> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.akua.dev/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Windows workers

> Attach Windows Server workers to mixed operating system managed clusters

Windows workers let you attach customer-owned Windows Server machines to a managed cluster. This page covers native Windows Server workers for managed clusters. It does not cover imported clusters, Docker Desktop, Windows-only Kubernetes clusters, or running Linux workloads as Windows containers.

Windows workers require a managed cluster created with **Linux and Windows workers** support. Choose this option in the [managed-cluster create flow](/clusters/create).

## Supported launch path

Akua supports Windows workers only when all of the following are true:

* The machine runs **Windows Server 2022 amd64**.
* The cluster was created with **Linux and Windows workers** support.
* The cluster has a Linux control plane and at least one Ready Linux worker for Linux workloads and system capacity.
* The Windows worker can reach the managed control plane and the other workers over the required network paths.

Windows support is a cluster capability, not a package compatibility guarantee. Linux-only packages still need Linux worker capacity in the same cluster. A package can run on Windows only when the package publishes Windows-compatible images, commands, probes, volumes, and Kubernetes placement rules.

## Unsupported at launch

The following configurations are not supported for the current Windows worker launch:

* Windows ARM64 workers.
* Windows Server 2019 or Windows Server 2025 workers.
* Windows-only managed clusters.
* Managed clusters created for Linux workers only.
* Air-gapped or offline worker bootstrap.
* Linux container images running as native Windows workloads.

## Prerequisites

* Administrator PowerShell access on the Windows Server.
* Windows Containers feature enabled, or permission to enable it and reboot before joining.
* Outbound access from the worker to the Akua control plane and bootstrap artifacts.
* Konnectivity TCP 8132 reachability from the worker to the control plane path.
* UDP 4789 reachability between workers.
* Kubelet TCP 10250 reachability where your cluster topology requires it.
* Pod and service CIDR reachability for the cluster network.

## Add a Windows worker

<Steps>
  <Step title="Create or select a cluster with Windows worker support">
    In the [managed-cluster create flow](/clusters/create), choose **Linux and Windows workers**. If you already have a cluster, verify that it was created with this worker support option.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Open the worker bootstrap step">
    Open the cluster worker page or the install wizard compute step, then select **Windows Server** as
    the worker platform.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Copy the PowerShell command">
    Copy the generated PowerShell bootstrap command. The command is tied to a short-lived bootstrap
    token.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the command as administrator">
    Run the command in an elevated PowerShell session on the Windows Server.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Verify the worker">
    Wait for the worker to appear as Ready in the dashboard.
  </Step>
</Steps>

The bootstrap token is short-lived. If the token expires before the worker joins, generate a new worker bootstrap command from the dashboard.

## Workload placement

In mixed operating system clusters, packages must state where workloads run. If a package is Linux-only, add or keep Linux capacity in the same cluster. Adding a Windows worker does not move Linux workloads onto Windows.

## Related topics

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Add workers" icon="terminal" href="/clusters/add-workers">
    Attach compute capacity to a managed cluster.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Clusters" icon="server" href="/clusters">
    Understand managed and imported clusters.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>