kubectl Cheat Sheet

• create
• edit
• get
• describe
• delete
• config

Create Command

Command	Description
kubectl create -f {FILE/S}	Creates resources from the given file, files, dir or url
kubectl create namespace {NAMESPACE_NAME}	Creates a new namespace
kubectl apply -f {FILE/S}	Apply changes or create resources based on the provided file
kubectl run {POD_NAME} --image={IMAGE}	Creates and starts a pod from the given image
kubectl run {POD_NAME} --image={IMAGE} --generator=run-pod/v1 --dry-run=true -o yaml > {FILE_NAME.yaml}	Tests the pod definition file and output it to a local yaml file

Edit Command

Command	Description
kubectl edit po {POD_NAME}	Edit the given Pod

Get Command

Command	Description
kubectl get po | pods	Lists all pods. Common Flags
kubectl get no | nodes	Lists all nodes
kubectl get svc | services	Lists all services in the namespace
kubectl get deploy | deployments	Lists deployments
kubectl get ep | endpoints	Lists all endpoints
kubectl get ing | ingress	Lists all ingress
kubectl get cs | componentstatuses	Displays the health status of the components
kubectl get ns | namespaces	Lists namespaces
kubectl get rs | replicasets	Lists Replica Resources
kubectl get sa | serviceaccounts	Lists Service Accounts
kubectl get clusterroles	Lists default Cluster Roles
kubectl get roles	Lists Roles
kubectl get pv | persistentvolumes	List persistent volumes
kubectl get pvc | persistentvolumeclaims	Lists persistent volume claims
kubectl get secret	Lists secrets/Tokens
kubectl get rolebinding	Lists rolebinding
kubectl get cm | configmaps	Lists ConfigMaps
kubectl get netpol | networkpolicies	Lists Network Policies
kubectl get quota	Lists Resource Quotas

Describe Command

Command	Description
kubectl describe po {POD_NAME}	Describes a specific pod
kubectl describe no {NODE_NAME}	Describes the status of a specific Node, CPU and memory (system information)
kubectl describe rs {REPLICA_SET_NAME}	Describes a specific ReplicaSet
kubectl describe sa {SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME}	Describes a specific Service Account
kubectl describe secret {SECRET_NAME}	Describes a secret/Token
kubectl describe rolebinding {ROLE_BINDING_NAME}	Describes a specific role binding
kubectl describe pv {PERSISTENT_VOLUME_NAME}	Describes a specific persistent volume
kubectl describe pvc {PERSISTENT_VOLUME_CLAIMS_NAME}	Describes a specific persistent volume claim

Delete Command

Command	Description
kubectl delete -f {FILE/S}	Deletes resources from the given file, files, dir or url
kubectl delete po {POD_NAME}	Deletes the specified pod
kubectl delete ns {NAMESPACE_NAME}	Deletes a specific namespace
kubectl delete deploy {DEPLOY_NAME}	Deletes a specific deployment
kubectl delete sa {SERVICE_ACCOUNT_NAME}	Deletes a specific service account
kubectl delete role {ROLE_NAME}	Deletes a specific role
kubectl delete rolebinding {ROLE_BINDING_NAME}	Deletes a specific role binding
kubectl delete pv {PV_NAME}	Deletes a specific persistent volume
kubectl delete pvc {PVC_NAME}	Deletes a specific persistent volume claim

Config Command

Command	Description
kubectl config get-contexts	display list of clusters
kubectl config use-context {CLUSTER_NAME}	changes the current cluster
kubectl config view | grep namespace	displays current namespace in use
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace={NAMESPACE_NAME}	changes the current namespace
kubectl config delete-context {CONTEXT_NAME}	deletes the provided context

Other Commands

Command	Description
kubectl expose deployment {DEPLOY_NAME} --type="ClusterIP"	Exposes an external IP address
kubectl proxy --port=8080	Starts a proxy to the Kubernetes API server
kubectl port-forward {POD_NAME} 8080:80	Forwards traffic from outside the cluster to the pod
{SVC_NAME.NS.svc.cluster.local}	Access a svc from a different namespace
wget -q -O - http://nginx-service-to-deploy	Test NetworkPolicy connection from one Pod to a service
nc -z -v -w 3 <svc-IP> 80	https://www.computerhope.com/unix/nc.htm

Common Flags:

Flag	Examples	Description
--all-namespaces	kubectl get po --all-namespaces	List all pods in all namespaces
-o wide	kubectl get pods -o wide	List all pods in the namespace, with more details
-o yaml	kubectl get po {POD_NAME} -o yaml > {FILE_NAME.yaml}	Extract the definition into a yaml file

Create Definition Files

• Pods
  • kubectl run nginx --image nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml > pod-nginx.yaml
  • kubectl run nginx-open-port --image nginx --port 80 --dry-run=client -o yaml > pod-nginx-open-port.yaml
  • kubectl run nginx-alpine --image nginx:alpine --dry-run=client -o yaml > pod-nginx-alpine.yaml
• Deployments
  • kubectl create deploy nginx --image nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml > deploy-nginx.yaml
  • kubectl create deploy nginx-w-replicas --image nginx --replicas 3 --dry-run=client -o yaml > deploy-nginx-w-replicas.yaml
  • kubectl create deploy nginx-alpine-w-replicas --image nginx:alpine --replicas 3 --dry-run=client -o yaml > deploy-nginx-alpine-w-replicas.yaml
• Services
  • NodePort
    • kubectl expose pod nginx --port=80 --name nginx-service-to-pod --type=NodePort --dry-run=client -o yaml > svc-nginx-to-pod.yaml
    • kubectl expose pod nginx-open-port --port=80 --name nginx-service-to-pod-w-open-port --type=NodePort --dry-run=client -o yaml > svc-nginx-to-pod-w-open-container-port.yaml
    • kubectl expose deploy nginx-w-replicas --port=80 --name nginx-service-to-deploy --type=NodePort --dry-run=client -o yaml > svc-nginx-to-deploy.yaml
  • ClusterIP
    • kubectl expose pod nginx --port=80 --name nginx-service-to-pod --type=ClusterIP --dry-run=client -o yaml > svc-nginx-to-pod.yaml
    • kubectl expose deploy nginx-w-replicas --port=80 --name nginx-service-to-deploy --type=ClusterIP --dry-run=client -o yaml > svc-nginx-to-deploy.yaml
• ConfigMaps
  • kubectl create cm cm-empty -o yaml --dry-run=client > cm-empty.yaml
  • kubectl create cm cm-sample --from-literal=KEY1=VAL1 --from-literal=KEY2=VAL2 -o yaml --dry-run=client > cm-sample.yaml
  • kubectl create cm cm-from-file --from-file ui.properties -o yaml --dry-run=client > cm-from-file.yaml

Alias

alias k="kubectl"
alias ka="k apply"
alias kc="k create"
alias kd="k describe"
alias kdel="k delete"
alias ke="k explain"
alias ke2="k expose"
alias kg="k get"
alias kl="k label"
alias klog="k logs"
alias kr="k run"
alias krol="k rollout"
alias kt="k taint"
alias ktop="k top"