Kubectl Cheat Sheet with Examples- 50 Quick Commands

Check out 50 essential Kubectl commands across 10 categories for quick reference and to simplify your work

Whether you're a seasoned DevOps engineer or just getting started with Kubernetes, having a quick reference guide can significantly boost your productivity and confidence. In this article, we've created an ultimate Kubectl cheat sheet with 50 essential commands and examples, covering everything from basic operations to advanced configurations. This guide is designed to be your go-to resource for navigating Kubernetes efficiently, helping you execute tasks faster and with greater accuracy.

We have included the Kubectl command for the following areas. 

1. Basic Commands

2. Pod Management

3. ConfigMap Management

4. Secret Management

5. Deployment Management

6. Service Management

7. Namespace Management

8. Persistent Volume Management

9. Monitoring and Debugging

10. Helm Commands

So, without further delay, let’s begin. 

Kubectl Cheat Sheet with Examples For Quick Reference

Here is the ultimate Kubernetes cheat sheet with examples. We have also covered sample outputs for crucial commands. 

Basic Commands

1. Get Cluster Information

Retrieves the details about the Kubernetes cluster.

kubectl cluster-info

Sample output

Kubernetes control plane is running at https://192.168.99.100:8443

KubeDNS is running at https://192.168.99.100:8443/api/v1/namespaces/kube-system/services/kube-dns:dns/proxy

Breakdown of the Output:

• Kubernetes control plane: This is the endpoint for the Kubernetes API server, which is the core component that manages the cluster.

• KubeDNS: This service provides DNS within the cluster, allowing you to use domain names instead of IP addresses to reach services within the cluster.

The exact URLs and IP addresses in the output will vary depending on your cluster's configuration. This Kubectl Cheat Sheet command is useful for quickly verifying that your cluster is up and running and that key components are accessible.

2. View Nodes

Lists all the nodes in the Kubernetes cluster.
kubectl get nodes

3. View All Resources in a Namespace

Lists all resources (pods, services, deployments, etc.) in a specific namespace.
kubectl get all -n <namespace>

4. View Detailed Information

Provides detailed information about a resource (e.g., pod, service, deployment).
kubectl describe <resource> <resource-name>

5. Install Pomerium to Your Cluster

Secures Kubernetes clusters with an advanced identity-aware proxy and continuous verification. 

kubectl apply -k github.com/pomerium/ingress-controller/config/default/?ref=v0.27.0

It’s an open-source platform. To explore the further steps, check out this Kubernetes- Pomerium Step-by-Step Guide.

Pod Management

6. View Logs from a Single Pod

Fetches logs from a specific pod.

kubectl logs <pod-name>

Example,

The below Kubernetes command will display the logs for the pod named pomerium-deployment-7d8f6bb6b7-abcde.

kubectl logs pomerium-deployment-7d8f6bb6b7-abcde

The output will show the access logs for a Pomerium pod, including the client IP, timestamp, HTTP method, status code, and user agent.

7. View Logs from a Specific Container in a Pod

If your pod contains multiple containers, you can specify the container name:

kubectl logs <pod-name> -c <container-name>

Example Command:

kubectl logs pomerium-deployment-7d8f6bb6b7-abcde -c nginx-container

8. List All Pods

Lists all pods in the default namespace.
kubectl get pods

9. View Logs Continuously (Stream Logs)

To continuously stream logs from a pod (similar to tail -f in Linux):

kubectl logs -f <pod-name>

Example Command:

kubectl logs -f pomerium-deployment-7d8f6bb6b7-abcde

This Kubernetes cheat sheet command will keep the log stream open and display new log entries in real-time.

10. View Logs for Previous Instances

If a pod has been restarted and you want to view the logs from its previous instance:

kubectl logs <pod-name> --previous

Example Command

This command shows the logs from the previous instance of the specified pod, which is useful for troubleshooting crashes or restarts.

kubectl logs nginx-deployment-7d8f6bb6b7-abcde --previous

11. Create a Pod

Creates a pod with the specified name and image.

kubectl run <pod-name> --image=<image-name>

12. Delete a Pod

Deletes a pod by name.

kubectl delete pod <pod-name>

13. Execute Command Inside a Pod

Opens an interactive shell inside a running pod.

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

Example Command:

kubectl exec -it nginx-deployment-7d8f6bb6b7-abcde -- /bin/bash

This command opens a bash shell inside the nginx-deployment-7d8f6bb6b7-abcde pod, allowing you to run commands interactively.

14. View Pod Security Policies (PSP)

Pod Security Policies control what actions and configurations are allowed for pods in your cluster. You can view existing policies with:

Example Command:

kubectl get psp

This command lists all Pod Security Policies in your cluster.

ConfigMap Management

15. Create a ConfigMap from Literal Values

'Creating a ConfigMap in Kubernetes allows you to store configuration data in a key-value format, which can be consumed by your pods or used by your applications.

kubectl create configmap <configmap-name> --from-literal=<key>=<value>

Example Command:

kubectl create configmap app-config --from-literal=environment=production --from-literal=log_level=info

This command creates a ConfigMap named app-config with the following key-value pairs:

• environment: production

• log_level: info

16. Create a ConfigMap from a File

You can also create a ConfigMap from a file, where the contents of the file will be stored as the value of the specified key.

kubectl create configmap <configmap-name> --from-file=<key>=<file-path>

Example Command:

kubectl create configmap app-config --from-file=config.json=/path/to/config.json

This Kubectl command creates a ConfigMap named app-config with the key config.json and the contents of the file located at /path/to/config.json as its value.

17. Create a ConfigMap from an Entire Directory

If you have multiple configuration files in a directory, you can create a ConfigMap with all of them at once.

kubectl create configmap <configmap-name> --from-file=<directory-path>

Example Command:

kubectl create configmap app-config --from-file=/path/to/config-directory/

This command creates a ConfigMap named app-config where each file in /path/to/config-directory/ becomes a key in the ConfigMap, with the file's content as the value.

18. View the ConfigMap

After creating the ConfigMap, you can view it using:

kubectl get configmap <configmap-name> -o yaml

Example Command:

kubectl get configmap app-config -o yaml

This Kubectl cheat sheet command will display the app-config ConfigMap in YAML format, showing the keys and their respective values.

Secret Management

19. Create a Secret - Literal Values

Creates a Secret from literal values.
kubectl create secret generic <secret-name> --from-literal=<key>=<value>

Example command:

To securely store sensitive information like passwords, tokens, or keys, you can create a Secret:

kubectl create secret generic db-secret --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=supersecret

This command creates a Secret named db-secret with the username and password for database authentication.

20. View Secrets

By default, the contents of a Secret are base64 encoded. You can view the Secret and decode it using the following command:

kubectl get secret <secret-name> -o yaml

Example Command:

kubectl get secret db-secret -o yaml

This command will display the db-secret Secret in YAML format. To decode the base64-encoded values, you can use a command like:

echo '<encoded-value>' | base64 --decode

21. Create a Secret from a File

You can create a Secret from a file where the contents of the file will be stored as the value of the specified key.

kubectl create secret generic <secret-name> --from-file=<key>=<file-path>

Example Command:

kubectl create secret generic tls-secret --from-file=tls.crt=/path/to/tls.crt --from-file=tls.key=/path/to/tls.key

This command creates a Secret named tls-secret with the following keys and their corresponding file contents:

• tls.crt

• tls.key

22. Use a Secret in a Pod

To use a Secret in a pod, you can reference it in the pod's YAML file, either as an environment variable or as a mounted volume.

Example Command: 

Using Secret as Environment Variables

In this example, the db-secret Secret is used to set the DB_USERNAME and DB_PASSWORD environment variables in the pod.

23. Delete a Secret

If you need to delete a Secret, use the following command:

kubectl delete secret <secret-name>

Example Command:

kubectl delete secret db-secret

This command deletes the db-secret Secret from your cluster.

Deployment Management

24. Create a Deployment

Creates a deployment with a specified name and image.

kubectl create deployment <deployment-name> --image=<image-name>

25. Scale a Deployment

Scales a deployment to the specified number of replicas.

kubectl scale deployment <deployment-name> --replicas=<number>

26. Update a Deployment

Updates the image of a container in a deployment.

kubectl set image deployment/<deployment-name> <container-name>=<new-image>

27. Rollback a Deployment

Rolls back a deployment to the previous version.
kubectl rollout undo deployment/<deployment-name>

28. View Deployment History

Displays the rollout history of a deployment.
kubectl rollout history deployment/<deployment-name>

Service Management

29. Expose a Deployment as a Service

Exposes a deployment as a service. Common types are ClusterIP, NodePort, and LoadBalancer.
kubectl expose deployment <deployment-name> --type=<type> --port=<port>

30. List Services

Lists all services in the default namespace.
kubectl get services

Sample Output:

In this output:

• NAME is the name of the service.

• TYPE indicates the type of service (e.g., ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer).

• CLUSTER-IP is the service's internal IP address.

• EXTERNAL-IP is the external IP address (if applicable).

• PORT(S) shows the ports exposed by the service.

• AGE indicates how long the service has been running.

31. List All Services in a Specific Namespace

To list services in a specific namespace, use the -n option:

kubectl get services -n <namespace>

Example Command:

kubectl get services -n my-namespace

This important Kubectl cheat sheet command lists all the services in the my-namespace namespace.

32. List Services with More Details

To get more detailed information about the services, you can add the -o wide option:

kubectl get services -o wide

Sample Output:

In this output:

SELECTOR shows the label selector that the service uses to select the pods it routes traffic to.

 33. List Services Across All Namespaces

If you want to list all services across all namespaces, you can use the --all-namespaces option:

kubectl get services --all-namespaces

In this output:

The NAMESPACE column shows the namespace each service belongs to.

34. Delete a Service

Deletes a service by name.
kubectl delete service <service-name>

35. View Pod Resource Utilization

Displays CPU and memory usage for nodes or pods.

kubectl top pods

To see the CPU and memory usage of all pods in a specific namespace:

kubectl top pods -n <namespace>

For example, if you want to see the resource usage for all pods in the default namespace:

kubectl top pods -n default

Sample output

In this output:

CPU(cores) indicates the CPU usage for each pod.

MEMORY(bytes) shows the memory usage for each pod.

36. Port Forwarding

Forwards a port from your local machine to a pod.

kubectl port-forward <pod-name> <local-port>:<remote-port>

37. Get Events

Lists recent events in the cluster.

kubectl get events

38. View API Resources

Lists all available API resources.

kubectl api-resources

Namespace Management

39. Create a Namespace

Creates a new namespace.

kubectl create namespace <namespace-name>

40. Switch Between Namespaces

Switches the context to a different namespace.

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<namespace-name>

41. Delete a Namespace

Deletes a namespace by name.

kubectl delete namespace <namespace-name>

Persistent Volume Management

42. List Persistent Volumes (PV)

Lists all persistent volumes.

kubectl get pv

Lists Persistent Volume Claims (PVC)

kubectl get pvc

43. Delete a Persistent Volume Claim

Deletes a PVC by name.

kubectl delete pvc <pvc-name>

Monitoring and Debugging

44. To see the CPU and memory usage of all nodes in the cluster

kubectl top nodes

Sample output

In this output:

• CPU(cores) shows the amount of CPU currently being used.

• CPU% shows the percentage of the total CPU capacity being used.

• MEMORY(bytes) shows the amount of memory currently being used.

• MEMORY% shows the percentage of the total memory capacity being used.

Helm Commands

45. Install a Chart

Installs a Helm chart with a specific release name.

helm install <release-name> <chart-name>

46. Upgrade a Release

Upgrades a release to a new chart version.

helm upgrade <release-name> <chart-name>

47. List Releases

Lists all Helm releases.

helm list

48. List Helm Releases with a Specific Status

To filter releases by a specific status, use the --filter option:

helm list --filter <status>

Example Command:

This command lists only the releases that have failed.

helm list --filter failed

 49. List Helm Releases in JSON Format

To list Helm releases and output the result in JSON format:

helm list -o json

This is useful for programmatically processing the output.

50. Rollback a Release

Rolls back a release to a previous revision.
helm rollback <release-name> <revision-number>

Wrapping up Kubectl Cheat Sheet

Mastering Kubernetes can be a daunting task, especially when it comes to remembering all the commands and options available in Kubectl, the command-line tool that interacts with your Kubernetes cluster. We hope this Kubectl Cheat Sheet functions as a useful quick reference for your work.

If you are looking for a robust security posture for your Kubernetes, consider Pomerium – the most reliable identity and context-aware proxy solution. It is the best Bastion Host alternative and VPN alternative for teams of all sizes, and works great with K8s to secure the Kubernetes control plan. Learn more about why Pomerium works great with K8s here.