I made a Kubernetes Cheat Sheet: I was tired of looking up all the Kubernetes commands

Kubernetes Cheatsheet
Have you ever found yourself wasting twenty minutes trying to find the right command to complete a task while working on a Kubernetes project? I certainly have. I’ve been working on several Kubernetes projects lately, and I found remembering all the necessary commands challenging.
To solve this problem, I created a database of commands that would help me analyze the cluster and complete different tasks quickly. This way, I don’t have to memorize everything, and I can always access my documentation whenever needed.
Since I believe many people might benefit from such a database, I decided to share it with others. I will keep updating it as I learn more and complete different tasks.
To make it easy to use, I’ve organized the commands based on the tasks they accomplish. Here are the commands:
Create Resources
- Kubectl run
… : creates a pod - Kubectl create …
: reates a deployment, service, replicasets, or other resources - Kubectl create -h : get help on using the create command
- Kubectl run -h : Get help on using the run command
- Kubectl apply -f
: create a resource from a definition file
View Resources
- Kubectl get
: list a resource in the current namespace - Kubectl get
-o wide : list the specified resource with more details - Kubectl get
— -all-namespaces and Kubectl get -A : lists all the specified resources in all the namespaces - Kubectl get
-n : lists all the specified resources in a specified namespace - Kubectl get
-o yaml > : get a resource in a definition file format - Kubectl get
-l = : Lists all the resources with the specified label - Kubectl describe
: View detailed information about a resource
Delete Resources
- Kubectl delete
: deletes a Kubernetes resource - Kubectl delete
: delete multiple resources - Kubectl delete
-all : deletes all of the specified resource types - Kubectl delete
-n : Delete all specified resources in a specific namespace - Kubectl delete
— -all -n : Delete all specified resources in a specific namespace
Cluster & Resource Management
Contexts
- The kubeconfig file for the cluster is located at ~/.kube/config
- Kubectl config — -help — get the help commands for Kubectl config commands
- Kubectl config view : view the kube config file
- Kubectl config current-context : get the current context
- Kubectl config set-context — -current — -namespace=
: set the namespace of the current config
Cluster Management
- Kubectl cluster-info — get cluster information
- Kubectl version : display Kubernetes version
- Kubectl config view : view the current configuration of the cluster
- Kubectl api-resources : list all API resources
- Kubectl get all — -all-namespaces : lists everything
Nodes
- Kubectl get nodes : list the available nodes in the cluster
- Kubectl describe node
: get detailed info on a specific node - Kubectl drain node
: drain resources from a node for maintenance or removal - Kubectl uncordon node
: Uncordon a node after maintenance - Kubectl label node
= : add a label to a node - Kubectl label node
- : remove a label from a node - Kubectl taint node
: update taints on a node - Kubectl top node
: display resource usage of a node
Namespaces
- Kubectl get namespaces : list all the namespaces
- Kubectl create namespace
: create a namespace - Kubectl config set-context — -current — -namespace=
: switch to a different namespace - Kubectl delete namespace
: delete a namespace - Kubectl edit namespace
: Edit and update namespace definition - Kubectl top namespace
: display resources (CPU/Memory/Storage) usage of a namespace
Pods
- Kubectl run
— -image= : create a pod - Kubectl create -f
: create a pod from a definition file - Kubectl get pods : list the pods in the current namespace
- Kubectl get pods -A : list pods in all namespaces
- Kubectl get pod -n
: list all the pods in a namespace - Kubectl get pods -o wide : get more details about pods
- Kubectl get pods — -namespace-
: view pods in a namespace - Kubectl get pod
-o yaml > : get a pod in a definition file format - Kubectl describe pod
: list details about a pod - Kubectl run
— image= — command — …. : create a pod and make it run a command - Kubectl logs
: view the logs of a pod - Kubectl logs -f
: stream the logs of a pod - Kubectl exec -it
— - : Exec into a pod and run a command - Kubectl delete
: Delete a pod
Deployments
- Kubectl create deployment
— -image= : create a deployment imperatively - Kubectl apply -f
:create a deployment from a definition file - Kubectl get deployments : list all the deployments
- Kubectl get deployments -o wide : get detailed list of deployments
- kubectl get deployment
-o yaml > : get deployment in a definition file format - Kubectl describe deployment
: describe a specific deployment - Kubectl scale deployment
–replicas= : scale a deployment - Kubectl set image deployment/
= : update a deployments image - Kubectl rollout status deployment/
: view rollout status of a deployment - Kubectl rollout pause deployment/
: Pause a deployment rollout - Kubectl rollout resume deployment/
: Resume a deployment rollout - kubectl rollout undo deployment/
: rollback a deployment to a previous version - kubectl rollout undo deployment/
— -to-revision= : rollback a deployment to a specific version - Kubectl delete deployment
: delete a deployment
Replicasets
- kubectl apply -f
: create a replicaset from a definition file - kubectl get replicasets : list the replica sets
- kubectl describe replicaset
: describe a specific replicaset - kubectl scale replicaset
–replicas= : scale a replicaset
Daemonsets
- Kubectl apply -f
: create a daemonset - Kubectl get daemonset : list daemonsets
- Kubectl get daemonsets -A : get daemonsets in all namespaces
- Kubectl get daemonsets — -namespace=
: get daemonsets in a namespace - Kubectl get daemonset
-o yaml > : get a daemonset in a definition file format - Kubectl edit daemonset
: edit a daemonset - Kubectl rollout daemonset
: rollout a daemonset - Kubectl describe ds
-n : get detailed information on a daemonset - Kubectl delete daemonset
: delete a daemonset
Services
- Kubectl create service
— -tcp= : create a service imperatively - Kubectl apply -f
: create a service from a definition file - kubectl get services: list all services
- Kubectl expose deployment
–port= : expose a deployment as a service - Kubectl describe service
: Get more information on a specific service - Kubectl get endpoints
: Get information about a service - kubectl delete service
: Delete a service
ServiceAccounts
- Kubectl create sa
: create a service account - Kubectl get serviceaccounts : list the service accounts
- Kubectl describe serviceaccount
: get detailed information on a service account - Kubectl replace serviceaccount
: replace a serviceaccount - Kubectl delete serviceaccount
: delete a specific service account
ConfigMaps
- kubectl create configmap
— -from-file= : create a config map from a file - Kubectl apply -f
: create a configmap from a file - kubectl get configmaps : list all configmaps
- kubectl describe configmap
: describe a specific config map - kubectl delete configmap
: delete a specific configmap
Secrets
- kubectl create secret
–from-literal= = : create a secret - Kubectl apply -f
: create a secret from a definition file - Kubectl get secrets : list all the secrets
- Kubectl describe secret
: get detailed information about a secret - Kubectl delete secret
: delete a secret
Statefulsets
- kubectl apply -f
: create a statefulset from a definition file - kubectl get statefulsets : list all statefulsets
- kubectl describe statefulset
: describe a specific statefulset - kubectl scale statefulset
–replicas= : scale a statefulset - Kubectl delete statafulset
: delete a specified stateful set
Storage
Persistent Volume and Persistent Volume Claim
- kubectl apply -f
: create a persistent volume from a definition file - kubectl get pv : list the persistent volumes
- Kubectl describe pv
: get more information on a persistent volume - Kubectl delete pv
: delete a persistent volume - kubectl apply -f
: create a persistent volume claim from a file - kubectl get pvc : list PersistentVolumeClaims
- kubectl describe pvc
: describe a specific PersistentVolumeClaims - Kubectl delete pvc
: delete a persistent volume claim
Thank you so much for reading. I hope this can help you with your projects. To stay updated, give me a follow and subscribe. Good Luck with your projects!
Let’s connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ebube-ndubuisi-38a125101/





