kubectl Cheat Sheet

This page contains a list of commonly used kubectl commands and flags. Kubectl autocomplete BASH

source <(kubectl completion bash) # setup autocomplete in bash into the current shell, bash-completion package should be installed first. echo "source <(kubectl completion bash)" >> ~/.bashrc # add autocomplete permanently to your bash shell.

You can also use a shorthand alias for kubectl that also works with completion:

alias k=kubectl complete -F __start_kubectl k

ZSH

source <(kubectl completion zsh) # setup autocomplete in zsh into the current shell echo "$commands[kubectl] && source <(kubectl completion zsh)" >> ~/.zshrc # add autocomplete permanently to your zsh shell

A Note on --all-namespaces

Appending --all-namespaces happens frequently enough where you should be aware of the shorthand for --all-namespaces:

kubectl -A Kubectl context and configuration

Set which Kubernetes cluster kubectl communicates with and modifies configuration information. See Authenticating Across Clusters with kubeconfig documentation for detailed config file information.

kubectl config view # Show Merged kubeconfig settings.

KUBECONFIG=/.kube/config:/.kube/kubconfig2

kubectl config view

kubectl config view -o jsonpath='{.users[?(@.name == "e2e")].user.password}'

kubectl config view -o jsonpath='{.users[].name}' # display the first user kubectl config view -o jsonpath='{.users[*].name}' # get a list of users kubectl config get-contexts # display list of contexts kubectl config current-context # display the current-context kubectl config use-context my-cluster-name # set the default context to my-cluster-name

kubectl config set-credentials kubeuser/foo.kubernetes.com --username=kubeuser --password=kubepassword

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=ggckad-s2

kubectl config set-context gce --user=cluster-admin --namespace=foo
&& kubectl config use-context gce

kubectl config unset users.foo # delete user foo

alias kx='f() { [ "$1" ] && kubectl config use-context $1 || kubectl config current-context ; } ; f' alias kn='f() { [ "$1" ] && kubectl config set-context --current --namespace $1 || kubectl config view --minify | grep namespace | cut -d" " -f6 ; } ; f'

Kubectl apply

apply manages applications through files defining Kubernetes resources. It creates and updates resources in a cluster through running kubectl apply. This is the recommended way of managing Kubernetes applications on production. See Kubectl Book. Creating objects

Kubernetes manifests can be defined in YAML or JSON. The file extension .yaml, .yml, and .json can be used.

kubectl apply -f ./my-manifest.yaml # create resource(s) kubectl apply -f ./my1.yaml -f ./my2.yaml # create from multiple files kubectl apply -f ./dir # create resource(s) in all manifest files in dir kubectl apply -f https://git.io/vPieo # create resource(s) from url kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx # start a single instance of nginx

kubectl create job hello --image=busybox:1.28 -- echo "Hello World"

kubectl create cronjob hello --image=busybox:1.28 --schedule="*/1 * * * *" -- echo "Hello World"

kubectl explain pods # get the documentation for pod manifests

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f - apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: name: busybox-sleep spec: containers:

• name: busybox image: busybox:1.28 args:
  • sleep
  • "1000000"

---

apiVersion: v1 kind: Pod metadata: name: busybox-sleep-less spec: containers:

• name: busybox image: busybox:1.28 args:
  • sleep
  • "1000" EOF

cat <<EOF | kubectl apply -f - apiVersion: v1 kind: Secret metadata: name: mysecret type: Opaque data: password: $(echo -n "s33msi4" | base64 -w0) username: $(echo -n "jane" | base64 -w0) EOF

Viewing, finding resources

kubectl get services # List all services in the namespace kubectl get pods --all-namespaces # List all pods in all namespaces kubectl get pods -o wide # List all pods in the current namespace, with more details kubectl get deployment my-dep # List a particular deployment kubectl get pods # List all pods in the namespace kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml # Get a pod's YAML

kubectl describe nodes my-node kubectl describe pods my-pod

kubectl get services --sort-by=.metadata.name

kubectl get pods --sort-by='.status.containerStatuses[0].restartCount'

kubectl get pv --sort-by=.spec.capacity.storage

kubectl get pods --selector=app=cassandra -o
jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.labels.version}'

kubectl get configmap myconfig
-o jsonpath='{.data.ca.crt}'

kubectl get node --selector='!node-role.kubernetes.io/master'

kubectl get pods --field-selector=status.phase=Running

kubectl get nodes -o jsonpath='{.items[*].status.addresses[?(@.type=="ExternalIP")].address}'

sel=${$(kubectl get rc my-rc --output=json | jq -j '.spec.selector | to_entries | .[] | "(.key)=(.value),"')%?} echo $(kubectl get pods --selector=$sel --output=jsonpath={.items..metadata.name})

kubectl get pods --show-labels

JSONPATH='{range .items[]}{@.metadata.name}:{range @.status.conditions[]}{@.type}={@.status};{end}{end}'
&& kubectl get nodes -o jsonpath="$JSONPATH" | grep "Ready=True"

kubectl get secret my-secret -o go-template='{{range $k,$v := .data}}{{"### "}}{{$k}}{{"\n"}}{{$v|base64decode}}{{"\n\n"}}{{end}}'

kubectl get pods -o json | jq '.items[].spec.containers[].env[]?.valueFrom.secretKeyRef.name' | grep -v null | sort | uniq

kubectl get pods --all-namespaces -o jsonpath='{range .items[].status.initContainerStatuses[]}{.containerID}{"\n"}{end}' | cut -d/ -f3

kubectl get events --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp

kubectl diff -f ./my-manifest.yaml

kubectl get nodes -o json | jq -c 'paths|join(".")'

kubectl get pods -o json | jq -c 'paths|join(".")'

for pod in $(kubectl get po --output=jsonpath={.items..metadata.name}); do echo $pod && kubectl exec -it $pod -- env; done

Updating resources

kubectl set image deployment/frontend www=image:v2 # Rolling update "www" containers of "frontend" deployment, updating the image kubectl rollout history deployment/frontend # Check the history of deployments including the revision kubectl rollout undo deployment/frontend # Rollback to the previous deployment kubectl rollout undo deployment/frontend --to-revision=2 # Rollback to a specific revision kubectl rollout status -w deployment/frontend # Watch rolling update status of "frontend" deployment until completion kubectl rollout restart deployment/frontend # Rolling restart of the "frontend" deployment

cat pod.json | kubectl replace -f - # Replace a pod based on the JSON passed into stdin

kubectl replace --force -f ./pod.json

kubectl expose rc nginx --port=80 --target-port=8000

kubectl get pod mypod -o yaml | sed 's/(image: myimage):.*$/\1:v4/' | kubectl replace -f -

kubectl label pods my-pod new-label=awesome # Add a Label kubectl annotate pods my-pod icon-url=http://goo.gl/XXBTWq # Add an annotation kubectl autoscale deployment foo --min=2 --max=10 # Auto scale a deployment "foo"

Patching resources

kubectl patch node k8s-node-1 -p '{"spec":{"unschedulable":true}}'

kubectl patch pod valid-pod -p '{"spec":{"containers":[{"name":"kubernetes-serve-hostname","image":"new image"}]}}'

kubectl patch pod valid-pod --type='json' -p='[{"op": "replace", "path": "/spec/containers/0/image", "value":"new image"}]'

kubectl patch deployment valid-deployment --type json -p='[{"op": "remove", "path": "/spec/template/spec/containers/0/livenessProbe"}]'

kubectl patch sa default --type='json' -p='[{"op": "add", "path": "/secrets/1", "value": {"name": "whatever" } }]'

Editing resources

Edit any API resource in your preferred editor.

kubectl edit svc/docker-registry # Edit the service named docker-registry KUBE_EDITOR="nano" kubectl edit svc/docker-registry # Use an alternative editor

Scaling resources

kubectl scale --replicas=3 rs/foo # Scale a replicaset named 'foo' to 3 kubectl scale --replicas=3 -f foo.yaml # Scale a resource specified in "foo.yaml" to 3 kubectl scale --current-replicas=2 --replicas=3 deployment/mysql # If the deployment named mysql's current size is 2, scale mysql to 3 kubectl scale --replicas=5 rc/foo rc/bar rc/baz # Scale multiple replication controllers

Deleting resources

kubectl delete -f ./pod.json # Delete a pod using the type and name specified in pod.json kubectl delete pod unwanted --now # Delete a pod with no grace period kubectl delete pod,service baz foo # Delete pods and services with same names "baz" and "foo" kubectl delete pods,services -l name=myLabel # Delete pods and services with label name=myLabel kubectl -n my-ns delete pod,svc --all # Delete all pods and services in namespace my-ns,

kubectl get pods -n mynamespace --no-headers=true | awk '/pattern1|pattern2/{print $1}' | xargs kubectl delete -n mynamespace pod

Interacting with running Pods

kubectl logs my-pod # dump pod logs (stdout) kubectl logs -l name=myLabel # dump pod logs, with label name=myLabel (stdout) kubectl logs my-pod --previous # dump pod logs (stdout) for a previous instantiation of a container kubectl logs my-pod -c my-container # dump pod container logs (stdout, multi-container case) kubectl logs -l name=myLabel -c my-container # dump pod logs, with label name=myLabel (stdout) kubectl logs my-pod -c my-container --previous # dump pod container logs (stdout, multi-container case) for a previous instantiation of a container kubectl logs -f my-pod # stream pod logs (stdout) kubectl logs -f my-pod -c my-container # stream pod container logs (stdout, multi-container case) kubectl logs -f -l name=myLabel --all-containers # stream all pods logs with label name=myLabel (stdout) kubectl run -i --tty busybox --image=busybox:1.28 -- sh # Run pod as interactive shell kubectl run nginx --image=nginx -n mynamespace # Start a single instance of nginx pod in the namespace of mynamespace kubectl run nginx --image=nginx # Run pod nginx and write its spec into a file called pod.yaml --dry-run=client -o yaml > pod.yaml

kubectl attach my-pod -i # Attach to Running Container kubectl port-forward my-pod 5000:6000 # Listen on port 5000 on the local machine and forward to port 6000 on my-pod kubectl exec my-pod -- ls / # Run command in existing pod (1 container case) kubectl exec --stdin --tty my-pod -- /bin/sh # Interactive shell access to a running pod (1 container case) kubectl exec my-pod -c my-container -- ls / # Run command in existing pod (multi-container case) kubectl top pod POD_NAME --containers # Show metrics for a given pod and its containers kubectl top pod POD_NAME --sort-by=cpu # Show metrics for a given pod and sort it by 'cpu' or 'memory'

Copy files and directories to and from containers

kubectl cp /tmp/foo_dir my-pod:/tmp/bar_dir # Copy /tmp/foo_dir local directory to /tmp/bar_dir in a remote pod in the current namespace kubectl cp /tmp/foo my-pod:/tmp/bar -c my-container # Copy /tmp/foo local file to /tmp/bar in a remote pod in a specific container kubectl cp /tmp/foo my-namespace/my-pod:/tmp/bar # Copy /tmp/foo local file to /tmp/bar in a remote pod in namespace my-namespace kubectl cp my-namespace/my-pod:/tmp/foo /tmp/bar # Copy /tmp/foo from a remote pod to /tmp/bar locally

Note: kubectl cp requires that the 'tar' binary is present in your container image. If 'tar' is not present,kubectl cp will fail. For advanced use cases, such as symlinks, wildcard expansion or file mode preservation consider using kubectl exec.

tar cf - /tmp/foo | kubectl exec -i -n my-namespace my-pod -- tar xf - -C /tmp/bar # Copy /tmp/foo local file to /tmp/bar in a remote pod in namespace my-namespace kubectl exec -n my-namespace my-pod -- tar cf - /tmp/foo | tar xf - -C /tmp/bar # Copy /tmp/foo from a remote pod to /tmp/bar locally

Interacting with Deployments and Services

kubectl logs deploy/my-deployment # dump Pod logs for a Deployment (single-container case) kubectl logs deploy/my-deployment -c my-container # dump Pod logs for a Deployment (multi-container case)

kubectl port-forward svc/my-service 5000 # listen on local port 5000 and forward to port 5000 on Service backend kubectl port-forward svc/my-service 5000:my-service-port # listen on local port 5000 and forward to Service target port with name

kubectl port-forward deploy/my-deployment 5000:6000 # listen on local port 5000 and forward to port 6000 on a Pod created by kubectl exec deploy/my-deployment -- ls # run command in first Pod and first container in Deployment (single- or multi-container cases)

Interacting with Nodes and cluster

kubectl cordon my-node # Mark my-node as unschedulable kubectl drain my-node # Drain my-node in preparation for maintenance kubectl uncordon my-node # Mark my-node as schedulable kubectl top node my-node # Show metrics for a given node kubectl cluster-info # Display addresses of the master and services kubectl cluster-info dump # Dump current cluster state to stdout kubectl cluster-info dump --output-directory=/path/to/cluster-state # Dump current cluster state to /path/to/cluster-state

kubectl taint nodes foo dedicated=special-user:NoSchedule

Resource types

List all supported resource types along with their shortnames, API group, whether they are namespaced, and Kind:

kubectl api-resources

Other operations for exploring API resources:

kubectl api-resources --namespaced=true # All namespaced resources kubectl api-resources --namespaced=false # All non-namespaced resources kubectl api-resources -o name # All resources with simple output (only the resource name) kubectl api-resources -o wide # All resources with expanded (aka "wide") output kubectl api-resources --verbs=list,get # All resources that support the "list" and "get" request verbs kubectl api-resources --api-group=extensions # All resources in the "extensions" API group

Formatting output

To output details to your terminal window in a specific format, add the -o (or --output) flag to a supported kubectl command. Output format Description -o=custom-columns= Print a table using a comma separated list of custom columns -o=custom-columns-file= Print a table using the custom columns template in the file -o=json Output a JSON formatted API object -o=jsonpath=

Examples using -o=custom-columns:

kubectl get pods -A -o=custom-columns='DATA:spec.containers[*].image'

kubectl get pods --namespace default --output=custom-columns="NAME:.metadata.name,IMAGE:.spec.containers[*].image"

kubectl get pods -A -o=custom-columns='DATA:spec.containers[?(@.image!="k8s.gcr.io/coredns:1.6.2")].image'

kubectl get pods -A -o=custom-columns='DATA:metadata.*'

More examples in the kubectl reference documentation. Kubectl output verbosity and debugging

Kubectl verbosity is controlled with the -v or --v flags followed by an integer representing the log level. General Kubernetes logging conventions and the associated log levels are described here. Verbosity Description --v=0 Generally useful for this to always be visible to a cluster operator. --v=1 A reasonable default log level if you don't want verbosity. --v=2 Useful steady state information about the service and important log messages that may correlate to significant changes in the system. This is the recommended default log level for most systems. --v=3 Extended information about changes. --v=4 Debug level verbosity. --v=5 Trace level verbosity. --v=6 Display requested resources. --v=7 Display HTTP request headers. --v=8 Display HTTP request contents. --v=9 Display HTTP request contents without truncation of contents.