Kubernetes / kubectl Cheat Sheet

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A searchable, printable kubectl reference — contexts, pods, deployments, services, config and secrets, scaling and troubleshooting. Free.

kubectl basics

kubectl get pods

List pods in current namespace

kubectl get pods -o wide

Pods with node and IP details

kubectl get all

Pods, services, deployments...

kubectl describe pod my-pod

Full details + recent events

kubectl logs my-pod

Container stdout logs

kubectl logs -f my-pod

Stream logs (follow)

kubectl logs my-pod -c sidecar

Logs of a specific container

kubectl logs my-pod --previous

Logs from the crashed run

kubectl exec -it my-pod -- sh

Interactive shell in a pod

kubectl exec my-pod -- env

Run one command in a pod

kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml

Live manifest as YAML

kubectl explain deployment.spec

Built-in field documentation

kubectl api-resources

All resource types + short names

Contexts & namespaces

kubectl config get-contexts

List configured clusters

kubectl config current-context

Show the active context

kubectl config use-context prod

Switch cluster/context

kubectl get namespaces

List namespaces

kubectl get pods -n kube-system

Target one namespace

kubectl get pods -A

All namespaces

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=dev

Set default namespace

kubectl create namespace staging

Create a namespace

kubectl delete namespace staging

Delete namespace + contents

kubectl config view --minify

Active context config only

export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/other-config

Use an alternate kubeconfig

Creating & applying resources

kubectl apply -f app.yaml

Create or update from a file

kubectl apply -f ./manifests/

Apply a whole directory

kubectl apply -k ./overlays/prod

Apply with kustomize

kubectl delete -f app.yaml

Delete what a file created

kubectl create deployment web --image=nginx

Quick deployment (imperative)

kubectl run tmp --image=busybox -it --rm -- sh

Throwaway interactive pod

--dry-run=client -o yaml

Generate YAML without creating

kubectl diff -f app.yaml

Preview changes before apply

kubectl edit deployment web

Edit a live resource in $EDITOR

kubectl patch deploy web -p '{"spec":{"replicas":3}}'

Patch a single field

kubectl label pod my-pod env=prod

Add a label

kubectl annotate pod my-pod note="checked"

Add an annotation

Pods & debugging

kubectl get pods -w

Watch pod status live

kubectl get pods -l app=web

Filter by label selector

kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp

Recent cluster events

kubectl top pods

CPU / memory per pod

kubectl port-forward pod/my-pod 8080:80

Tunnel a pod port locally

kubectl cp my-pod:/var/log/app.log ./app.log

Copy files from a pod

kubectl debug my-pod -it --image=busybox

Attach an ephemeral container

kubectl debug node/my-node -it --image=busybox

Debug pod on a node

kubectl delete pod my-pod

Delete (controller recreates)

kubectl delete pod my-pod --grace-period=0 --force

Force-kill a stuck pod

kubectl get pod my-pod -o jsonpath='{.status.phase}'

Extract one field (jsonpath)

CrashLoopBackOff

Check logs --previous + probes

ImagePullBackOff

Check image name / registry auth

Deployments & rollouts

kubectl get deployments

List deployments

kubectl set image deploy/web web=nginx:1.27

Update the container image

kubectl rollout status deploy/web

Wait for rollout to finish

kubectl rollout history deploy/web

List past revisions

kubectl rollout undo deploy/web

Roll back to previous version

kubectl rollout undo deploy/web --to-revision=2

Roll back to a revision

kubectl rollout restart deploy/web

Restart all pods (new config)

kubectl rollout pause deploy/web

Pause a rollout

kubectl rollout resume deploy/web

Resume a paused rollout

kubectl scale deploy/web --replicas=5

Scale replica count

maxSurge: 1, maxUnavailable: 0

Zero-downtime rolling update

kubectl get rs

ReplicaSets behind deployments

Services & networking

kubectl get svc

List services

kubectl expose deploy/web --port=80 --target-port=8080

Create a service for a deploy

type: ClusterIP

Internal-only virtual IP (default)

type: NodePort

Expose on every node (30000+)

type: LoadBalancer

Cloud external load balancer

kubectl get endpoints web

Pods actually behind a service

kubectl port-forward svc/web 8080:80

Tunnel a service locally

kubectl get ingress

List ingress rules

web.default.svc.cluster.local

In-cluster DNS name format

kubectl run curl --image=curlimages/curl -it --rm -- sh

Test connectivity in-cluster

kubectl get networkpolicies

List traffic restrictions

sessionAffinity: ClientIP

Sticky sessions on a service

Config & secrets

kubectl create configmap app-cfg --from-literal=ENV=prod

ConfigMap from key=value

kubectl create configmap app-cfg --from-file=config.ini

ConfigMap from a file

kubectl create secret generic db --from-literal=pass=s3cret

Secret from key=value

kubectl get secret db -o jsonpath='{.data.pass}' | base64 -d

Decode a secret value

envFrom:
- configMapRef:
    name: app-cfg

Inject all keys as env vars

env:
- name: DB_PASS
  valueFrom:
    secretKeyRef:
      name: db
      key: pass

Inject one secret as env var

volumes:
- name: cfg
  configMap:
    name: app-cfg

Mount a ConfigMap as files

kubectl create secret tls web-tls --cert=tls.crt --key=tls.key

TLS secret for ingress

kubectl create secret docker-registry regcred --docker-server=...

Private registry pull secret

imagePullSecrets: [{name: regcred}]

Use the pull secret in a pod

kubectl rollout restart deploy/web

Pick up changed config/secret

Scaling & autoscaling

kubectl scale deploy/web --replicas=10

Manual scaling

kubectl autoscale deploy/web --min=2 --max=10 --cpu-percent=70

Create an HPA

kubectl get hpa

Autoscaler status + targets

resources:
  requests:
    cpu: 100m
    memory: 128Mi

Requests: scheduling baseline

resources:
  limits:
    cpu: 500m
    memory: 256Mi

Limits: hard caps (OOMKill)

cpu: 100m

m = millicores (0.1 CPU)

kubectl top pods --sort-by=memory

Find the memory hogs

OOMKilled (exit code 137)

Pod exceeded its memory limit

kubectl get pdb

PodDisruptionBudgets

minAvailable: 1

PDB: keep pods during drains

kubectl scale deploy/web --replicas=0

Stop an app without deleting

Nodes & cluster admin

kubectl get nodes

List cluster nodes

kubectl describe node my-node

Capacity, allocations, taints

kubectl top nodes

CPU / memory per node

kubectl cordon my-node

Stop scheduling onto a node

kubectl drain my-node --ignore-daemonsets

Evict pods for maintenance

kubectl uncordon my-node

Allow scheduling again

kubectl taint nodes my-node key=value:NoSchedule

Repel pods without toleration

nodeSelector: { disktype: ssd }

Pin pods to labeled nodes

kubectl cluster-info

API server / DNS endpoints

kubectl version

Client and server versions

kubectl auth can-i delete pods

Check your RBAC permissions

kubectl get componentstatuses

Control plane health (legacy)

YAML manifest skeletons

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: web
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: web
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: web
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: web
        image: nginx:1.27
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

Minimal Deployment

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: web
spec:
  selector:
    app: web
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 80

Minimal ClusterIP Service

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: web
spec:
  rules:
  - host: example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: web
            port:
              number: 80

Minimal Ingress

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: app-cfg
data:
  APP_ENV: production

Minimal ConfigMap

livenessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /healthz
    port: 80
  initialDelaySeconds: 10

Liveness probe (restart if dead)

readinessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /ready
    port: 80

Readiness probe (gate traffic)

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: cleanup
spec:
  schedule: "0 3 * * *"
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: job
            image: busybox
            command: ["sh", "-c", "echo run"]
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

Minimal CronJob

securityContext:
  runAsNonRoot: true
  readOnlyRootFilesystem: true

Container hardening basics

# kubectl create deploy web --image=nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml

Generate any skeleton fast

Troubleshooting one-liners

kubectl get pods -A | grep -v Running

Every unhealthy pod in cluster

kubectl get events -A --sort-by=.lastTimestamp | tail -20

Latest events, all namespaces

kubectl describe pod my-pod | grep -A5 Events

Jump straight to pod events

kubectl logs -l app=web --tail=50

Recent logs across all replicas

kubectl get pods --field-selector=status.phase=Failed

List failed pods

kubectl delete pods --field-selector=status.phase=Succeeded

Clean up completed pods

kubectl get pods -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.name}{"\t"}{.status.phase}{"\n"}{end}'

Custom name + phase table

kubectl get deploy web -o jsonpath='{.spec.template.spec.containers[0].image}'

Which image is deployed?

kubectl rollout status deploy/web --timeout=120s

Fail CI if rollout hangs

kubectl exec -it my-pod -- nslookup web

Test in-cluster DNS

kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml | grep -A5 lastState

Why did it restart?

kubectl api-resources --verbs=list -o name | xargs -n1 kubectl get -n dev

Everything in a namespace

watch kubectl get pods

Poor man's live dashboard

No entry matches “:q”.

About Kubernetes / kubectl Cheat Sheet

This Kubernetes cheat sheet puts kubectl on one searchable page: kubectl basics, contexts and namespaces, creating and applying resources, pods and debugging, deployments and rollouts, services and networking, config and secrets, scaling and autoscaling, nodes and cluster administration, YAML manifest skeletons, and troubleshooting one-liners.

It is built around the commands you run under pressure — describing a crash-looping pod, tailing logs from the previous container, exec-ing into a running container, rolling a deployment back, port-forwarding a service — with the flags spelled out rather than left to kubectl --help.

Like every cheat sheet in this group it is free and client-side: filter rows live with the search box, hop between sections with the sticky table of contents, copy any command with one click and print the page for reference beside your terminal.

How to use Kubernetes / kubectl Cheat Sheet

Open the sheet and review the sections, from kubectl basics to Troubleshooting one-liners.
Search for a keyword such as logs, rollout or port-forward to filter every row live.
Jump to YAML manifest skeletons when you need a starting Deployment, Service or ConfigMap.
Click a command or its copy icon to copy it straight into your terminal.
Use Print for a paper copy of the full kubectl reference.

Frequently asked questions

Eleven sections: kubectl basics, contexts and namespaces, creating and applying resources, pods and debugging, deployments and rollouts, services and networking, config and secrets, scaling and autoscaling, nodes and cluster admin, YAML manifest skeletons, and troubleshooting one-liners.

Yes. The pods and debugging section covers describe, logs with --previous and -f, exec, events sorted by timestamp, and the ephemeral debug container.

A dedicated section holds minimal skeletons for a Deployment, Service, ConfigMap, Secret, Ingress and Job — enough to copy and fill in.

Yes. Click any row or its copy icon and the kubectl command is copied immediately.

Yes, it is completely free and runs in your browser with no login.

Kubernetes / kubectl Cheat Sheet

kubectl basics

Contexts & namespaces

Creating & applying resources

Pods & debugging

Deployments & rollouts

Services & networking

Config & secrets

Scaling & autoscaling

Nodes & cluster admin

YAML manifest skeletons

Troubleshooting one-liners

About Kubernetes / kubectl Cheat Sheet

How to use Kubernetes / kubectl Cheat Sheet

Frequently asked questions

What does the Kubernetes cheat sheet include?

Does it help debug a failing pod?

Are there YAML manifest examples?

Can I copy a command with one click?

Is the Kubernetes reference free?

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