your own pod with a newer kubectl version.

Firstly, confirm the current version of kubectl running in your command pod.

Then to upgrade kubectl to version 1.32.6 in your case, create a Dockerfile that installs the desired version of kubectl.

And then build and push the Docker Image to a container registry like Azure Container Registry or Docker Hub.

After that deploy a Pod using this custom image in your AKS cluster.

Now access the Pod and use the upgraded kubectl.
kubectl exec -it kubectl-pod -n aks-command -- /bin/sh

Additional Reference:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/access-private-cluster?tabs=azure-cli

Hope this helps!

Please Let me know if you have any queries.
Himanshu Shekhar 160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-11T19:59:10.4433333+00:00

Hello Paul Vogt

Could you please provide an update on this post?

Kindly let us know if the below helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

Answer 1

Paul Vogt 0

Hi Durga

The older version of kubectl does not cause an issue for me now. At the moment the az aks command invoke is the easiest method to get some information out of a private aks cluster for me. I just wondered why the kubectl version used by 'az aks command invoke' is 1.30.5, since kubernetes 1.32 is available on Azure for some time now and 1.33 is close to it release date I think.

Alse we disabled the exec function on the cluster for security reasons.

Himanshu Shekhar 160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-08T20:59:38.54+00:00

Hello Paul Vogt

Microsoft updates the az aks command tooling image less often than it updates the supported Kubernetes versions in AKS.

kubectl is intended to work with a one minor version difference between the client and server, either higher or lower.

Adding a Microsoft documentation for reference: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/supported-kubernetes-versions?tabs=azure-cli

For example, kubectl 1.30 can still be used with Kubernetes 1.31 as well as 1.32 clusters.

Microsoft selects a stable kubectl version here such as 1.30.5 that works well across all supported AKS Kubernetes versions (likely 1.30 -1.32). This upgrade delay is helping to prevent any compatibility problems.

Answer 2

Akram Kathimi 1,751 Microsoft Employee

HI @Paul Vogt

Thank You for Posting This Question

The az aks command invoke command essentially creates a pod in the cluster to run the command you provide. Here’s how it works:

The pod is created in the aks-command namespace.
It uses the container image: mcr.microsoft.com/aks/command/runtime:<tag>.
This image is continuously maintained and receives regular updates. The latest release, as you mentioned, is using client version v1.30.5.

Since this image is managed by Microsoft, you unfortunately cannot upgrade the client version yourself.

If this information helped you, please accept the answer. This helps us and others in the community as well. Thank you!

Himanshu Shekhar 160 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2025-08-12T00:48:01.4733333+00:00

Hi Paul Vogt

Could you please provide an update on this post?

Kindly let us know if the below helps or you need further assistance on this issue.

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kubectl version in command- pod too old

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