kubectl versions Error: exec plugin is configured to use API version client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1 - authentication

Question

I was setting up my new Mac for my eks environment.
After the installation of kubectl, aws-iam-authenticator and the kubeconfig file placement in default location. I ran the command kubectl command and got this error mentioned below in command block.
My cluster uses v1alpha1 client auth api version so basically i wanted to use the same one in my Mac as well.
I tried with latest version (1.23.0) of kubectl as well, still the same error. Whereas When i tried to do with aws-iam-authenticator (version 0.5.5) I was not able to download lower version.
Can someone help me to resolve it?
% kubectl version
Client Version: version.Info{Major:"1", Minor:"20", GitVersion:"v1.20.0", GitCommit:"af46c47ce925f4c4ad5cc8d1fca46c7b77d13b38", GitTreeState:"clean", BuildDate:"2020-12-08T17:59:43Z", GoVersion:"go1.15.5", Compiler:"gc", Platform:"darwin/amd64"}
Unable to connect to the server: getting credentials: exec plugin is configured to use API version client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1, plugin returned version client.authentication.k8s.io/v1beta1
Thanks and Regards,
Saravana

Answer 1

I have the same problem
You're using aws-iam-authenticator 0.5.5, AWS changed the way it behaves in 0.5.4 to require v1beta1.
It depends on your configuration, but you can try to change the K8s context you're using to v1beta1
by checking your kubeconfig file (usually in ~/.kube/config) from client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1 to client.authentication.k8s.io/v1beta1
Otherwise switch back to aws-iam-authenticator 0.5.3 - you might need to build it from source if you're using the M1 architecture as there's no darwin-arm64 binary built for it

Answer 2

This worked for me using M1 chip
sed -i .bak -e 's/v1alpha1/v1beta1/' ~/.kube/config

Answer 3

I fixed the issue with command below
aws eks update-kubeconfig --name mycluster

Answer 4

I also solved this by updating the apiVersion value in my kube config file (~/.kube/config).
client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1 to client.authentication.k8s.io/v1beta1

Answer 5

Also make sure the AWS CLI version is up-to-date. Otherwise, AWS IAM Authenticator might not work with v1beta1:
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install --update

Answer 6

This might be helpful to fix this issue for those who were using GitHub actions.
For my situation I was using kodermax/kubectl-aws-eks with GitHub actions.
I added the KUBECTL_VERSION and IAM_VERSION environment variables for each steps using kodermax/kubectl-aws-eks to keep them in fixed versions.
- name: deploy to cluster
uses: kodermax/kubectl-aws-eks#master
env:
KUBE_CONFIG_DATA: ${{ secrets.KUBE_CONFIG_DATA_STAGING }}
ECR_REGISTRY: ${{ steps.login-ecr.outputs.registry }}
ECR_REPOSITORY: my-app
IMAGE_TAG: ${{ github.sha }
KUBECTL_VERSION: "v1.23.6"
IAM_VERSION: "0.5.3"

Answer 7

Using kubectl 1.21.9 fixed it for me, with asdf:
asdf plugin-add kubectl https://github.com/asdf-community/asdf-kubectl.git
asdf install kubectl 1.21.9
And I would recommend having a .tools-versions file with:
kubectl 1.21.9
This question is a duplicate of error: exec plugin: invalid apiVersion "client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1" CircleCI

Answer 8

Please change the authentication apiVersion from v1alpha1 to v1beta1.
Old
apiVersion: client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1
New
apiVersion: client.authentication.k8s.io/v1beta1

Answer 9

Sometimes this can happen if the Kube cache is corrupted (which happened in my case).
Deleting and recreating the below folder worked for me.
sudo rm -rf $HOME/.kube && mkdir -p $HOME/.kube