Create a cluster

Most of the Kubernetes installation methods out there do not get you a cluster with Network Policies (opens new window) feature. You manually need to install and configure a Network Policy provider such as Weave Net or Calico.

Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) (opens new window) easily lets you get a Kubernetes cluster with Network Policies feature. You do not need to install a network policy provider yourself, as GKE configures Calico as the networking provider for you. (This feature is generally available as of GKE v1.10.)

To create a GKE cluster named np with Network Policy feature enabled, run:

gcloud container clusters create np \
    --enable-network-policy \
    --zone us-central1-b

This will create a 3-node Kubernetes cluster on Kubernetes Engine and turn on the Network Policy feature.

Once you complete this tutorial, you can delete the cluster by running:

gcloud container clusters delete -q --zone us-central1-b np