kubectl Command Reference

kubectl config get-contexts             # every cluster/context this kubeconfig knows about
kubectl config current-context           # which one is active right now
kubectl config use-context my-cluster    # switch active context
kubectl cluster-info                     # control plane and core service endpoints
kubectl version                          # client and server (API) versions

kubectl get pods                              # pods in the current namespace
kubectl get pods -A                           # pods in every namespace
kubectl get pods -o wide                      # + node, IP, extra columns
kubectl get pods -w                           # watch for changes, live
kubectl get deployments,services,pods         # multiple resource types at once

kubectl describe pod my-pod                   # full detail, including recent Events -- the first
                                               # thing to check when a pod won't start or is crashlooping
kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml                # the pod's actual resolved manifest

kubectl logs my-pod                           # stdout/stderr from a pod's (only) container
kubectl logs my-pod -c my-container           # a specific container in a multi-container pod
kubectl logs -f my-pod                        # follow
kubectl logs --previous my-pod                # logs from the PREVIOUS instance of a crashed/restarted pod

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml         # create or update, declaratively -- the normal path
kubectl apply -f ./manifests/            # apply every manifest in a directory
kubectl create -f deployment.yaml        # create only -- errors if it already exists
kubectl delete -f deployment.yaml        # delete whatever that manifest describes
kubectl delete pod my-pod                # delete by name directly

kubectl edit deployment my-app           # open the live resource in $EDITOR, applies on save
kubectl patch deployment my-app -p '{"spec":{"replicas":5}}'   # targeted partial update
kubectl scale deployment my-app --replicas=5                    # the common case of the above

kubectl exec -it my-pod -- /bin/bash          # shell into a pod's container
kubectl exec my-pod -- env                    # run one command, see the output, exit

kubectl port-forward pod/my-pod 8080:80       # localhost:8080 -> pod:80, for local debugging
kubectl port-forward svc/my-service 8080:80   # same, via a Service

kubectl top pods                              # live CPU/memory per pod (needs metrics-server)
kubectl top nodes                             # live CPU/memory per node

kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app       # watch a rollout to completion
kubectl rollout history deployment/my-app      # revision history
kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app         # roll back to the previous revision
kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app --to-revision=3   # roll back to a specific one
kubectl rollout restart deployment/my-app      # force a rolling restart of all pods (no image change)

kubectl get namespaces
kubectl create namespace staging
kubectl get pods -n staging                     # scope a single command to a namespace
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=staging   # make it the default for this context