if i have a cluster.yaml (add cluster custom yaml file) how can i apply it via cli in/to rancher?

the file has no api or kind etc associated with it, would it still kubectl apply?

From the Rancher GUI?

Oh, that is an RKE cluster. That you cannot apply. I thought you were talking about a cluster.yaml like the ones that do get applied by Rancher.

i wish 😞

Isn't this how we can do for RKE? (maybe I am misunderstanding your question):

rke up --config <path to your cluster.yaml>

Yes, but that creates a new cluster and doesn't put it in Rancher.

^ its the 'put it in rancher' part that i want lol

I will say that what you are trying to accomplish is possible, but you need the cluster.yaml that Rancher uses. There is also a Rancher terraform provider that can help you accomplish this.

ya i might end up just rewriting in terraform

What I would do: create the cluster that you want to create in Rancher, but before creating it, look at the YAML. There is a button for this in the UI. That is essentially the YAML that you would need to apply. It would take some experimenting to get right, but that is how I would go about it.