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How to Recycle a Node Pool Instance in a Vultr Kubernetes Engine Cluster

Updated on March 27, 2025

Recycling a Node Pool instance in a Vultr Kubernetes Engine (VKE) cluster involves removing a specific node and allowing the cluster to replace it with a fresh instance. This operation is useful for resolving node-level issues, applying updates, or recovering from resource constraints without disrupting the entire Node Pool.

Warning
Recycling a node permanently deletes the target instance and replaces it with a new one of the same configuration. Any ephemeral data, logs, or local configurations will be lost. Workloads will be rescheduled to other available nodes or the newly created instance. Linked resources remain attached, but if the node was part of a Load Balancer backend, there may be brief downtime while the new node is registered. To prevent data loss, ensure that important data is stored in Persistent Volumes, external storage, or backed up appropriately before recycling.

Follow this guide to recycle a Node in a Vultr Kubernetes Engine cluster on your Vultr account using the Vultr Customer Portal, API, or CLI.

  • Vultr Customer Portal
  • Vultr API
  • Vultr CLI
  1. Navigate to Products and click Kubernetes.
  2. Click your target VKE cluster to open its management page.
  3. Click Nodes.
  4. Locate your target Node Pool and click the plus icon to expand the Node Pool to view the attached instances.
  5. To recycle the target Node, click the Replace Node icon.
  6. Check the Yes, replace this node box in the confirmation prompt, and click Replace Node to replace the target Node with a new one.

  1. Send a GET request to the List all Kubernetes Clusters endpoint and note the target VKE cluster's ID.

    console 
    $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/kubernetes/clusters" \
    -X GET \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $VULTR_API_KEY"

  2. Send a GET request to the List NodePools endpoint to view all Node Pools and note the target Node Pool's ID.

    console 
    $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/kubernetes/clusters/{cluster-id}/node-pools" \
    -X GET \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}"

  3. Send a GET request to the Get NodePool endpoint and note the target Node's ID.

    console 
    $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/kubernetes/clusters/{cluster-id}/node-pools/{nodepool-id}" \
    -X GET \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}"

  4. Send a POST request to the Recycle a NodePool Instance endpoint to replace the target Node with a new one.

    console 
    $ curl "https://api.vultr.com/v2/kubernetes/clusters/{cluster-id}/node-pools/{nodepool-id}/nodes/{node-id}/recycle" \
    -X POST \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${VULTR_API_KEY}"

  1. List the available VKE clusters in your Vultr account and note the target VKE cluster's ID.

    console 
    $ vultr-cli kubernetes list --summarize

  2. List all the available Node Pools in the VKE cluster and note the target Node Pool's ID.

    console 
    $ vultr-cli kubernetes node-pool list <cluster-id> --summarize

  3. List the attached instances of the target Node Pool and note the taget Node's ID.

    console 
    $ vultr-cli kubernetes node-pool get <cluster-id> <nodepool-id>

  4. Recycle the target Node by replacing it with a new one.

    console 
    $ vultr-cli kubernetes node-pool node recycle <cluster-id> <nodepool-id> <node-id>

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