GKE On-Prem API

Name: GKE On-Prem API API
Brand: GKE On-Prem API
Availability: InStock

✓ Official Vendor SpecCloud InfrastructureContainer Orchestrationoauth231 EndpointsREST

For Agents

Provision, upgrade, and enroll on-prem Anthos clusters on bare metal or VMware, including admin and user clusters. Built for platform teams running Kubernetes outside Google Cloud.

Quickstart

Get started with GKE On-Prem API in minutes using your preferred integration method.

# Add to your MCP client config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Windsurf)
{
  "jentic": {
    "url": "https://api.jentic.com/mcp",
    "auth": "oauth"
  }
}

# Then ask your agent:
"create a bare metal anthos cluster"

# → Jentic returns the GET /events tool with parameter schema, agent executes.

Capabilities

What an agent can do with GKE On-Prem API API.

Create bare metal admin and user clusters in a given Cloud location

Enroll an existing on-prem cluster into the GKE On-Prem control plane

Query supported version configurations for a cluster type

List, get, update, and delete clusters managed by the API

Unenroll a cluster from Google Cloud without destroying it

GET STARTED

Start building with GKE On-Prem API API

Explore with Jentic

View OpenAPI Document

Use Cases

Patterns agents use GKE On-Prem API API for, with concrete tasks.

★ Provision an On-Prem Anthos Bare Metal Cluster

Enterprises that need Kubernetes on their own hardware use Anthos on bare metal to run a managed control plane locally. The GKE On-Prem API creates the bare metal admin cluster and subsequent user clusters in a Google Cloud location, providing a single API surface for cluster lifecycle. Once created, clusters are managed alongside cloud GKE clusters in the same project.

Call POST /v1/projects/{project}/locations/{location}/bareMetalAdminClusters with the network and node specs, then create user clusters under it.

Enroll Existing On-Prem Clusters

Operators sometimes have legacy bare metal clusters they want to bring under Google Cloud control without recreating them. The enroll endpoints register an existing cluster with the GKE On-Prem API so it appears alongside other clusters and can receive lifecycle operations. Unenroll reverses the action, leaving the cluster intact.

Call POST /v1/{parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters:enroll with the local cluster details to register it, and verify with GET on the resulting resource name.

Plan Cluster Upgrades

Before upgrading an on-prem cluster, operators need to know the exact target version supported for that cluster shape and the current version. The queryVersionConfig endpoints return supported versions and upgrade paths for bare metal admin and user clusters, supporting safe upgrade planning across many on-prem sites.

Call POST /v1/{parent}/bareMetalUserClusters:queryVersionConfig and use the returned version list to drive the upgrade plan for each cluster.

Agent-Assisted On-Prem Cluster Lifecycle

An AI agent in a platform engineering toolchain can guide an operator through enrolling, upgrading, and decommissioning on-prem clusters. Through Jentic, the agent searches for the right cluster operation by intent, loads its schema, and executes it under the operator's IAM scope without holding raw service account keys.

Use Jentic to search 'enroll a bare metal cluster', load the enroll schema, and execute it for the target cluster identifier.

Key Endpoints

31 endpoints — the gke on-prem api manages anthos clusters that run on customer hardware, including bare metal admin and user clusters and vmware-based clusters.

METHOD

PATH

DESCRIPTION

GET

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters

List bare metal admin clusters

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters

Create a bare metal admin cluster

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters:enroll

Enroll an existing bare metal admin cluster

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters:queryVersionConfig

Query supported versions for admin clusters

GET

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalClusters

List bare metal user clusters

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalClusters

Create a bare metal user cluster

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalClusters:enroll

Enroll an existing bare metal user cluster

DELETE

/v1/{+name}:unenroll

Unenroll a cluster without destroying it

GET

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters

List bare metal admin clusters

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters

Create a bare metal admin cluster

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters:enroll

Enroll an existing bare metal admin cluster

POST

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters:queryVersionConfig

Query supported versions for admin clusters

GET

/v1/{+parent}/bareMetalClusters

List bare metal user clusters

Why though Jentic?

Three things that make agents converge on Jentic-routed access.

Credential isolation

Service account credentials live encrypted in the Jentic vault. Agents receive scoped OAuth tokens for the cloud-platform scope and operate under the IAM bindings of that service account.

Intent-based discovery

Agents search by intent (e.g., 'enroll a bare metal cluster') and Jentic returns the matching admin or user cluster operation with its full schema.

Time to first call

Direct integration: 3-5 days for IAM, network model, and long-running operation handling. Through Jentic: under an hour per operation.

Related APIs

Alternatives and complements available in the Jentic catalogue.

Complementary

GKE Hub API

Registers on-prem clusters into fleets and applies fleet-wide features.

Use GKE On-Prem for cluster lifecycle, GKE Hub to bring those clusters into a fleet.

Alternative

Kubernetes Engine API

Manages Kubernetes clusters that run in Google Cloud rather than on-prem.

Use Container API for cloud-hosted GKE; GKE On-Prem when the cluster runs on customer hardware.

Complementary

Backup for GKE API

Backs up workloads on clusters managed via this API where supported.

Pair with GKE On-Prem to protect workloads on Anthos clusters.

Complementary

Cloud IAM API

Configures the IAM roles and service accounts used by GKE On-Prem operations.

Use IAM to grant gkeonprem roles before cluster operations succeed.

FAQs

Specific to using GKE On-Prem API API through Jentic.

What authentication does the GKE On-Prem API use?

It uses Google OAuth 2.0 with the cloud-platform scope, typically through a service account with anthos and gkeonprem-related IAM roles. Through Jentic, credentials live encrypted in the vault and agents receive scoped bearer tokens.

Can I create a bare metal user cluster with this API?

Yes. Once a bare metal admin cluster exists, call POST /v1/{parent}/bareMetalClusters with the desired control-plane and node-pool spec to provision a user cluster under it.

What are the rate limits for the GKE On-Prem API?

Google enforces standard per-project quotas on management calls. Cluster create and upgrade operations are long-running operations whose runtime depends on the underlying hardware, not the API rate.

How do I enroll an existing on-prem cluster through Jentic?

Search Jentic for 'enroll a bare metal cluster', load the schema for POST /v1/{parent}/bareMetalAdminClusters:enroll or the user-cluster equivalent, and execute it with the existing cluster's local identifier.

Is the GKE On-Prem API free?

The API itself has no separate charge, but Anthos on bare metal and Anthos on VMware have per-vCPU subscription pricing. See Anthos pricing for current rates.

Does this API run workloads on the cluster?

No. The API only manages cluster lifecycle. Workload deployment happens via the cluster's Kubernetes API once the cluster is created or enrolled.