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Reference Documentation

Design docs, concept definitions, and references for APIs and CLIs.

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Overview of kubectl

kubectl is a command line interface for running commands against Kubernetes clusters. This overview covers kubectl syntax, describes the command operations, and provides common examples. For details about each command, including all the supported flags and subcommands, see the kubectl reference documentation. For installation instructions see installing kubectl.

Syntax

Use the following syntax to run kubectl commands from your terminal window:

kubectl [command] [TYPE] [NAME] [flags]

where command, TYPE, NAME, and flags are:

If you need help, just run kubectl help from the terminal window.

Operations

The following table includes short descriptions and the general syntax for all of the kubectl operations:

Operation Syntax Description
annotate kubectl annotate (-f FILENAME | TYPE NAME | TYPE/NAME) KEY_1=VAL_1 ... KEY_N=VAL_N [--overwrite] [--all] [--resource-version=version] [flags] Add or update the annotations of one or more resources.
api-versions kubectl api-versions [flags] List the API versions that are available.
apply kubectl apply -f FILENAME [flags] Apply a configuration change to a resource from a file or stdin.
attach kubectl attach POD -c CONTAINER [-i] [-t] [flags] Attach to a running container either to view the output stream or interact with the container (stdin).
autoscale kubectl autoscale (-f FILENAME | TYPE NAME | TYPE/NAME) [--min=MINPODS] --max=MAXPODS [--cpu-percent=CPU] [flags] Automatically scale the set of pods that are managed by a replication controller.
cluster-info kubectl cluster-info [flags] Display endpoint information about the master and services in the cluster.
config kubectl config SUBCOMMAND [flags] Modifies kubeconfig files. See the individual subcommands for details.
create kubectl create -f FILENAME [flags] Create one or more resources from a file or stdin.
delete kubectl delete (-f FILENAME | TYPE [NAME | /NAME | -l label | --all]) [flags] Delete resources either from a file, stdin, or specifying label selectors, names, resource selectors, or resources.
describe kubectl describe (-f FILENAME | TYPE [NAME_PREFIX | /NAME | -l label]) [flags] Display the detailed state of one or more resources.
edit kubectl edit (-f FILENAME | TYPE NAME | TYPE/NAME) [flags] Edit and update the definition of one or more resources on the server by using the default editor.
exec kubectl exec POD [-c CONTAINER] [-i] [-t] [flags] [-- COMMAND [args...]] Execute a command against a container in a pod,
explain kubectl explain [--include-extended-apis=true] [--recursive=false] [flags] Get documentation of various resources. For instance pods, nodes, services, etc.
expose kubectl expose (-f FILENAME | TYPE NAME | TYPE/NAME) [--port=port] [--protocol=TCP|UDP] [--target-port=number-or-name] [--name=name] [----external-ip=external-ip-of-service] [--type=type] [flags] Expose a replication controller, service, or pod as a new Kubernetes service.
get kubectl get (-f FILENAME | TYPE [NAME | /NAME | -l label]) [--watch] [--sort-by=FIELD] [[-o | --output]=OUTPUT_FORMAT] [flags] List one or more resources.
label kubectl label (-f FILENAME | TYPE NAME | TYPE/NAME) KEY_1=VAL_1 ... KEY_N=VAL_N [--overwrite] [--all] [--resource-version=version] [flags] Add or update the labels of one or more resources.
logs kubectl logs POD [-c CONTAINER] [--follow] [flags] Print the logs for a container in a pod.
patch kubectl patch (-f FILENAME | TYPE NAME | TYPE/NAME) --patch PATCH [flags] Update one or more fields of a resource by using the strategic merge patch process.
port-forward kubectl port-forward POD [LOCAL_PORT:]REMOTE_PORT [...[LOCAL_PORT_N:]REMOTE_PORT_N] [flags] Forward one or more local ports to a pod.
proxy kubectl proxy [--port=PORT] [--www=static-dir] [--www-prefix=prefix] [--api-prefix=prefix] [flags] Run a proxy to the Kubernetes API server.
replace kubectl replace -f FILENAME Replace a resource from a file or stdin.
rolling-update kubectl rolling-update OLD_CONTROLLER_NAME ([NEW_CONTROLLER_NAME] --image=NEW_CONTAINER_IMAGE | -f NEW_CONTROLLER_SPEC) [flags] Perform a rolling update by gradually replacing the specified replication controller and its pods.
run kubectl run NAME --image=image [--env="key=value"] [--port=port] [--replicas=replicas] [--dry-run=bool] [--overrides=inline-json] [flags] Run a specified image on the cluster.
scale kubectl scale (-f FILENAME | TYPE NAME | TYPE/NAME) --replicas=COUNT [--resource-version=version] [--current-replicas=count] [flags] Update the size of the specified replication controller.
stop kubectl stop Deprecated: Instead, see kubectl delete.
version kubectl version [--client] [flags] Display the Kubernetes version running on the client and server.

Remember: For more about command operations, see the kubectl reference documentation.

Resource types

The following table includes a list of all the supported resource types and their abbreviated aliases:

Resource type Abbreviated alias
apiservices  
certificatesigningrequests csr
clusters  
clusterrolebindings  
clusterroles  
componentstatuses cs
configmaps cm
controllerrevisions  
cronjobs  
customresourcedefinition crd
daemonsets ds
deployments deploy
endpoints ep
events ev
horizontalpodautoscalers hpa
ingresses ing
jobs  
limitranges limits
namespaces ns
networkpolicies netpol
nodes no
persistentvolumeclaims pvc
persistentvolumes pv
poddisruptionbudget pdb
podpreset  
pods po
podsecuritypolicies psp
podtemplates  
replicasets rs
replicationcontrollers rc
resourcequotas quota
rolebindings  
roles  
secrets  
serviceaccounts sa
services svc
statefulsets  
storageclasses  

Output options

Use the following sections for information about how you can format or sort the output of certain commands. For details about which commands support the various output options, see the kubectl reference documentation.

Formatting output

The default output format for all kubectl commands is the human readable plain-text format. To output details to your terminal window in a specific format, you can add either the -o or -output flags to a supported kubectl command.

Syntax

kubectl [command] [TYPE] [NAME] -o=<output_format>

Depending on the kubectl operation, the following output formats are supported:

Output format Description
-o=custom-columns=<spec> Print a table using a comma separated list of custom columns.
-o=custom-columns-file=<filename> Print a table using the custom columns template in the <filename> file.
-o=json Output a JSON formatted API object.
-o=jsonpath=<template> Print the fields defined in a jsonpath expression.
-o=jsonpath-file=<filename> Print the fields defined by the jsonpath expression in the <filename> file.
-o=name Print only the resource name and nothing else.
-o=wide Output in the plain-text format with any additional information. For pods, the node name is included.
-o=yaml Output a YAML formatted API object.
Example

In this example, the following command outputs the details for a single pod as a YAML formatted object:

$ kubectl get pod web-pod-13je7 -o=yaml

Remember: See the kubectl reference documentation for details about which output format is supported by each command.

Custom columns

To define custom columns and output only the details that you want into a table, you can use the custom-columns option. You can choose to define the custom columns inline or use a template file: -o=custom-columns=<spec> or -o=custom-columns-file=<filename>.

Examples

Inline:

$ kubectl get pods <pod-name> -o=custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name,RSRC:.metadata.resourceVersion

Template file:

$ kubectl get pods <pod-name> -o=custom-columns-file=template.txt

where the template.txt file contains:

NAME                    RSRC
      metadata.name           metadata.resourceVersion

The result of running either command is:

NAME           RSRC
submit-queue   610995

Sorting list objects

To output objects to a sorted list in your terminal window, you can add the --sort-by flag to a supported kubectl command. Sort your objects by specifying any numeric or string field with the --sort-by flag. To specify a field, use a jsonpath expression.

Syntax

kubectl [command] [TYPE] [NAME] --sort-by=<jsonpath_exp>
Example

To print a list of pods sorted by name, you run:

$ kubectl get pods --sort-by=.metadata.name

Examples: Common operations

Use the following set of examples to help you familiarize yourself with running the commonly used kubectl operations:

kubectl create - Create a resource from a file or stdin.

// Create a service using the definition in example-service.yaml.
$ kubectl create -f example-service.yaml

// Create a replication controller using the definition in example-controller.yaml.
$ kubectl create -f example-controller.yaml

// Create the objects that are defined in any .yaml, .yml, or .json file within the <directory> directory.
$ kubectl create -f <directory>

kubectl get - List one or more resources.

// List all pods in plain-text output format.
$ kubectl get pods

// List all pods in plain-text output format and includes additional information (such as node name).
$ kubectl get pods -o wide

// List the replication controller with the specified name in plain-text output format. Tip: You can shorten and replace the 'replicationcontroller' resource type with the alias 'rc'.
$ kubectl get replicationcontroller <rc-name>

// List all replication controllers and services together in plain-text output format.
$ kubectl get rc,services

kubectl describe - Display detailed state of one or more resources.

// Display the details of the node with name <node-name>.
$ kubectl describe nodes <node-name>

// Display the details of the pod with name <pod-name>.
$ kubectl describe pods/<pod-name>

// Display the details of all the pods that are managed by the replication controller named <rc-name>.
// Remember: Any pods that are created by the replication controller get prefixed with the name of the replication controller.
$ kubectl describe pods <rc-name>

kubectl delete - Delete resources either from a file, stdin, or specifying label selectors, names, resource selectors, or resources.

// Delete a pod using the type and name specified in the pod.yaml file.
$ kubectl delete -f pod.yaml

// Delete all the pods and services that have the label name=<label-name>.
$ kubectl delete pods,services -l name=<label-name>

// Delete all pods.
$ kubectl delete pods --all

kubectl exec - Execute a command against a container in a pod.

// Get output from running 'date' from pod <pod-name>. By default, output is from the first container.
$ kubectl exec <pod-name> date

// Get output from running 'date' in container <container-name> of pod <pod-name>.
$ kubectl exec <pod-name> -c <container-name> date

// Get an interactive TTY and run /bin/bash from pod <pod-name>. By default, output is from the first container.
$ kubectl exec -ti <pod-name> /bin/bash

kubectl logs - Print the logs for a container in a pod.

// Return a snapshot of the logs from pod <pod-name>.
$ kubectl logs <pod-name>

// Start streaming the logs from pod <pod-name>. This is similar to the 'tail -f' Linux command.
$ kubectl logs -f <pod-name>

Next steps

Start using the kubectl commands.

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