kubectl Quick Reference¶

m@ibtisam-iq:~$ kubectl --help
kubectl controls the Kubernetes cluster manager.

 Find more information at: https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/

Basic Commands (Beginner):
  create          Create a resource from a file or from stdin
  expose          Take a replication controller, service, deployment or pod and expose it as a new Kubernetes service
  run             Run a particular image on the cluster
  set             Set specific features on objects

Basic Commands (Intermediate):
  explain         Get documentation for a resource
  get             Display one or many resources
  edit            Edit a resource on the server
  delete          Delete resources by file names, stdin, resources and names, or by resources and label selector

Deploy Commands:
  rollout         Manage the rollout of a resource
  scale           Set a new size for a deployment, replica set, or replication controller
  autoscale       Auto-scale a deployment, replica set, stateful set, or replication controller

Cluster Management Commands:
  certificate     Modify certificate resources
  cluster-info    Display cluster information
  top             Display resource (CPU/memory) usage
  cordon          Mark node as unschedulable
  uncordon        Mark node as schedulable
  drain           Drain node in preparation for maintenance
  taint           Update the taints on one or more nodes

Troubleshooting and Debugging Commands:
  describe        Show details of a specific resource or group of resources
  logs            Print the logs for a container in a pod
  attach          Attach to a running container
  exec            Execute a command in a container
  port-forward    Forward one or more local ports to a pod
  proxy           Run a proxy to the Kubernetes API server
  cp              Copy files and directories to and from containers
  auth            Inspect authorization
  debug           Create debugging sessions for troubleshooting workloads and nodes
  events          List events

Advanced Commands:
  diff            Diff the live version against a would-be applied version
  apply           Apply a configuration to a resource by file name or stdin
  patch           Update fields of a resource
  replace         Replace a resource by file name or stdin
  wait            Experimental: Wait for a specific condition on one or many resources
  kustomize       Build a kustomization target from a directory or URL

Settings Commands:
  label           Update the labels on a resource
  annotate        Update the annotations on a resource
  completion      Output shell completion code for the specified shell (bash, zsh, fish, or powershell)

Subcommands provided by plugins:

Other Commands:
  api-resources   Print the supported API resources on the server
  api-versions    Print the supported API versions on the server, in the form of "group/version"
  config          Modify kubeconfig files
  plugin          Provides utilities for interacting with plugins
  version         Print the client and server version information

Usage:
  kubectl [flags] [options]

Use "kubectl <command> --help" for more information about a given command.
Use "kubectl options" for a list of global command-line options (applies to all commands).

-A, --all-namespaces=false
--all=false
-f, --filename=[]
--force=false
--no-headers=false
-o, --output='wide'
-l, --selector=''
--show-labels=false
--sort-by=''
-w, --watch=false

kubectl config view # Show Merged kubeconfig settings.

# use multiple kubeconfig files at the same time and view merged config
KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config:~/.kube/kubconfig2

kubectl config view

# Show merged kubeconfig settings and raw certificate data and exposed secrets
kubectl config view --raw 

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

# get the certificate for the e2e user
kubectl config view --raw -o jsonpath='{.users[?(.name == "e2e")].user.client-certificate-data}' | base64 -d

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 get-contexts -o name                  # get all context names
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-cluster my-cluster-name           # set a cluster entry in the kubeconfig

# configure the URL to a proxy server to use for requests made by this client in the kubeconfig
kubectl config set-cluster my-cluster-name --proxy-url=my-proxy-url

# add a new user to your kubeconf that supports basic auth
kubectl config set-credentials kubeuser/foo.kubernetes.com --username=kubeuser --password=kubepassword

kubectl config unset users.foo                       # delete user foo

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://example.com/manifest.yaml  # create resource(s) from url

# Get commands with basic output
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 pod my-pod -o yaml                # Get a pod's YAML

# Describe commands with verbose output
kubectl describe nodes my-node
kubectl describe pods my-pod

# List Services Sorted by Name
kubectl get services --sort-by=.metadata.name

# List pods Sorted by Restart Count
kubectl get pods --sort-by='.status.containerStatuses[0].restartCount'

# List PersistentVolumes sorted by capacity
kubectl get pv --sort-by=.spec.capacity.storage

# Get the version label of all pods with label app=cassandra
kubectl get pods --selector=app=cassandra -o \
  jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.labels.version}'

# Retrieve the value of a key with dots, e.g. 'ca.crt'
kubectl get configmap myconfig \
  -o jsonpath='{.data.ca\.crt}'

# Retrieve a base64 encoded value with dashes instead of underscores.
kubectl get secret my-secret --template='{{index .data "key-name-with-dashes"}}'

# Get all worker nodes (use a selector to exclude results that have a label
# named 'node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane')
kubectl get node --selector='!node-role.kubernetes.io/control-plane'

# Get all running pods in the namespace
kubectl get pods --field-selector=status.phase=Running

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

# List Names of Pods that belong to Particular RC
# "jq" command useful for transformations that are too complex for jsonpath, it can be found at https://jqlang.github.io/jq/
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})

# Show labels for all pods (or any other Kubernetes object that supports labelling)
kubectl get pods --show-labels

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

# Check which nodes are ready with custom-columns
kubectl get node -o custom-columns='NODE_NAME:.metadata.name,STATUS:.status.conditions[?(@.type=="Ready")].status'

# Output decoded secrets without external tools
kubectl get secret my-secret -o go-template='{{range $k,$v := .data}}{{"### "}}{{$k}}{{"\n"}}{{$v|base64decode}}{{"\n\n"}}{{end}}'

# List all Secrets currently in use by a pod
kubectl get pods -o json | jq '.items[].spec.containers[].env[]?.valueFrom.secretKeyRef.name' | grep -v null | sort | uniq

# List all containerIDs of initContainer of all pods
# Helpful when cleaning up stopped containers, while avoiding removal of initContainers.
kubectl get pods --all-namespaces -o jsonpath='{range .items[*].status.initContainerStatuses[*]}{.containerID}{"\n"}{end}' | cut -d/ -f3

# List Events sorted by timestamp
kubectl get events --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp

# List all warning events
kubectl events --types=Warning

# Compares the current state of the cluster against the state that the cluster would be in if the manifest was applied.
kubectl diff -f ./my-manifest.yaml

# Produce a period-delimited tree of all keys returned for nodes
# Helpful when locating a key within a complex nested JSON structure
kubectl get nodes -o json | jq -c 'paths|join(".")'

# Produce a period-delimited tree of all keys returned for pods, etc
kubectl get pods -o json | jq -c 'paths|join(".")'

# Produce ENV for all pods, assuming you have a default container for the pods, default namespace and the `env` command is supported.
# Helpful when running any supported command across all pods, not just `env`
for pod in $(kubectl get po --output=jsonpath={.items..metadata.name}); do echo $pod && kubectl exec -it $pod -- env; done

# Get a deployment's status subresource
kubectl get deployment nginx-deployment --subresource=status

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

# Force replace, delete and then re-create the resource. Will cause a service outage.
kubectl replace --force -f ./pod.json

# Create a service for a replicated nginx, which serves on port 80 and connects to the containers on port 8000
kubectl expose rc nginx --port=80 --target-port=8000

# Update a single-container pod's image version (tag) to v4
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 label pods my-pod new-label-                             # Remove a label
kubectl label pods my-pod new-label=new-value --overwrite        # Overwrite an existing value
kubectl annotate pods my-pod icon-url=http://goo.gl/XXBTWq       # Add an annotation
kubectl annotate pods my-pod icon-url-                           # Remove annotation
kubectl autoscale deployment foo --min=2 --max=10                # Auto scale a deployment "foo"

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

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,
# Delete all pods matching the awk pattern1 or pattern2
kubectl get pods  -n mynamespace --no-headers=true | awk '/pattern1|pattern2/{print $1}' | xargs  kubectl delete -n mynamespace pod

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 container 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 --dry-run=client -o yaml > pod.yaml
                                                    # Generate spec for running pod nginx and write it into a file called 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 debug my-pod -it --image=busybox:1.28       # Create an interactive debugging session within existing pod and immediately attach to it
kubectl debug node/my-node -it --image=busybox:1.28 # Create an interactive debugging session on a node and immediately attach to it
kubectl top pod                                     # Show metrics for all pods in the default namespace
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'

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

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 <my-service-port>

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

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                                                      # Show metrics for all nodes
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

# View existing taints on which exist on current nodes.
kubectl get nodes -o='custom-columns=NodeName:.metadata.name,TaintKey:.spec.taints[*].key,TaintValue:.spec.taints[*].value,TaintEffect:.spec.taints[*].effect'

# If a taint with that key and effect already exists, its value is replaced as specified.
kubectl taint nodes foo dedicated=special-user:NoSchedule