How to switch kubectl clusters between gcloud and minikube

You can switch from local (minikube) to gcloud and back with:

kubectl config use-context CONTEXT_NAME

to list all contexts:

kubectl config get-contexts

You can create different enviroments for local and gcloud and put it in separate yaml files.

A faster shortcut to the standard kubectl commands is to use kubectx:

• List contexts: kubectx
  • Equivalent to kubectl config get-contexts
• Switch context (to foo): kubectx foo
  • Equivalent to kubectl config use-context foo

To install on macOS: brew install kubectx

The kubectx package also includes a similar tool for switching namespaces called kubens.

These two are super convenient if you work in multiple contexts and namespaces regularly.

More info: https://ahmet.im/blog/kubectx/