Kubectl Cheat Sheet: 60+ Essential Commands for DevOps

This is a task-grouped reference for the kubectl commands you reach for daily. Bookmark it, then jump to the section you need. Commands use <name> for a resource name, <ns> for a namespace, and <pod> for a pod name.

Two habits that save time across every section:

• Set a default namespace so you can drop -n <ns> from most commands: kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<ns>
• Alias k=kubectl and enable shell completion (see the last section).

Cluster and Version Info

Command	Description
kubectl version	Show client and server versions
kubectl cluster-info	Show control plane and service endpoints
kubectl cluster-info dump	Dump full cluster state for debugging
kubectl api-resources	List all resource types and short names
kubectl api-versions	List supported API group versions
kubectl get componentstatuses	Check control plane component health

Namespaces

Command	Description
kubectl get ns	List all namespaces
kubectl create ns <ns>	Create a namespace
kubectl delete ns <ns>	Delete a namespace and everything in it
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=<ns>	Set default namespace
kubectl get all -n <ns>	List common resources in a namespace

Pods

Command	Description
kubectl get pods	List pods in the current namespace
kubectl get pods -A	List pods across all namespaces
kubectl get pods -o wide	List pods with node and IP columns
kubectl get pods --show-labels	List pods with their labels
kubectl get pods -w	Watch pod status changes live
kubectl describe pod <pod>	Show detailed pod information and events
kubectl delete pod <pod>	Delete a pod (a controller may recreate it)
kubectl run tmp --image=busybox -it --rm -- sh	Start a throwaway debug pod

Deployments and ReplicaSets

Command	Description
kubectl get deploy	List deployments
kubectl create deploy <name> --image=<image>	Create a deployment
kubectl scale deploy <name> --replicas=3	Scale a deployment
kubectl autoscale deploy <name> --min=2 --max=10 --cpu-percent=80	Add a horizontal pod autoscaler
kubectl get rs	List ReplicaSets
kubectl set image deploy/<name> <container>=<image>	Update the container image
kubectl set resources deploy/<name> --limits=cpu=500m,memory=256Mi	Set resource limits

Rollouts

Command	Description
kubectl rollout status deploy/<name>	Watch a rollout to completion
kubectl rollout history deploy/<name>	List rollout revisions
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 rollout restart deploy/<name>	Restart pods without changing spec
kubectl rollout pause deploy/<name>	Pause a rollout mid-flight
kubectl rollout resume deploy/<name>	Resume a paused rollout

StatefulSets, DaemonSets, and Jobs

Command	Description
kubectl get statefulset	List StatefulSets
kubectl get daemonset	List DaemonSets
kubectl get jobs	List Jobs
kubectl get cronjobs	List CronJobs
kubectl create job --from=cronjob/<name> <run-name>	Trigger a CronJob manually

Services and Networking

Command	Description
kubectl get svc	List services
kubectl expose deploy/<name> --port=80 --target-port=8080	Create a service for a deployment
kubectl get endpoints	List service endpoints
kubectl get ingress	List ingress resources
kubectl port-forward svc/<name> 8080:80	Forward a local port to a service
kubectl port-forward pod/<pod> 5000:5000	Forward a local port to a pod
kubectl get networkpolicy	List network policies

ConfigMaps and Secrets

Command	Description
kubectl get configmap	List ConfigMaps
kubectl create configmap <name> --from-file=./config	Create a ConfigMap from a file
kubectl create configmap <name> --from-literal=key=value	Create a ConfigMap from literals
kubectl get secret	List secrets
kubectl create secret generic <name> --from-literal=pass=s3cr3t	Create a generic secret
kubectl get secret <name> -o jsonpath='{.data.pass}' | base64 -d	Decode a secret value

Storage

Command	Description
kubectl get pv	List PersistentVolumes
kubectl get pvc	List PersistentVolumeClaims
kubectl get storageclass	List storage classes
kubectl describe pvc <name>	Inspect a claim and its binding status

Logs

Command	Description
kubectl logs <pod>	Print pod logs
kubectl logs <pod> -f	Stream pod logs
kubectl logs <pod> -c <container>	Logs from a specific container
kubectl logs <pod> --previous	Logs from the previously crashed container
kubectl logs -l app=<label> --tail=100	Tail logs across pods by label
kubectl logs deploy/<name> --all-containers	Logs from all containers in a deployment

Exec, Attach, and Copy

Command	Description
kubectl exec -it <pod> -- sh	Open a shell in a pod
kubectl exec <pod> -- env	Run a one-off command in a pod
kubectl attach -it <pod>	Attach to a running container process
kubectl cp <pod>:/path/file ./file	Copy a file out of a pod
kubectl cp ./file <pod>:/path/file	Copy a file into a pod

Debugging and Troubleshooting

Command	Description
kubectl get events --sort-by=.metadata.creationTimestamp	List cluster events oldest first
kubectl describe node <name>	Check node conditions and pressure
kubectl top pods	Show pod CPU and memory usage
kubectl top nodes	Show node CPU and memory usage
kubectl debug <pod> -it --image=busybox	Attach an ephemeral debug container
kubectl get pods --field-selector=status.phase=Failed	List failed pods only

Nodes and Scheduling

Command	Description
kubectl get nodes	List nodes
kubectl cordon <node>	Mark a node unschedulable
kubectl uncordon <node>	Mark a node schedulable again
kubectl drain <node> --ignore-daemonsets	Evict pods to prepare for maintenance
kubectl taint nodes <node> key=value:NoSchedule	Add a taint to a node

Labels, Annotations, and Selectors

Command	Description
kubectl label pod <pod> env=prod	Add or update a label
kubectl label pod <pod> env-	Remove a label
kubectl annotate pod <pod> note='needs review'	Add an annotation
kubectl get pods -l 'env in (prod,staging)'	Select pods by label expression

Apply, Diff, and Manage Manifests

Command	Description
kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml	Create or update from a manifest
kubectl apply -f ./dir/	Apply every manifest in a directory
kubectl diff -f manifest.yaml	Preview changes before applying
kubectl delete -f manifest.yaml	Delete resources defined in a manifest
kubectl replace --force -f manifest.yaml	Recreate a resource from a manifest
kubectl kustomize ./overlay	Render a kustomize overlay

RBAC and Access

Command	Description
kubectl auth can-i create pods	Check your own permissions
kubectl auth can-i '*' '*' --as=system:serviceaccount:<ns>:<sa>	Check another identity’s access
kubectl get roles,rolebindings -A	List roles and bindings everywhere
kubectl get clusterrole	List cluster roles

Output Formatting and JSONPath

Command	Description
kubectl get pod <pod> -o yaml	Print the full resource as YAML
kubectl get pod <pod> -o json	Print the full resource as JSON
kubectl get pods -o name	Print only resource names
kubectl get pods -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'	Extract fields with JSONPath
kubectl get pods --sort-by=.status.startTime	Sort output by a field
kubectl get pods -o custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name,NODE:.spec.nodeName	Custom column output
kubectl explain pod.spec.containers	Show schema docs for a field

Productivity: Aliases and Completion

Command	Description
alias k=kubectl	Shorten the command to k
source <(kubectl completion bash)	Enable bash completion
kubectl completion zsh > "${fpath[1]}/_kubectl"	Install zsh completion
complete -o default -F __start_kubectl k	Extend completion to the k alias
export KUBECONFIG=~/.kube/config:~/.kube/dev	Merge multiple kubeconfig files

Keep this page open in a tab during incidents. When you find a command you run often that is not here, add it to your own dotfiles as an alias so it becomes muscle memory.