There are many ways why kubectl can’t connect to the server. We’ll explore one today. It’s common to see error messages with did you specify the right host or port?. The first thing to do is to check if kube-system components are all up and running, but you can’t check that with kubectl. To check them, use either crictl or docker.
cluster2-controlplane ~ ➜ k get all
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?
The connection to the server cluster2-controlplane:6443 was refused - did you specify the right host or port?In crictl output below, we can see that the kube-api server isn’t up for some reason. Some components are also in exited state.
cluster2-controlplane ~ ✖ crictl ps
CONTAINER IMAGE CREATED STATE NAME ATTEMPT POD ID POD NAMESPACE
9456aeed5acb3 6331715a2ae96 26 minutes ago Running calico-kube-controllers 0 76a2953ceeb78 calico-kube-controllers-5745477d4d-srmzq kube-system
417cc9bed413d ead0a4a53df89 26 minutes ago Running coredns 0 2e831f18839f5 coredns-7484cd47db-vs9th kube-system
56d3831054b82 ead0a4a53df89 26 minutes ago Running coredns 0 5843ceb2704cd coredns-7484cd47db-7zkvc kube-system
24201b2ed0c3f c9fe3bce8a6d8 26 minutes ago Running kube-flannel 0 f027b4a01122b canal-f9b44 kube-system
96d8428d95398 feb26d4585d68 26 minutes ago Running calico-node 0 f027b4a01122b canal-f9b44 kube-system
a8e440d48b786 040f9f8aac8cd 26 minutes ago Running kube-proxy 0 5d26ec0b194e8 kube-proxy-8gn5b kube-system
31f87034b463b a9e7e6b294baf 26 minutes ago Running etcd 0 2981519db4082 etcd-cluster2-controlplane kube-system
cluster2-controlplane ~ ➜ crictl ps -a
CONTAINER IMAGE CREATED STATE NAME ATTEMPT POD ID POD NAMESPACE
9456aeed5acb3 6331715a2ae96 27 minutes ago Running calico-kube-controllers 0 76a2953ceeb78 calico-kube-controllers-5745477d4d-srmzq kube-system
417cc9bed413d ead0a4a53df89 27 minutes ago Running coredns 0 2e831f18839f5 coredns-7484cd47db-vs9th kube-system
56d3831054b82 ead0a4a53df89 27 minutes ago Running coredns 0 5843ceb2704cd coredns-7484cd47db-7zkvc kube-system
24201b2ed0c3f c9fe3bce8a6d8 27 minutes ago Running kube-flannel 0 f027b4a01122b canal-f9b44 kube-system
96d8428d95398 feb26d4585d68 27 minutes ago Running calico-node 0 f027b4a01122b canal-f9b44 kube-system
db6b93745bb19 7dd6ea186aba0 27 minutes ago Exited install-cni 0 f027b4a01122b canal-f9b44 kube-system
a8e440d48b786 040f9f8aac8cd 27 minutes ago Running kube-proxy 0 5d26ec0b194e8 kube-proxy-8gn5b kube-system
e0827a9a77899 a389e107f4ff1 27 minutes ago Exited kube-scheduler 0 4f88f38271501 kube-scheduler-cluster2-controlplane kube-system
31f87034b463b a9e7e6b294baf 27 minutes ago Running etcd 0 2981519db4082 etcd-cluster2-controlplane kube-system
d3fdd69d04a5d 8cab3d2a8bd0f 27 minutes ago Exited kube-controller-manager 0 f8c7e69edc5c1 kube-controller-manager-cluster2-controlplane kube-systemCheck if the manifest for the kube-api server exists: cat /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml
Check the status of kubelet, which is the component responsible for keeping the containers are running.
cluster2-controlplane ~ ➜ systemctl status kubelet
Unit kubelet.service could not be found.With the output above, we can see that there’s no kubelet installed. We need to reinstall it.
First, look for the kube-apiserver version from the kube-apiserver manifest: v1.32.0
cluster2-controlplane ~ ➜ cat /etc/kubernetes/manifests/kube-apiserver.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
...
name: kube-apiserver
namespace: kube-system
spec:
containers:
- command:
- kube-apiserver
- --advertise-address=192.168.81.149
...
image: registry.k8s.io/kube-apiserver:v1.32.0Get the actual kubeadm version with minor version. Let’s choose 1.32.0-1.1.
sudo apt update
sudo apt-cache madison kubeadm
Get:2 https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu jammy InRelease [48.5 kB]
...
Reading state information... Done
84 packages can be upgraded. Run 'apt list --upgradable' to see them.
kubeadm | 1.32.10-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.9-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.8-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.7-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.6-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.5-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.4-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.3-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.2-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.1-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb Packages
kubeadm | 1.32.0-1.1 | https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.32/deb PackagesLet’s update kubelet
sudo apt-mark unhold kubelet kubectl && \
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y kubelet='1.32.0-1.1' kubectl='1.32.0-1.1' && \
sudo apt-mark hold kubelet kubectl
kubelet was already not on hold.
Canceled hold on kubectl.
Hit:2 https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu jammy InRelease
...
kubelet set on hold.
kubectl set on hold.Reload the daemon and kubelet
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl restart kubeletAfter those steps, we are now able to access kubectl and see the kubelet service up and running:
sudo systemctl status kubelet
● kubelet.service - kubelet: The Kubernetes Node Agent
Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/kubelet.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/kubelet.service.d
└─10-kubeadm.conf
Active: active (running) since Mon 2025-11-17 12:26:20 UTC; 12s ago
Docs: https://kubernetes.io/docs/
Main PID: 24642 (kubelet)
Tasks: 32 (limit: 154668)
Memory: 31.0M