kubectl Command Cheat Sheet
| Command | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| kubectl get pods | List all pods in the default namespace | kubectl get pods |
| kubectl get services | List all services in the default namespace | kubectl get services |
| kubectl get deployments | List all deployments in the default namespace | kubectl get deployments |
| kubectl get nodes | List all nodes in the cluster | kubectl get nodes |
| kubectl describe pod <pod-name> | Get detailed information about a specific pod | kubectl describe pod my-pod |
| kubectl logs <pod-name> | View logs from a specific pod | kubectl logs my-pod |
| kubectl exec -it <pod-name> — /bin/bash | Open a shell in a running pod | kubectl exec -it my-pod — /bin/bash |
| kubectl create -f <file> | Create a resource from a file | kubectl create -f deployment.yaml |
| kubectl apply -f <file> | Apply changes to a resource from a file | kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml |
| kubectl delete -f <file> | Delete a resource defined in a file | kubectl delete -f deployment.yaml |
| kubectl delete pod <pod-name> | Delete a specific pod | kubectl delete pod my-pod |
| kubectl scale deployment <deployment-name> –replicas=<number> | Scale a deployment to a specified number of replicas | kubectl scale deployment my-deployment –replicas=3 |
| kubectl rollout status deployment <deployment-name> | Check the status of a deployment rollout | kubectl rollout status deployment my-deployment |
| kubectl rollout undo deployment <deployment-name> | Undo the last rollout of a deployment | kubectl rollout undo deployment my-deployment |
| kubectl get configmaps | List all config maps in the default namespace | kubectl get configmaps |
| kubectl describe configmap <configmap-name> | Get detailed information about a specific config map | kubectl describe configmap my-configmap |
| kubectl get secrets | List all secrets in the default namespace | kubectl get secrets |
| kubectl describe secret <secret-name> | Get detailed information about a specific secret | kubectl describe secret my-secret |
| kubectl get namespaces | List all namespaces in the cluster | kubectl get namespaces |
| kubectl create namespace <namespace-name> | Create a new namespace | kubectl create namespace my-namespace |
| kubectl delete namespace <namespace-name> | Delete a namespace | kubectl delete namespace my-namespace |
| kubectl get events | List all events in the default namespace | kubectl get events |
| kubectl get ingress | List all ingress resources in the default namespace | kubectl get ingress |
| kubectl describe ingress <ingress-name> | Get detailed information about a specific ingress resource | kubectl describe ingress my-ingress |
| kubectl top nodes | Display resource usage (CPU and memory) of nodes | kubectl top nodes |
| kubectl top pods | Display resource usage ( CPU and memory) of pods | kubectl top pods |
| kubectl get deployments -o yaml | List deployments in YAML format | kubectl get deployments -o yaml |
| kubectl get pods -o json | List pods in JSON format | kubectl get pods -o json |
| kubectl edit deployment <deployment-name> | Edit a deployment directly in your editor | kubectl edit deployment my-deployment |
| kubectl patch deployment <deployment-name> -p <patch> | Patch a deployment with a specified JSON patch | kubectl patch deployment my-deployment -p ‘{“spec”:{“replicas”:5}}’ |
| kubectl annotate pod <pod-name> <annotation-key>=<annotation-value> | Add an annotation to a pod | kubectl annotate pod my-pod environment=production |
| kubectl label pod <pod-name> <label-key>=<label-value> | Add a label to a pod | kubectl label pod my-pod app=web |
| kubectl rollout history deployment <deployment-name> | View the rollout history of a deployment | kubectl rollout history deployment my-deployment |
| kubectl create secret generic <secret-name> –from-literal=<key>=<value> | Create a generic secret | kubectl create secret generic my-secret –from-literal=password=my-password |
| kubectl expose deployment <deployment-name> –port=<port> –target-port=<target-port> | Expose a deployment as a service | kubectl expose deployment my-deployment –port=80 –target-port=8080 |
| kubectl set image deployment <deployment-name> <container-name>=<image> | Update the image of a container in a deployment | kubectl set image deployment my-deployment my-container=my-image:latest |
| kubectl get statefulsets | List all stateful sets in the default namespace | kubectl get statefulsets |
| kubectl describe statefulset <statefulset-name> | Get detailed information about a specific stateful set | kubectl describe statefulset my-statefulset |
| kubectl get jobs | List all jobs in the default namespace | kubectl get jobs |
| kubectl describe job <job-name> | Get detailed information about a specific job | kubectl describe job my-job |
| kubectl get cronjobs | List all cron jobs in the default namespace | kubectl get cronjobs |
| kubectl describe cronjob <cronjob-name> | Get detailed information about a specific cron job | kubectl describe cronjob my-cronjob |
| kubectl get persistentvolumes | List all persistent volumes in the cluster | kubectl get persistentvolumes |
| kubectl describe persistentvolume <persistentvolume-name> | Get detailed information about a specific persistent volume | kubectl describe persistentvolume my-pv |
| kubectl get persistentvolumeclaims | List all persistent volume claims in the default namespace | kubectl get persistentvolumeclaims |
| kubectl describe persistentvolumeclaim <persistentvolumeclaim-name> | Get detailed information about a specific persistent volume claim | kubectl describe persistentvolumeclaim my-pvc |
| kubectl get endpoints | List all endpoints in the default namespace | kubectl get endpoints |
| kubectl describe endpoints <endpoints-name> | Get detailed information about specific endpoints | kubectl describe endpoints my-endpoints |
| kubectl config view | View the kubeconfig file | kubectl config view |
| kubectl config get-contexts | List all contexts in the kubeconfig file | kubectl config get-contexts |
| kubectl config use-context <context-name> | Switch to a different context in the kubeconfig file | kubectl config use-context my-context |
| kubectl create configmap <configmap-name> –from-file=<file-path> | Create a config map from a file | kubectl create configmap my-configmap –from-file=config.txt |
| kubectl replace -f <file> | Replace a resource with the contents of a file | kubectl replace -f deployment.yaml |
| kubectl cp <pod-name>:<source-path> <destination-path> | Copy files or directories to and from containers | kubectl cp my-pod:/tmp/file.txt /local/path |
| kubectl port-forward <pod-name> <local-port>:<remote-port> | Forward one or more local ports to a pod | kubectl port-forward my-pod 8080:80 |
| kubectl logs <pod-name> | View the logs for a pod | kubectl logs my-pod |
| kubectl exec -it <pod-name> — <command> | Execute a command in a container | kubectl exec -it my-pod — /bin/bash |
| kubectl run <name> –image=<image> –command — <command> | Run a new pod with a specified image and command | kubectl run my-pod –image=my-image –command — /bin/bash |
| kubectl apply -f <file> | Apply a configuration from a file | kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml |
| kubectl delete -f <file> | Delete resources defined in a file | kubectl delete -f deployment.yaml |
| kubectl describe pod <pod-name> | Get detailed information about a specific pod | kubectl describe pod my-pod |
| kubectl scale deployment <deployment-name> –replicas=<number> | Scale a deployment to a specified number of replicas | kubectl scale deployment my-deployment –replicas=3 |
| kubectl rollout status deployment <deployment-name> | Check the status of a deployment rollout | kubectl rollout status deployment my-deployment |
| kubectl get events | List events in the default namespace | kubectl get events |
| kubectl top nodes | Display resource usage (CPU and memory) of nodes | kubectl top nodes |
| kubectl get pods –all-namespaces | List all pods across all namespaces | kubectl get pods –all-namespaces |
| kubectl get services | List all services in the default namespace | kubectl get services |
| kubectl get namespaces | List all namespaces in the cluster | kubectl get namespaces |
| kubectl create namespace <namespace-name> | Create a new namespace | kubectl create namespace my-namespace |
| kubectl delete namespace <namespace-name> | Delete a namespace | kubectl delete namespace my-namespace |
| kubectl get nodes | List all nodes in the cluster | kubectl get nodes |
| kubectl describe node <node-name> | Get detailed information about a specific node | kubectl describe node my-node |
| kubectl drain <node-name> –ignore-daemonsets | Drain a node to prepare for maintenance | kubectl drain my-node –ignore-daemonsets |
| kubectl cordon <node-name> | Mark a node as unschedulable | kubectl cordon my-node |
| kubectl uncordon <node-name> | Mark a node as schedulable | kubectl uncordon my-node |
| kubectl get configmaps | List all config maps in the default namespace | kubectl get configmaps |
| kubectl describe configmap <configmap-name> | Get detailed information about a specific config map | kubectl describe configmap my-configmap |
| kubectl get secrets | List all secrets in the default namespace | kubectl get secrets |
| kubectl describe secret <secret-name> | Get detailed information about a specific secret | kubectl describe secret my-secret |
| kubectl get ingresses | List all ingress resources in the default namespace | kubectl get ingresses |
| kubectl describe ingress <ingress-name> | Get detailed information about a specific ingress | kubectl describe ingress my-ingress |
| kubectl api-resources | List all API resources available in the cluster | kubectl api-resources |
| kubectl api-versions | List all API versions available in the cluster | kubectl api-versions |
| kubectl cluster-info | Display cluster information | kubectl cluster-info |
| kubectl top pods –containers | Display CPU and memory usage for containers within pods | kubectl top pods –containers |
| kubectl port-forward <service-name> <local-port>:<remote-port> | Forward one or more local ports to a service | kubectl port-forward my-service 8080:80 |
| kubectl exec -it <pod-name> — <command> | Execute a command in a container | kubectl exec -it my-pod — /bin/bash |
| kubectl create secret generic <secret-name> –from-literal=<key>=<value> | Create a new secret | kubectl create secret generic my-secret –from-literal=password=my-password |