---
name: containers-ts-cluster-pending
title: Why does my cluster stay in a pending state?
description: '[Virtual Private Cloud] [Classic infrastructure]'
last-updated: 2026-08-06
---

> ## Documentation Index
> The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/containers?format=markdown
> The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use these files to discover more information as needed.

# Why does my cluster stay in a pending state?
{: #cs_cluster_pending}
{: support}

[Virtual Private Cloud]{: tag-vpc} [Classic infrastructure]{: tag-classic-inf}


When you deploy your cluster, it remains in a pending state and doesn't start.
{: tsSymptoms}


If you just created the cluster, the worker nodes might still be configuring. If you already wait for a while, you might have an invalid VLAN.
{: tsCauses}



You can try one of the following solutions:
{: tsResolve}

- Check the status of your cluster by running `ibmcloud ks cluster ls`. Then, check to be sure that your worker nodes are deployed by running `ibmcloud ks worker ls --cluster CLUSTER_NAME`.

- Check to see whether your VLAN is valid. To be valid, a VLAN must be associated with infrastructure that can host a worker with local disk storage. You can [list your VLANs](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/containers?topic=containers-kubernetes-service-cli&format=markdown#vlan-ls-cli) by running `ibmcloud ks vlan ls --zone ZONE` if the VLAN does not show in the list, then it is not valid. Choose a different VLAN.


If the issue persists, contact support. Open a [support case](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/support?topic=support-using-avatar&format=markdown). In the case details, be sure to include any relevant log files, error messages, or command outputs.