Kubernetes Commands

Kubernetes (K8s) is a powerful container orchestration platform that helps automate

the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Here is a list
of 50 important Kubernetes commands along with brief explanations and examples:

1. kubectl version

o Display the Kubernetes client and server version.

kubectl version

2. kubectl cluster-info

o Display cluster information, including the master and services.

kubectl cluster-info

3. kubectl get nodes

o List all nodes in the cluster.

kubectl get nodes

4. kubectl get pods

o List all pods in the default namespace.

kubectl get pods

5. kubectl get deployments

o List all deployments in the default namespace.

kubectl get deployments

6. kubectl describe pod [pod_name]

o Display detailed information about a specific pod.

kubectl describe pod mypod

7. kubectl logs [pod_name]

o Display the logs of a specific pod.

kubectl logs mypod

8. kubectl exec -it [pod_name] -- /bin/sh

o Start an interactive shell in a specific pod.

kubectl exec -it mypod -- /bin/sh

9. kubectl create deployment [name] --image=[image]

o Create a deployment with a specified container image.

kubectl create deployment myapp --image=myimage:tag

10. kubectl expose deployment [name] --port=[port] --type=LoadBalancer

o Expose a deployment as a service.

kubectl expose deployment myapp --port=80 --type=LoadBalancer

11. kubectl scale deployment [name] --replicas=[replica_count]

o Scale the number of replicas for a deployment.

kubectl scale deployment myapp --replicas=3

12. kubectl get svc

o List all services in the default namespace.

kubectl get svc

13. kubectl delete pod [pod_name]

o Delete a specific pod.

kubectl delete pod mypod

14. kubectl delete deployment [name]

o Delete a deployment and its associated pods.

kubectl delete deployment myapp

15. kubectl apply -f [file]

o Apply a configuration file to the cluster.

kubectl apply -f myconfig.yaml

16. kubectl get configmaps

o List all ConfigMaps in the default namespace.

kubectl get configmaps

17. kubectl describe service [service_name]

o Display detailed information about a specific service.

kubectl describe service myservice

18. kubectl get namespaces

o List all namespaces in the cluster.

kubectl get namespaces

19. kubectl create namespace [namespace_name]

o Create a new namespace.

kubectl create namespace mynamespace

20. kubectl get pods -n [namespace]

o List all pods in a specific namespace.

kubectl get pods -n mynamespace

21. kubectl delete namespace [namespace_name]

o Delete a namespace and all its resources.

kubectl delete namespace mynamespace

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

o List services and sort them by name.

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

23. kubectl rollout status deployment [deployment_name]

o Check the status of a deployment rollout.

kubectl rollout status deployment myapp

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

o List pods that are in the Running phase.

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

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

o List events sorted by creation timestamp.

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

26. kubectl create secret generic [secret_name] --from-literal=[key]=[value]

o Create a generic secret from literal values.

kubectl create secret generic mysecret --from-literal=username=admin --

from-literal=password=pass123
27. kubectl get secrets

o List all secrets in the default namespace.

kubectl get secrets

28. kubectl describe secret [secret_name]

o Display detailed information about a specific secret.

kubectl describe secret mysecret

29. kubectl edit deployment [deployment_name]

o Edit the YAML of a deployment interactively.

kubectl edit deployment myapp

30. kubectl get pods -o wide

o List pods with additional details like node information.

kubectl get pods -o wide

31. kubectl get nodes -o custom-

columns=NODE:.metadata.name,IP:.status.addresses[0].address

o List nodes with custom output columns.

kubectl get nodes -o custom-

columns=NODE:.metadata.name,IP:.status.addresses[0].address

32. kubectl top pods

o Display resource usage (CPU and memory) of pods.

kubectl top pods

33. kubectl apply -f https://url-to-yaml-file

o Apply a configuration file directly from a URL.

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/example/myconfig.yaml

34. kubectl get pods --selector=[label_key]=[label_value]

o List pods with a specific label.

kubectl get pods --selector=app=myapp

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

o List pods that are not in the Running phase.

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

36. kubectl rollout undo deployment [deployment_name]

o Rollback a deployment to the previous version.

kubectl rollout undo deployment myapp

37. kubectl label pod [pod_name] [label_key]=[label_value]

o Add a label to a specific pod.

kubectl label pod mypod environment=production

38. kubectl get componentstatuses

o List the health of different cluster components.

kubectl get componentstatuses

39. kubectl describe node [node_name]

Display detailed information about a specific node.

kubectl describe node mynode

40. kubectl rollout history deployment [deployment_name]

o View the rollout history of a deployment.

kubectl rollout history deployment myapp

41. kubectl delete pod --selector=[label_key]=[label_value]

o Delete pods with a specific label.

kubectl delete pod --selector=app=myapp

42. kubectl top nodes

o Display resource usage (CPU and memory) of nodes.

kubectl top nodes

43. kubectl get pods --watch

o Watch for changes to pods in real-time.

kubectl get pods –watch

44. kubectl rollout pause deployment [deployment_name]

o Pause a deployment to prevent further rollouts.

kubectl rollout pause deployment myapp

45. kubectl rollout resume deployment [deployment_name]

o Resume a paused deployment.

kubectl rollout resume deployment myapp

46. kubectl explain [resource]

o Get information about a Kubernetes resource.

kubectl explain pod

 47. kubectl get pods -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'

o Extract specific information using JSONPath.

kubectl get pods -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'

48. kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f [file]

o Dry run to validate a configuration file without applying it.

kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f myconfig.yaml

49. kubectl exec -it [pod_name] -- /bin/sh -c 'command'

o Execute a command in a specific pod.

kubectl exec -it mypod -- /bin/sh -c 'ls /app'

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

[namespace]

o List events sorted by creation timestamp in a specific namespace.

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

These commands cover a broad range of Kubernetes operations and are useful for
managing and troubleshooting applications in a Kubernetes cluster. Note that some
commands may require specific roles or permissions depending on your Kubernetes
environment.