The correct option is Start a local HTTP proxy that forwards requests to the cluster API server for secure local access.

The Start a local HTTP proxy that forwards requests to the cluster API server for secure local access command runs a small HTTP server on the laptop and forwards requests to the Kubernetes API server so you can access the control plane without making the API publicly reachable. The proxy uses your kubeconfig context and API server authentication and authorization so local tools and web UIs can call the API securely through the local endpoint.

The Open a web based dashboard for cluster monitoring option is incorrect because kubectl proxy does not itself provide a dashboard though it can be used to access a dashboard that is running in the cluster.

The Create a proxy to route external client traffic directly to Kubernetes services option is incorrect because kubectl proxy only forwards HTTP requests to the API server and does not proxy arbitrary external traffic to in-cluster services. For exposing services you would use an ingress, LoadBalancer, NodePort, or a service proxy solution.

The Establish a direct port forward connection to a specific pod for troubleshooting option is incorrect because that describes kubectl port-forward which maps local ports to pod ports. Port forwarding targets individual pod ports and does not act as a general HTTP proxy to the API server.

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