kops create command does not correctly merge kubeconfig when ~/.kube/config already exists

[YoucefMegoura]

Summary

When running kops create cluster while an existing ~/.kube/config file is present, kOps does not correctly merge the kubeconfig entries for the newly created cluster.

The cluster entry is added, but the generated context references an empty user, and no corresponding user entry is added under users:. This results in an unusable kubeconfig unless it is manually fixed or regenerated.

If ~/.kube/config does not exist before running kops create, the kubeconfig is generated correctly.

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kOps Version

Client Version:1.34.1 (git-v1.34.1)

Kubernetes Version

Client Version: v1.35.0
Kustomize Version: v5.7.1
Server Version: v1.34.3

Operating System

Ubuntu

Cloud provider

AWS

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Steps to Reproduce

Ensure an existing kubeconfig is present (for example from Minikube):

ls ~/.kube/config

Create a cluster using kOps:

kops create cluster --name=kops.example.com ...
kops update cluster --yes

Inspect the kubeconfig:

cat ~/.kube/config

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Actual Behavior

• The new cluster entry is added.
• A context is created, but the user field is empty.
• No corresponding user entry is added under users:.

Example (redacted):

contexts:
- context:
    cluster: kops.example.com
    user: ""
  name: kops.example.com

The users: section does not contain a matching user for the kOps cluster.

This results in kubectl authentication failures unless the user entry is manually added or kubeconfig is regenerated.

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Expected Behavior

When ~/.kube/config already exists, kops create should:

• Add the cluster entry
• Add a corresponding user entry
• Create a context that correctly references that user

Same behavior as when no kubeconfig exists.

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Working Scenario

If ~/.kube/config is removed before running kops create:

rm ~/.kube/config
kops create cluster ...
kops update cluster --yes

Then the generated kubeconfig is correct and includes:

• Cluster
• User
• Context referencing that user

contexts:
- context:
    cluster: kops.example.com
    user: kops.example.com
  name: kops.example.com

users:
- name: kops.example.com
  user:
    client-certificate-data: <redacted>
    client-key-data: <redacted>

---

Impact

This behavior breaks multi-cluster kubeconfig setups and requires manual intervention or deletion of the existing kubeconfig, which is not ideal.

[rramkumar1]

@YoucefMegoura I personally was not able to reproduce this issue. I created a cluster with an existing kubeconfig and all configs were generated correctly for the new cluster.

[rramkumar1]

Did you happen to see this log?

https://github.com/kubernetes/kops/blob/master/cmd/kops/update_cluster.go#L439