Skip to main content
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to manage labels on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) clusters and their node pools. You will:
  1. Create a new GKE cluster with labels
  2. View labels on an existing cluster
  3. Update labels on a cluster
  4. Remove labels from a cluster
  5. Verify labels on both the cluster and its node pools
  6. Understand how cluster-level label changes affect node pools

​
Table of Contents

​
1. Create a New Cluster with a Label

Spin up a GKE cluster named gke-deep-dive-new with:
  • 1 node
  • 10 GB standard persistent disk
  • Label test=gke
gcloud container clusters create gke-deep-dive-new \
  --num-nodes=1 \
  --disk-type=pd-standard \
  --disk-size=10 \
  --labels=test=gke
This command provisions a single-node pool (HDD) and attaches the test=gke label at creation.

​
2. View Labels on an Existing Cluster

To inspect labels on a cluster (e.g., gke-deep-dive) run: 
gcloud container clusters describe gke-deep-dive \
  --format="yaml(resourceLabels)"
If there are no labels, the resourceLabels section will be empty.

​
3. Update Labels on an Existing Cluster

Add or modify labels using --update-labels. For example, set newlabel=gkeold on gke-deep-dive: 
gcloud container clusters update gke-deep-dive \
  --update-labels=newlabel=gkeold
Verify the update: 
gcloud container clusters describe gke-deep-dive \
  --format="yaml(resourceLabels)"
Expected output: 
resourceLabels:
  newlabel: gkeold

​
4. Remove a Label from a Cluster

To delete a label, specify its key with --remove-labels: 
gcloud container clusters update gke-deep-dive \
  --remove-labels=newlabel
Confirm removal: 
gcloud container clusters describe gke-deep-dive \
  --format="yaml(resourceLabels)"
The resourceLabels field should now be empty.

​
5. Verify Labels on the New Cluster

Check that gke-deep-dive-new has the test=gke label: 
gcloud container clusters describe gke-deep-dive-new \
  --format="yaml(resourceLabels)"
You should see: 
resourceLabels:
  test: gke
Alternatively, filter with grep: 
gcloud container clusters describe gke-deep-dive-new \
  | grep -i resourceLabels -A1

​
6. Remove the Label from the New Cluster

Remove the test label: 
gcloud container clusters update gke-deep-dive-new \
  --remove-labels=test
Verify: 
gcloud container clusters describe gke-deep-dive-new \
  --format="yaml(resourceLabels)"
resourceLabels will now be empty.

​
7. Node Pool Labels Remain After Cluster Label Removal

Cluster-level label updates do not automatically propagate to existing node pools. Even after removing test from the cluster, the default node pool still holds its label: 
gcloud container clusters describe gke-deep-dive-new \
  --format="yaml(nodePools[0].resourceLabels)"

resourceLabels:
  test: gke
To remove a label from the node pool itself: 
gcloud container node-pools update default-pool \
  --cluster=gke-deep-dive-new \
  --remove-labels=test
After detaching a label from the cluster, always verify node-pool labels if you rely on them for workloads, autoscaling, or monitoring.

​
Command Reference

OperationCommand Snippet
Create cluster with labelgcloud container clusters create ... --labels=test=gke
View cluster labelsgcloud container clusters describe ... --format="yaml(...)"
Update cluster labelsgcloud container clusters update ... --update-labels=key=val
Remove cluster labelsgcloud container clusters update ... --remove-labels=key
View node-pool labelsgcloud container clusters describe ... --format="yaml(...)"
Remove node-pool labelgcloud container node-pools update ... --remove-labels=key

Watch Video