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kubectl commands

kubectl is the official Kubernetes client and the main tool for working with your cluster. This page summarises the most commonly used commands.

Connection and Context​

Once you have downloaded the configuration file, use --kubeconfig to specify its location:

kubectl --kubeconfig=/<pfad-zum-verzeichnis>/<cluster-name>-kubeconfig.yaml get nodes

To avoid having to specify the path every time the programme is run, set the environment variable KUBECONFIG:

export KUBECONFIG=/<pfad-zum-verzeichnis>/<cluster-name>-kubeconfig.yaml

Check connection​

The following commands confirm that the connection to the cluster is working:

CommandPurpose
kubectl config get-contextsLists the cluster name, users and namespaces
kubectl cluster-infoDisplays the addresses of the control plane and cluster services
kubectl versionDisplays the client and server versions
kubectl get nodesLists all nodes in the cluster
kubectl helpDisplays the available commands

View resources​

# Nodes mit zusätzlichen Details
kubectl get nodes -o wide

# Pods im aktuellen Namespace
kubectl get pods

# Pods über alle Namespaces hinweg
kubectl get pods --all-namespaces

# Fortlaufende Aktualisierung der Anzeige
kubectl get pods --watch

# Deployments, Services und Ingresses
kubectl get deployments
kubectl get services
kubectl get ingress

# Alle gängigen Ressourcen eines Namespace
kubectl get all -n <namespace>

Details and Troubleshooting​

# Ausführliche Informationen inklusive Events
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
kubectl describe node <node-name>

# Logs eines Pods
kubectl logs <pod-name>

# Logs fortlaufend mitlesen
kubectl logs -f <pod-name>

# Logs eines bestimmten Containers in einem Pod
kubectl logs <pod-name> -c <container-name>

# Logs der vorherigen, abgestürzten Instanz
kubectl logs <pod-name> --previous

# Events des Clusters nach Zeit sortiert
kubectl get events --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp

Switch to a container​

kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- /bin/sh

Forward a local port​

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

Managing workloads​

# Manifest anwenden
kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml

# Alle Manifeste eines Verzeichnisses anwenden
kubectl apply -f ./manifeste/

# Ressource löschen
kubectl delete -f manifest.yaml
kubectl delete pod <pod-name>

# Deployment skalieren
kubectl scale deployment <deployment-name> --replicas=3

# Neustart eines Deployments erzwingen
kubectl rollout restart deployment <deployment-name>

# Status eines Rollouts verfolgen
kubectl rollout status deployment <deployment-name>

# Rollout zurücknehmen
kubectl rollout undo deployment <deployment-name>

Capacity utilisation​

kubectl top nodes
kubectl top pods --all-namespaces
kubectl top pods --all-namespaces --sort-by=cpu

Namespaces​

# Namespaces auflisten
kubectl get namespaces

# Namespace anlegen
kubectl create namespace <namespace>

# Standard-Namespace für den aktuellen Kontext setzen
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<namespace>

Preparing nodes for maintenance​

# Keine neuen Pods mehr auf dem Node platzieren
kubectl cordon <node-name>

# Vorhandene Pods verlagern
kubectl drain <node-name> --ignore-daemonsets --delete-emptydir-data

# Node wieder für Pods freigeben
kubectl uncordon <node-name>

Storage​

kubectl get pvc
kubectl get pv
kubectl get storageclass
Hinweis

kubectl get storageclass lists the storage classes available for persistent volumes (CSI/PVC). See Storage Features.

Version compatibility​

kubectl supports a minor version difference of up to one version in either direction from the cluster version. For a cluster with version 1.33, the kubectl versions 1.32 to 1.34 are therefore suitable.

You can compare the client and server versions using:

kubectl version

Further reading​

You can find the full reference in the official kubectl documentation.

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