kubectl Cheat Sheet — Essential Commands for Kubernetes 2026

# View current context
kubectl config current-context
 
# List all contexts
kubectl config get-contexts
 
# Switch context
kubectl config use-context my-cluster
 
# View cluster info
kubectl cluster-info
 
# Check cluster version
kubectl version --short
 
# Set default namespace for current context
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=production

# List all namespaces
kubectl get namespaces
 
# Create a namespace
kubectl create namespace staging
 
# Delete a namespace
kubectl delete namespace staging
 
# Get all resources in a namespace
kubectl get all -n staging
 
# Get resources across ALL namespaces
kubectl get pods -A

# List pods in current namespace
kubectl get pods
 
# List pods with node and IP info
kubectl get pods -o wide
 
# Describe a pod (events, resource limits, image)
kubectl describe pod my-pod
 
# Get pod logs
kubectl logs my-pod
 
# Follow logs in real time
kubectl logs -f my-pod
 
# Logs from a specific container in a multi-container pod
kubectl logs my-pod -c my-container
 
# Previous container logs (after crash)
kubectl logs my-pod --previous
 
# Execute a command inside a pod
kubectl exec -it my-pod -- /bin/bash
 
# Execute in a specific container
kubectl exec -it my-pod -c my-container -- /bin/sh
 
# Copy files to/from a pod
kubectl cp my-pod:/app/logs/app.log ./app.log
kubectl cp ./config.yaml my-pod:/app/config.yaml
 
# Delete a pod (it will be recreated by its controller)
kubectl delete pod my-pod
 
# Force delete a stuck pod
kubectl delete pod my-pod --grace-period=0 --force

# List deployments
kubectl get deployments
 
# Create a deployment
kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx:1.25
 
# Scale a deployment
kubectl scale deployment nginx --replicas=5
 
# Update a deployment image
kubectl set image deployment/nginx nginx=nginx:1.26
 
# View rollout status
kubectl rollout status deployment/nginx
 
# View rollout history
kubectl rollout history deployment/nginx
 
# Undo the last rollout
kubectl rollout undo deployment/nginx
 
# Undo to a specific revision
kubectl rollout undo deployment/nginx --to-revision=2
 
# Pause a rollout
kubectl rollout pause deployment/nginx
 
# Resume a paused rollout
kubectl rollout resume deployment/nginx
 
# Delete a deployment
kubectl delete deployment nginx

# List services
kubectl get services
 
# Expose a deployment as a ClusterIP service
kubectl expose deployment nginx --port=80 --target-port=80
 
# Expose as a NodePort service
kubectl expose deployment nginx --type=NodePort --port=80
 
# Port-forward to access a pod locally
kubectl port-forward pod/my-pod 8080:80
 
# Port-forward a service
kubectl port-forward svc/my-service 8080:80
 
# Get endpoints for a service
kubectl get endpoints my-service
 
# View DNS name for a service
kubectl run -it --rm debug --image=busybox --restart=Never -- nslookup my-service

# Create a ConfigMap from literal values
kubectl create configmap app-config \
  --from-literal=APP_ENV=production \
  --from-literal=LOG_LEVEL=info
 
# Create ConfigMap from a file
kubectl create configmap app-config --from-file=config.yaml
 
# Create a Secret from literals
kubectl create secret generic db-credentials \
  --from-literal=username=admin \
  --from-literal=password=s3cr3t
 
# Create a TLS secret
kubectl create secret tls my-tls \
  --cert=tls.crt --key=tls.key
 
# Decode a secret value
kubectl get secret db-credentials -o jsonpath='{.data.password}' | base64 --decode

# Get resource as YAML
kubectl get deployment nginx -o yaml
 
# Get resource as JSON
kubectl get pod my-pod -o json
 
# Use jsonpath to extract a field
kubectl get pod my-pod -o jsonpath='{.status.podIP}'
 
# List pod names only
kubectl get pods -o jsonpath='{.items[*].metadata.name}'
 
# Custom columns output
kubectl get pods -o custom-columns='NAME:.metadata.name,STATUS:.status.phase,NODE:.spec.nodeName'
 
# Watch resources for changes
kubectl get pods -w
 
# Sort by field
kubectl get pods --sort-by='.metadata.creationTimestamp'

# Get events in a namespace (sorted by time)
kubectl get events --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'
 
# Describe a node
kubectl describe node my-node
 
# Check resource usage (requires metrics-server)
kubectl top pods
kubectl top nodes
 
# Run a temporary debug pod
kubectl run -it --rm debug --image=busybox --restart=Never -- sh
 
# Run a debug pod with the same namespace as target
kubectl debug -it my-pod --image=busybox --target=my-container
 
# Check pod resource requests vs limits
kubectl describe pod my-pod | grep -A 5 "Limits\|Requests"

# Apply a manifest file
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
 
# Apply all manifests in a directory
kubectl apply -f ./k8s/
 
# Apply from a URL
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/org/repo/main/deploy.yaml
 
# Diff current vs desired state
kubectl diff -f deployment.yaml
 
# Delete resources defined in a file
kubectl delete -f deployment.yaml
 
# Dry run (server-side)
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml --dry-run=server
 
# Label a resource
kubectl label pod my-pod env=production
 
# Annotate a resource
kubectl annotate pod my-pod description="main web server"