Kubectl Commands

Kubectl Commands (cheatsheet)

Remember to begin each of these with kubectl {command}. Run kubectl {command} --help to see a full list of parameters and use cases.

get {resource type} {? resource name}

returns a list of resources, for example:

• deployments

• nodes

• pods

describe {resource} {? resource name}

shows detailed information about a resource.

logs

Prints the logs from a container in a pod.

exec [-it] {pod name} [-c {container}] {command} [args]

Execute a command on a container in a pod. For example, we could run the command bash to get a terminal session going in that pod.

-i passes stdin to the container -t will specify that stdin is a TTY

The container argument is useful for pods which might hold more than one container.

run {deployment-name} --image={container-image} --port={port-no}

creates a new deployment with the name deployment-name using the app image provided and exposed on the port provided.

This command finds a node that can be used to run the specified app. It also schedules the app to run on that node and configures the cluster to reschedule the app instance on a new node whenever needed.

expose {resource type} {resource name} [options]

Creates a new service, using the resource passed. One option to be passed is --type, which defines the type of the service and which other nodes can see this service.

delete {resource}

Delete resources by filenames, stdin, resources and names, or by resources and label selector.

proxy

Creates a connection between the host (e.g. your local machine) and the kubernetes cluster. This allows direct access to the cluster's API using the IP address provided when you run the command. For example, running curl {provided-ip:port}/version will list the version details of the current cluster.

label {object-type} {object-name} {label}

Adds a new label to the object identified by the type and name passed. e.g. kubectl label pod $POD_NAME app=v1

port-forward {pod name} {local port}:{remote port}

This command sets it up so that requests on the local port are forwarded to the remote port on the specified pod/container.

attach {pod name} -c {container}

Attaches to a process that is already running inside an existing container so that you can view it's output.

scale [options] {deployment}

This command allows us to change scaling settings for a deployment on the fly. So instead of having to update the deployment.yaml file of a deployment and relaunch it, we can simply run this command to update, for example, the number of replicas we want to allow.