kubectl — Control Kubernetes Clusters from the Command Line

kubectl is the primary command-line tool for Kubernetes: every command talks to the cluster's API server through your kubeconfig and manages pods, deployments, services and every other resource. Which cluster you target is set by the active context, so you can switch between development and production with a single command. This guide walks you through the commands you reach for daily: viewing and applying resources, steering rollouts, reading logs and debugging inside a running pod.

Cluster & Context

kubectl cluster-info — Display cluster endpoint information.

kubectl cluster-info

kubectl config get-contexts — List all available contexts (clusters).

kubectl config get-contexts

kubectl config current-context — Show the currently active context.

kubectl config current-context

kubectl config use-context <name> — Switch to a different context (cluster).

kubectl config use-context production

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<ns> — Set the default namespace for the current context.

kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=my-app

kubectl version — Show the client and server version.

kubectl version -o yaml

kubectl api-resources — List all available resource types and their short names.

kubectl api-resources

Viewing Resources

kubectl get <resource> — List resources of a given type in the current namespace.

kubectl get pods

kubectl get <resource> -A — List resources across all namespaces.

kubectl get pods -A

kubectl get <resource> -n <namespace> — List resources in a specific namespace.

kubectl get pods -n production

kubectl get <resource> -o wide — Show additional details like node and IP.

kubectl get pods -o wide

kubectl get <resource> -o yaml — Output the resource definition as YAML.

kubectl get deployment nginx -o yaml

kubectl get <resource> -o json — Output the resource definition as JSON.

kubectl get pod my-pod -o json

kubectl get all — List all common resources (pods, services, deployments, etc.).

kubectl get all -n my-app

kubectl describe <resource> <name> — Show detailed information about a specific resource including events.

kubectl describe pod my-pod

kubectl get <resource> -l <label>=<value> — Filter resources by label selector.

kubectl get pods -l app=nginx

kubectl get <resource> --sort-by=<field> — Sort output by a specific field.

kubectl get pods --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp

Creating & Applying

kubectl apply -f <file> — Create or update resources defined in a YAML/JSON file.

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

kubectl apply -f <directory> — Apply all resource files in a directory.

kubectl apply -f ./k8s/

kubectl apply -f <url> — Apply a resource from a remote URL.

kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/org/repo/main/deploy.yaml

kubectl create deployment <name> --image=<image> — Create a deployment imperatively.

kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx:alpine

kubectl create namespace <name> — Create a new namespace.

kubectl create namespace staging

kubectl run <name> --image=<image> — Create and run a pod.

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

kubectl expose deployment <name> --port=<port> --type=<type> — Create a service for a deployment.

kubectl expose deployment nginx --port=80 --type=LoadBalancer

Editing & Updating

kubectl edit <resource> <name> — Edit a resource in your default editor.

kubectl edit deployment nginx

kubectl set image deployment/<name> <container>=<image> — Update the image of a container in a deployment.

kubectl set image deployment/nginx nginx=nginx:1.25

kubectl scale deployment <name> --replicas=<n> — Scale a deployment to n replicas.

kubectl scale deployment nginx --replicas=5

kubectl rollout status deployment/<name> — Watch the rollout status of a deployment.

kubectl rollout status deployment/nginx

kubectl rollout history deployment/<name> — View the rollout history (revisions) of a deployment.

kubectl rollout history deployment/nginx

kubectl rollout undo deployment/<name> — Rollback a deployment to the previous revision.

kubectl rollout undo deployment/nginx

kubectl rollout undo deployment/<name> --to-revision=<n> — Rollback to a specific revision number.

kubectl rollout undo deployment/nginx --to-revision=3

kubectl label <resource> <name> <key>=<value> — Add or update a label on a resource.

kubectl label pod my-pod env=production

kubectl annotate <resource> <name> <key>=<value> — Add or update an annotation on a resource.

kubectl annotate deployment nginx description='Web server'

kubectl patch <resource> <name> -p '<json>' — Update specific fields of a resource using a JSON patch.

kubectl patch deployment nginx -p '{"spec":{"replicas":3}}'

Deleting Resources

kubectl delete <resource> <name> — Delete a specific resource by name.

kubectl delete pod my-pod

kubectl delete -f <file> — Delete all resources defined in a file.

kubectl delete -f deployment.yaml

kubectl delete <resource> -l <label>=<value> — Delete all resources matching a label selector.

kubectl delete pods -l app=old-version

kubectl delete namespace <name> — Delete a namespace and all resources within it.

kubectl delete namespace staging

kubectl delete pod <name> --grace-period=0 --force — Force delete a stuck pod immediately.

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

Logs & Debugging

kubectl logs <pod> — Print the logs of a pod.

kubectl logs my-pod

kubectl logs -f <pod> — Stream (follow) the logs of a pod in real time.

kubectl logs -f my-pod

kubectl logs <pod> -c <container> — Print logs from a specific container in a multi-container pod.

kubectl logs my-pod -c sidecar

kubectl logs <pod> --previous — Print logs from the previous instance of a container (after a crash).

kubectl logs my-pod --previous

kubectl logs -l <label>=<value> — Print logs from all pods matching a label.

kubectl logs -l app=nginx --all-containers

kubectl logs <pod> --tail=<n> — Show only the last n lines of logs.

kubectl logs my-pod --tail=50

kubectl logs <pod> --since=<duration> — Show logs from the last duration (e.g., 1h, 30m).

kubectl logs my-pod --since=1h

kubectl exec -it <pod> -- <command> — Execute an interactive command in a running pod.

kubectl exec -it my-pod -- /bin/bash

kubectl exec <pod> -- <command> — Execute a non-interactive command in a pod.

kubectl exec my-pod -- cat /etc/config.yaml

kubectl top pods — Show CPU and memory usage for pods (requires metrics-server).

kubectl top pods -n my-app

kubectl top nodes — Show CPU and memory usage for nodes.

kubectl top nodes

kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp — View cluster events sorted by time (useful for debugging).

kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp -n my-app

Port Forwarding & Proxy

kubectl port-forward <pod> <local>:<remote> — Forward a local port to a port on a pod.

kubectl port-forward my-pod 8080:80

kubectl port-forward svc/<service> <local>:<remote> — Forward a local port to a service.

kubectl port-forward svc/my-service 3000:80

kubectl proxy — Start a proxy to the Kubernetes API server on localhost:8001.

kubectl proxy

Copying Files

kubectl cp <pod>:<path> <local_path> — Copy a file from a pod to the local filesystem.

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

kubectl cp <local_path> <pod>:<path> — Copy a local file into a pod.

kubectl cp ./config.yaml my-pod:/app/config.yaml

kubectl cp <ns>/<pod>:<path> <local_path> — Copy from a pod in a specific namespace.

kubectl cp production/my-pod:/data/export.csv ./export.csv

Secrets & ConfigMaps

kubectl create secret generic <name> --from-literal=<key>=<value> — Create a secret from literal key-value pairs.

kubectl create secret generic db-creds --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=s3cret

kubectl create secret generic <name> --from-file=<path> — Create a secret from a file.

kubectl create secret generic tls-cert --from-file=cert.pem --from-file=key.pem

kubectl get secret <name> -o jsonpath='{.data.<key>}' | base64 -d — Decode and display a secret value.

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

kubectl create configmap <name> --from-literal=<key>=<value> — Create a ConfigMap from literal key-value pairs.

kubectl create configmap app-config --from-literal=APP_ENV=production

kubectl create configmap <name> --from-file=<path> — Create a ConfigMap from a file or directory.

kubectl create configmap nginx-conf --from-file=nginx.conf

Conclusion

kubectl is the hub of day-to-day cluster work: from a quick get to a targeted rollout undo, you handle almost any task without a dashboard. If you use it regularly, set up an alias (k for kubectl), shell completion and --dry-run=client -o yaml for clean GitOps – turning single commands into a reproducible workflow.