Delete a Kubernetes cluster

Delete a cluster when you have finished with it, or to clear one that ended at Failed. Deleting removes the control plane, every worker pool and node, the cluster’s storage with the volumes on it, and its kubeconfig. Reserved IPs attached to the cluster go back to your project.

To remove only some capacity and keep the cluster, delete a worker pool instead; see Add and delete worker pools.

Before you begin

• Permission to delete Kubernetes clusters in the project.
• A cluster in any status except Deleting. You can delete a Failed cluster too.
• Copies of any data you need from the cluster’s persistent volumes, which keep data across pod restarts but are deleted with the cluster. See Use persistent volumes.

If any pool is on a committed plan, its whole term was paid upfront, and deleting the cluster before the term ends does not get any of it back.

Delete the cluster

Deleting a cluster permanently removes its nodes, volumes, and kubeconfig.

1. Open Delete Cluster in one of two places:
   • In Manage Kubernetes Cluster, open the cluster’s Actions menu and select Delete Cluster.
   • On Kubernetes Cluster Details, open the menu in the header and select Delete Cluster.
2. In Delete Kubernetes Cluster, tick the box that reads “I understand and want to delete cluster” followed by the cluster’s name.
3. Select Delete, or Delete Cluster if you started from the list.

TIR queues the deletion, and the cluster is Deleting. When the deletion finishes, the cluster leaves the list.

If the request fails, the cluster stays as it was. Try again. If it keeps failing, contact support with the cluster ID.

What happens to billing

• Hourly worker pools stop being billed at the moment you ask to delete the cluster.
• The control plane is billed until the cluster is deleted, including while it shows Failed or Deleting. A Failed cluster keeps billing its control plane until you delete it, so delete it promptly.
• A committed pool’s term was charged upfront and keeps running after the cluster is deleted. The remaining days are not refunded.

For how each pool is billed, see Billing options for TIR Kubernetes.

What stays after you delete

Reserved IPs attached to the cluster’s LB IP pool go back to the project’s reserved IPs. They stay reserved, and keep their monthly charge, until you delete them on the Reserve IP page; see Delete a reserved IP.

The kubeconfig file you downloaded stops working, because its cluster is gone. Remove the cluster’s context from your kubeconfig, or delete the file, so that kubectl stops pointing at it:

kubectl config get-contexts
kubectl config delete-context <context-name>

Here <context-name> is the cluster’s context from the first command’s list.

To build a replacement, see Create a Kubernetes cluster. For a cluster that ended at Failed, check what to change first in Troubleshooting TIR Kubernetes.