<p>I have a GKE k8s cluster and wanted to reboot one of the nodes (a vm reboot, and not just the kubelet).</p>
<p>I was looking for the correct way (if there is one) than just resetting the vm directly. But I couldnt find anything in the web.</p>
<p>So, my plan is to use these steps:</p>
<ol>
<li>drain the node</li>
<li>reboot</li>
</ol>
<p>Is there a correct (other) way?</p>

<p>No, that is the correct way -- and you don't have to <code>drain</code> the Node first unless there is some extenuating circumstance. One of the major features of kubernetes is that it will route around the "damage" of having a Node disappear suddenly.</p>

<p>You <em>could</em> <code>cordon</code> the Node, if you wish to prevent <em>future</em> Pods from being scheduled on the soon-to-be-rebooted Node, but that's merely a time-saver, and shouldn't affect the reboot process.</p>

<p>Just be sure to verify the "schedulable" status of the Node after the reboot if you do use <code>cordon</code> or <code>drain</code>; I can't this very second recall whether they automatically re-register in a schedulable state. </p>
