Kubernetes Cheat Sheet: 50+ Essential Commands

Introduction

Kubernetes (K8s) is a powerful open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It helps developers and operations teams efficiently manage complex applications across multiple environments, including cloud, on-premises, and hybrid infrastructures.

In this guide, we’ll walk through the fundamentals of Kubernetes and explain how to set up a Kubernetes environment from scratch.

Why Use Kubernetes?

Before diving into the setup, let’s understand why Kubernetes is widely adopted:

• Automated Deployment & Scaling: Easily scale applications up or down based on demand.
• Load Balancing & Service Discovery: Manages traffic distribution across containers.
• Self-Healing: Restarts failed containers and replaces unresponsive instances automatically.
• Resource Optimization: Ensures efficient use of compute and storage resources.
• Portable & Cloud-Agnostic: Works on any infrastructure, including AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and on-premises.

Getting Started with Kubernetes

Read this article: Introduction to Kubernetes and installation 

1. Cluster Management

kubectl cluster-info             # Display cluster information
kubectl config get-contexts      # List available contexts
kubectl config use-context <name> # Switch to a specific context
kubectl config current-context   # Show current context
kubectl get nodes                # List all nodes in the cluster
kubectl describe node <node-name> # Describe a specific node
kubectl cordon <node-name>        # Mark a node as unschedulable
kubectl uncordon <node-name>      # Mark a node as schedulable
kubectl drain <node-name>         # Safely evict all pods from a node
kubectl delete node <node-name>   # Remove a node from the cluster

2. Pod Management

kubectl get pods                  # List all pods in the default namespace
kubectl get pods -A               # List all pods across all namespaces
kubectl get pods -o wide          # Show more details including node assignments
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>    # Show detailed information about a pod
kubectl logs <pod-name>            # Get logs from a pod
kubectl logs -f <pod-name>         # Stream logs from a pod
kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- /bin/sh  # Open a shell in a running container
kubectl delete pod <pod-name>       # Delete a pod
kubectl apply -f <file>.yaml        # Create/update a pod using a YAML file
kubectl run <pod-name> --image=<image> # Create a pod with a specific image

3. Deployment Management

kubectl get deployments           # List all deployments
kubectl describe deployment <name> # Show details of a deployment
kubectl delete deployment <name>   # Delete a deployment
kubectl scale deployment <name> --replicas=3 # Scale a deployment to 3 replicas
kubectl rollout status deployment <name> # Show rollout status
kubectl rollout history deployment <name> # Show rollout history
kubectl rollout undo deployment <name> # Rollback to the previous version
kubectl apply -f <deployment>.yaml # Apply a deployment from YAML

4. Service Management

kubectl get services               # List all services
kubectl describe service <name>     # Show details of a service
kubectl delete service <name>       # Delete a service
kubectl expose deployment <name> --type=LoadBalancer --port=80 # Expose a deployment as a service

5. Namespace Management

kubectl get namespaces             # List all namespaces
kubectl create namespace <name>    # Create a new namespace
kubectl delete namespace <name>    # Delete a namespace

6. ConfigMaps and Secrets

kubectl get configmaps             # List all ConfigMaps
kubectl describe configmap <name>  # Show details of a ConfigMap
kubectl delete configmap <name>    # Delete a ConfigMap
kubectl create configmap <name> --from-literal=key=value # Create a ConfigMap

kubectl get secrets                # List all secrets
kubectl describe secret <name>     # Show details of a secret
kubectl delete secret <name>       # Delete a secret
kubectl create secret generic <name> --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=secret # Create a secret

7. Persistent Volumes and Storage

kubectl get pv                     # List all PersistentVolumes
kubectl get pvc                    # List all PersistentVolumeClaims
kubectl describe pv <name>         # Show details of a PersistentVolume
kubectl describe pvc <name>        # Show details of a PersistentVolumeClaim
kubectl delete pvc <name>          # Delete a PersistentVolumeClaim
kubectl apply -f <pvc-file>.yaml   # Create a PersistentVolumeClaim from a YAML file

8. Ingress Management

kubectl get ingress                 # List all ingress resources
kubectl describe ingress <name>     # Show details of an ingress
kubectl delete ingress <name>       # Delete an ingress resource
kubectl apply -f <ingress>.yaml     # Create/update an ingress resource

9. Debugging and Monitoring

kubectl top nodes                  # Show CPU/memory usage of nodes
kubectl top pods                   # Show CPU/memory usage of pods
kubectl events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'  # Show cluster events sorted by time
kubectl get pods --field-selector=status.phase=Running  # List only running pods

10. Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs)

kubectl get crds                    # List all CRDs
kubectl describe crd <name>          # Show details of a CRD
kubectl delete crd <name>            # Delete a CRD
kubectl apply -f <crd>.yaml          # Create/update a CRD

11. Jobs and CronJobs

kubectl get jobs                    # List all jobs
kubectl describe job <name>          # Show details of a job
kubectl delete job <name>            # Delete a job
kubectl apply -f <job>.yaml          # Create/update a job

kubectl get cronjobs                 # List all CronJobs
kubectl delete cronjob <name>        # Delete a CronJob
kubectl apply -f <cronjob>.yaml      # Create/update a CronJob

12. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)

kubectl get roles                   # List all roles
kubectl describe role <name>        # Show details of a role
kubectl delete role <name>          # Delete a role
kubectl get rolebindings            # List all role bindings
kubectl describe rolebinding <name> # Show details of a role binding
kubectl delete rolebinding <name>   # Delete a role binding

13. Helm (Package Manager for Kubernetes)

helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable  # Add Helm chart repository
helm repo update                                   # Update repo information
helm search repo <chart-name>                      # Search for a chart
helm install <release-name> <chart-name>           # Install a Helm chart
helm list                                          # List all Helm releases
helm uninstall <release-name>                      # Uninstall a Helm release

Conclusion

This cheat sheet covers 50+ essential Kubernetes commands to help manage clusters, pods, deployments, services, and more. Keep practicing these commands to streamline your Kubernetes operations!