Kubernetes (kubectl) Cheat Sheet

Quick reference for kubectl: contexts, core resources, pod operations, deployments, scaling, debugging, ConfigMaps, and Secrets.

A quick reference for kubectl and Kubernetes. Covers contexts, core resources, pod operations, deployments, namespaces, debugging, and config.

Context & Cluster

Command	Description
kubectl config get-contexts	List all contexts
kubectl config current-context	Show the active context
kubectl config use-context <ctx>	Switch to a context
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<ns>	Set default namespace for current context
kubectl cluster-info	Show cluster endpoint info
kubectl version	Show client and server versions
kubectl api-resources	List all available resource types

Command	Description
kubectl get <resource>	List resources (pods, deployments, svc, …)
kubectl get <resource> -o wide	List with extra columns (node, IP, …)
kubectl get <resource> -o yaml	Output full YAML definition
kubectl get all -n <ns>	List all resource types in a namespace
kubectl describe <resource> <name>	Show detailed state and events
kubectl apply -f <file.yaml>	Create or update resources from file
kubectl apply -f <dir/>	Apply all manifests in a directory
kubectl delete -f <file.yaml>	Delete resources defined in a file
kubectl delete <resource> <name>	Delete a specific resource by name
kubectl edit <resource> <name>	Open resource in editor for live editing

Command	Description
kubectl get ns	List all namespaces
kubectl create ns <name>	Create a namespace
kubectl delete ns <name>	Delete a namespace and all its resources
kubectl get pods -n <ns>	List pods in a specific namespace
kubectl get pods -A	List pods across all namespaces
kubectl get pods -l app=web	Filter by label selector
kubectl get pods -l env=prod,tier=frontend	Filter by multiple labels
kubectl label pod <name> env=prod	Add or update a label on a resource

Command	Description
kubectl logs <pod>	Print pod logs
kubectl logs <pod> -f	Stream/follow pod logs
kubectl logs <pod> -c <container>	Logs from a specific container in a pod
kubectl logs <pod> --previous	Logs from the previous (crashed) container
kubectl exec -it <pod> -- sh	Open a shell in a running pod
kubectl exec -it <pod> -c <c> -- sh	Shell into a specific container
kubectl exec <pod> -- <cmd>	Run a one-off command in a pod
kubectl port-forward pod/<pod> 8080:80	Forward local port 8080 to pod port 80
kubectl port-forward svc/<svc> 8080:80	Forward local port to a service port
kubectl cp <pod>:<src> <dst>	Copy file from pod to local
kubectl cp <src> <pod>:<dst>	Copy file from local to pod

Command	Description
kubectl get deployments	List deployments
kubectl scale deploy/<name> --replicas=3	Scale a deployment to 3 replicas
kubectl rollout status deploy/<name>	Watch rollout progress
kubectl rollout history deploy/<name>	Show rollout history
kubectl rollout undo deploy/<name>	Roll back to the previous revision
kubectl rollout undo deploy/<name> --to-revision=2	Roll back to a specific revision
kubectl set image deploy/<name> app=image:v2	Update the container image
kubectl rollout restart deploy/<name>	Trigger a rolling restart
kubectl autoscale deploy/<name> --min=2 --max=10 --cpu-percent=80	Create an HPA

Command	Description
kubectl get svc	List services
kubectl expose deploy/<name> --port=80 --type=ClusterIP	Expose a deployment as a service
kubectl get ingress	List ingress resources
kubectl get endpoints	Show endpoints (pod IPs behind a service)

Command	Description
kubectl get configmaps	List ConfigMaps
kubectl describe configmap <name>	Show ConfigMap data
kubectl create configmap <name> --from-literal=KEY=val	Create ConfigMap from literal
kubectl create configmap <name> --from-file=<file>	Create ConfigMap from a file
kubectl get secrets	List Secrets
kubectl create secret generic <name> --from-literal=KEY=val	Create a generic Secret
kubectl create secret docker-registry <name> --docker-server=… --docker-username=… --docker-password=…	Create image pull Secret
kubectl get secret <name> -o jsonpath="{.data.KEY}" \| base64 -d	Decode a secret value

Command	Description
kubectl get pods	1. List pods — spot CrashLoopBackOff / Pending states
kubectl describe pod <name>	2. Inspect events and conditions for root cause
kubectl logs <pod> --previous	3. Read logs from the last crashed container
kubectl exec -it <pod> -- sh	4. Shell in to inspect filesystem or run diagnostics
kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp	View cluster events sorted by time
kubectl top pods	Show CPU/memory usage for pods (metrics-server required)
kubectl top nodes	Show CPU/memory usage for nodes
kubectl run tmp --image=busybox --rm -it --restart=Never -- sh	Spin up a throwaway debug pod

Field	Description
apiVersion	API group + version, e.g. apps/v1 or v1
kind	Resource type: Pod, Deployment, Service, …
metadata.name	Name of the resource
metadata.namespace	Namespace (defaults to default)
metadata.labels	Key-value pairs for selection and organisation
spec.selector.matchLabels	Deployment: selects the pods it manages
spec.template	Deployment: pod template (metadata + spec)
spec.containers[].image	Container image, e.g. nginx:1.27
spec.containers[].ports[].containerPort	Port the container listens on
spec.containers[].env	List of environment variables for the container
spec.containers[].resources.requests/limits	CPU and memory requests and limits
spec.containers[].livenessProbe	Health check — restarts container on failure
spec.containers[].readinessProbe	Readiness check — gates traffic to the pod