Kubernetes · Cheatsheet

kubectl + k9s Cheatsheet

Imperative & declarative kubectl, port-forwards, debugging tricks, and the k9s shortcuts that save your wrists.

Updated 2026-05-21 8 min

Context + namespaces

kubectl config get-contexts	List configured clusters/contexts
kubectl config use-context prod-eks	Switch context
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=app	Default namespace for current context
kubectx prod-eks / kubens app	Faster context/ns switching (krew plugins)
kubectl get ns	List all namespaces

kubectl get all -n app	Everything in namespace
kubectl get pods -o wide	Pods + node + IP
kubectl get po -l app=api --watch	Watch pods by label
kubectl describe pod <name>	Events + container status
kubectl get events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp	Cluster events, freshest last
kubectl explain deployment.spec.strategy	Inline API docs
kubectl api-resources \| grep ingress	Find resource short-names + group

kubectl logs -f deploy/api	Follow deployment logs
kubectl logs -f pod -c sidecar --since=10m	Sidecar logs, last 10 min
kubectl logs --previous pod	Logs from crashed previous container
kubectl exec -it pod -- sh	Shell into a pod
kubectl debug node/ip-x -it --image=alpine	Privileged debug pod on a node (1.25+)
kubectl cp pod:/var/log/x.log ./x.log	Copy file out of pod

kubectl port-forward svc/api 8080:80	Hit service on localhost:8080
kubectl port-forward pod 5005:5005	Forward a single pod port
kubectl proxy --port 8001	API server proxy on localhost

kubectl create deploy api --image=nginx	Quick deployment
kubectl scale deploy api --replicas=5	Scale
kubectl set image deploy/api api=nginx:1.27	Roll out a new image
kubectl rollout status deploy/api	Watch the rollout
kubectl rollout undo deploy/api	Undo last rollout
kubectl rollout history deploy/api	Past revisions

kubectl apply -f manifests/	Apply directory
kubectl apply -k overlays/prod/	Apply Kustomize overlay
kubectl diff -f manifest.yaml	Server-side diff before apply
kubectl delete -f manifest.yaml	Delete what was created
kubectl get pod -o yaml > pod.yaml	Export YAML for editing

kubectl run tmp --rm -it --image=nicolaka/netshoot -- sh	Throwaway pod with curl/dig/nslookup/tcpdump
kubectl top pods / nodes	Live CPU + mem (needs metrics-server)
kubectl auth can-i delete pod -n app	Check RBAC for current user
kubectl get pod x -o jsonpath='{.status.containerStatuses[*].state}'	Drill into pod state

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