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kubectl

The command-line tool for interacting with Kubernetes clusters.

Contexts (Clusters)​

kubectl config get-contexts          # list all clusters
kubectl config current-context       # which cluster you're on
kubectl config use-context <name>    # switch cluster
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=staging  # set default namespace

Get Resources​

kubectl get pods
kubectl get pods -n <namespace>
kubectl get pods -A                  # all namespaces
kubectl get pods -w                  # watch (live updates)
kubectl get pods -o wide             # show node, IP
kubectl get pods -o yaml             # full YAML output

kubectl get deployments
kubectl get services
kubectl get ingress
kubectl get configmaps
kubectl get secrets
kubectl get nodes
kubectl get all                      # pods, services, deployments in one shot

Describe (Details + Events)​

kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
kubectl describe deployment <name>
kubectl describe node <node-name>

describe is your first stop when something isn't working — check the Events section at the bottom.

Apply & Delete​

kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml       # create or update
kubectl apply -f ./k8s/              # apply entire directory
kubectl delete -f manifest.yaml
kubectl delete pod <pod-name>
kubectl delete pod <pod-name> --force  # skip graceful shutdown

Logs​

kubectl logs <pod-name>
kubectl logs <pod-name> -c <container>   # multi-container pod
kubectl logs <pod-name> -f               # follow (tail -f)
kubectl logs <pod-name> --previous       # logs from crashed container
kubectl logs <pod-name> --tail=100       # last 100 lines

Exec (Shell into a Pod)​

kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- bash
kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- sh        # if no bash
kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -c <container> -- bash  # specific container

Port Forward (Local Access to a Pod/Service)​

kubectl port-forward pod/<pod-name> 8080:80
kubectl port-forward svc/<service-name> 8080:80

Opens localhost:8080 → forwards to port 80 on the pod/service.

Scale​

kubectl scale deployment <name> --replicas=5
kubectl scale deployment <name> --replicas=0   # stop all pods

Rollouts​

kubectl rollout status deployment/<name>     # check rollout progress
kubectl rollout history deployment/<name>    # see revision history
kubectl rollout undo deployment/<name>       # roll back to previous
kubectl rollout undo deployment/<name> --to-revision=2
kubectl rollout restart deployment/<name>    # force restart all pods

Copy Files​

kubectl cp <pod-name>:/path/to/file ./local-file    # pod → local
kubectl cp ./local-file <pod-name>:/path/to/file    # local → pod

Resource Usage​

kubectl top pods
kubectl top pods -n <namespace>
kubectl top nodes

Requires metrics-server to be installed in the cluster.

Labels & Selectors​

kubectl get pods -l app=my-app
kubectl get pods -l env=production,app=my-app
kubectl label pod <pod-name> env=production

Quick Edit​

kubectl edit deployment <name>    # opens YAML in $EDITOR

Dry Run (Preview Without Applying)​

kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml --dry-run=client
kubectl delete pod <name> --dry-run=client

Useful Aliases​

alias k=kubectl
alias kgp='kubectl get pods'
alias kgpa='kubectl get pods -A'
alias kl='kubectl logs'
alias kex='kubectl exec -it'