Kubernetes

kubectl

Essential kubectl commands for managing Kubernetes clusters, workloads and resources.

Cluster & Context

kubectl cluster-infoDisplay cluster endpoint and service info

kubectl config get-contextsList all available contexts

kubectl config current-contextShow the active context

kubectl config use-context <name>Switch to a different context

kubectl get nodesList all nodes in the cluster

kubectl get nodes -o wideList nodes with extra info (IP, OS, kernel)

Pods

kubectl get podsList pods in the current namespace

kubectl get pods -n <namespace>List pods in a specific namespace

kubectl get pods -AList pods across all namespaces

kubectl get pods -o wideShow pod IPs and node assignments

kubectl describe pod <name>Detailed pod status and events

kubectl logs <pod>Stream logs from a pod

kubectl logs <pod> -fFollow (tail) logs in real time

kubectl logs <pod> --previousLogs from the previous container instance

kubectl exec -it <pod> -- bashOpen an interactive shell in a pod

kubectl delete pod <name>Delete a pod (will be recreated by controller)

Deployments

kubectl get deploymentsList all deployments

kubectl describe deployment <name>Detailed deployment info and events

kubectl apply -f <file>.yamlApply a manifest (create or update)

kubectl delete -f <file>.yamlDelete resources defined in a manifest

kubectl scale deployment <name> --replicas=3Scale a deployment to 3 replicas

kubectl rollout status deployment/<name>Watch rollout progress

kubectl rollout undo deployment/<name>Roll back to the previous revision

kubectl rollout history deployment/<name>Show rollout revision history

kubectl set image deployment/<name> app=image:tagUpdate the container image

Services & Networking

kubectl get servicesList all services

kubectl get svc -AList services across all namespaces

kubectl describe service <name>Show service endpoints and selector

kubectl port-forward <pod> 8080:80Forward local port 8080 to pod port 80

kubectl port-forward svc/<name> 8080:80Forward local port to a service

kubectl get ingressList ingress resources

Namespaces & Config

kubectl get namespacesList all namespaces

kubectl create namespace <name>Create a new namespace

kubectl get configmapsList ConfigMaps in current namespace

kubectl get secretsList Secrets in current namespace

kubectl get pvcList PersistentVolumeClaims

kubectl top podsShow CPU/memory usage per pod (requires metrics-server)

kubectl top nodesShow CPU/memory usage per node

Debugging

kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestampCluster events sorted by time

kubectl run debug --image=busybox --rm -it -- shSpin up a temporary debug pod

kubectl cp <pod>:/path/to/file ./localCopy a file out of a pod

kubectl explain pod.specShow API docs for a resource field

kubectl api-resourcesList all supported resource types and API groups