Kubectl quick reference cheat sheet

Commands and options for Kubernetes v1.37.

1. Context & Configuration

Command	Description
kubectl config view	Show merged kubeconfig settings.
kubectl config view --raw	Show settings including raw certificates/secrets.
kubectl config get-contexts	List all contexts.
kubectl config use-context <name>	Switch to a specific context.
kubectl config current-context	Display the active context.
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<ns>	Set default namespace for current context.

Useful Aliases (Bash):

# Set/Show Context
kx() { [ "$1" ] && kubectl config use-context $1 || kubectl config current-context ; }
# Set/Show Namespace
kn() { [ "$1" ] && kubectl config set-context --current --namespace $1 || kubectl config view --minify | grep namespace | cut -d" " -f6 ; }

2. Creating & Applying Resources

Command	Description
kubectl apply -f <file.yaml>	Create/Update resources from a file.
kubectl apply -f ./dir/	Apply all manifests in a directory.
kubectl apply -f - <<EOF ... EOF	Apply resources from stdin (heredoc).
kubectl create deployment <name> --image=<img>	Create a single-instance deployment.
kubectl explain pods	Get documentation for pod manifests.

3. Viewing & Finding Resources

Command	Description
kubectl get pods	List pods in current namespace.
kubectl get pods -A	List pods in all namespaces (-A is shorthand for --all-namespaces).
kubectl get pods -o wide	List pods with more details (IP, Node, etc.).
kubectl describe pods <name>	Verbose output about a specific pod.
kubectl get <res> --sort-by=<path>	Sort output (e.g., --sort-by=.metadata.name).
kubectl get pods --selector=<label>	Filter by label (e.g., --selector=app=cassandra).
kubectl diff -f <file.yaml>	Compare local manifest vs. cluster state.
kubectl top pod	Show resource usage (CPU/Mem) for pods.

4. Updating, Patching & Scaling

Command	Description
kubectl set image deployment/<dep> <container>=<img>	Update container image (rolling update).
kubectl rollout undo deployment/<dep>	Rollback to previous revision.
kubectl rollout status deployment/<dep>	Watch rollout status.
kubectl rollout restart deployment/<dep>	Rolling restart.
kubectl patch <res> <name> -p '<json>'	Partially update a resource.
kubectl edit <res> <name>	Edit resource in your preferred editor.
kubectl scale --replicas=<n> deployment/<dep>	Scale replicas to a specific number.
kubectl autoscale deployment <dep> --min=2 --max=10	Set up Horizontal Pod Autoscaler.

5. Labels, Annotations & Taints

Command	Description
kubectl label pods <name> key=value	Add a label.
kubectl label pods <name> key-	Remove a label.
kubectl annotate pods <name> key=value	Add an annotation.
kubectl taint nodes <node> key=value:NoSchedule	Add a taint to a node.

6. Deleting Resources

Command	Description
kubectl delete -f <file.yaml>	Delete resources defined in file.
kubectl delete pod <name> --now	Delete pod with no grace period.
kubectl delete pods,services -l <label>	Delete resources matching a label.
kubectl -n <ns> delete pod --all	Delete all pods in a namespace.

7. Interacting with Running Pods

Command	Description
kubectl logs <pod>	Dump pod logs (stdout).
kubectl logs -f <pod>	Stream logs.
kubectl logs <pod> --previous	Logs from a previously crashed container.
kubectl exec -it <pod> -- /bin/sh	Interactive shell access to a pod.
kubectl exec <pod> -- <cmd>	Run a single command in a pod.
kubectl attach <pod> -i	Attach to a running container.
kubectl port-forward <pod> <local>:<remote>	Forward local port to pod port.
kubectl debug <pod> -it --image=busybox	Create an ephemeral debug container in the pod.

Copy Files:

# Local -> Remote
kubectl cp /tmp/foo_dir my-pod:/tmp/bar_dir
# Remote -> Local
kubectl cp my-pod:/tmp/foo /tmp/bar

8. Node & Cluster Management

Command	Description
kubectl top node	Show metrics for all nodes.
kubectl cordon <node>	Mark node as unschedulable.
kubectl drain <node>	Evict all pods from a node (for maintenance).
kubectl uncordon <node>	Mark node as schedulable again.
kubectl cluster-info	Display addresses of master and services.
kubectl get nodes --no-headers	List only node names.

9. Output Formatting

Use the -o or --output flag to change how data is printed.

Flag	Description
-o json	JSON format.
-o yaml	YAML format.
-o wide	Plain text with extra columns (e.g., Node, IP).
-o name	Only resource names.
-o jsonpath='{...}'	Extract specific fields using JSONPath.
-o custom-columns='Name:.metadata.name'	Create a custom table.

Useful JSONPath Examples:

# Get External IPs of all nodes
kubectl get nodes -o jsonpath='{.items[*].status.addresses[?(@.type=="ExternalIP")].address}'

# List all images in the cluster
kubectl get pods -A -o custom-columns='IMAGE:.spec.containers[*].image'

10. Debugging & Verbosity

Control logging level with -v or --v.

• --v=1: Reasonable default.
• --v=2: Steady state info (Recommended default).
• --v=4: Debug level.
• --v=8: Display HTTP request contents.

API Exploration:

kubectl api-resources --namespaced=true   # List namespaced resources
kubectl api-resources --verbs=list,get    # Resources that support list/get

11. Autocomplete Setup

Bash:

source <(kubectl completion bash)
echo "source <(kubectl completion bash)" >> ~/.bashrc
alias k=kubectl
complete -o default -F __start_kubectl k

Zsh:

source <(kubectl completion zsh)
echo '[[ $commands[kubectl] ]] && source <(kubectl completion zsh)' >> ~/.zshrc