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🐳 Kubernetes Commands: From Beginner to Advanced for DevOps Engineers

Introduction

Kubernetes, also known as K8s, is a powerful open-source system for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Whether you are new to Kubernetes or an experienced user, mastering its commands is crucial for efficiently managing your clusters. This article provides a comprehensive guide to Kubernetes commands, organized from beginner to advanced levels.

🎯 Key Concepts

Before we dive into the commands, let's review some fundamental Kubernetes concepts:

  • Pod: The smallest and simplest Kubernetes object, representing a single instance of a running process in your cluster.
  • Node: A worker machine in Kubernetes, which can be a virtual or a physical machine.
  • Namespace: A way to divide cluster resources between multiple users.
  • Deployment: A higher-level abstraction that manages a replicated application, ensuring that a specified number of replicas are running.
  • Service: An abstraction that defines a logical set of pods and a policy by which to access them.
  • ConfigMap and Secret: Mechanisms to inject configuration data into your applications.

🏁 Beginner Commands

1. Cluster Information

Get Cluster Info

kubectl cluster-info
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Displays the address of the Kubernetes master and services running in the cluster.

Get Nodes

kubectl get nodes
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Lists all nodes in the cluster.

2. Namespace Management

List Namespaces

kubectl get namespaces
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Displays all namespaces in the cluster.

Create Namespace

kubectl create namespace my-namespace
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Creates a new namespace.

Delete Namespace

kubectl delete namespace my-namespace
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Deletes a specified namespace.

3. Pod Management

List Pods

kubectl get pods
kubectl get pods -n my-namespace
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Lists all pods in the default namespace or a specified namespace.

Describe Pod

kubectl describe pod my-pod
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Displays detailed information about a specific pod.

Create Pod

kubectl run my-pod --image=nginx
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Creates a new pod running the specified container image.

Delete Pod

kubectl delete pod my-pod
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Deletes a specified pod.

4. Deployment Management

List Deployments

kubectl get deployments
kubectl get deployments -n my-namespace
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Lists all deployments in the default namespace or a specified namespace.

Create Deployment

kubectl create deployment my-deployment --image=nginx
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Creates a new deployment with the specified container image.

Delete Deployment

kubectl delete deployment my-deployment
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Deletes a specified deployment.

5. Service Management

List Services

kubectl get services
kubectl get services -n my-namespace
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Lists all services in the default namespace or a specified namespace.

Create Service

kubectl expose deployment my-deployment --type=LoadBalancer --name=my-service
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Creates a new service to expose a deployment.

Delete Service

kubectl delete service my-service
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Deletes a specified service.

🚀 Intermediate Commands

1. ConfigMap and Secret Management

List ConfigMaps

kubectl get configmaps
kubectl get configmaps -n my-namespace
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Lists all ConfigMaps in the default namespace or a specified namespace.

Create ConfigMap

kubectl create configmap my-config --from-literal=key1=value1 --from-literal=key2=value2
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Creates a new ConfigMap from literal values.

List Secrets

kubectl get secrets
kubectl get secrets -n my-namespace
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Lists all secrets in the default namespace or a specified namespace.

Create Secret

kubectl create secret generic my-secret --from-literal=username=admin --from-literal=password=secret
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Creates a new secret from literal values.

2. Scaling Applications

Scale Deployment

kubectl scale deployment my-deployment --replicas=3
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Scales a deployment to the specified number of replicas.

3. Updating Applications

Update Deployment

kubectl set image deployment/my-deployment nginx=nginx:1.19.1
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Updates the container image in a deployment.

Rollout Status

kubectl rollout status deployment/my-deployment
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Displays the rollout status of a deployment.

Rollback Deployment

kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-deployment
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Rolls back a deployment to the previous revision.

4. Monitoring and Logging

View Pod Logs

kubectl logs my-pod
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Displays the logs of a specified pod.

View Previous Pod Logs

kubectl logs my-pod --previous
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Displays the logs of a previous instance of a specified pod.

Get Events

kubectl get events
kubectl get events -n my-namespace
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Lists all events in the default namespace or a specified namespace.

5. Resource Management

Describe Node

kubectl describe node my-node
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Displays detailed information about a specified node.

Label Nodes

kubectl label nodes my-node disktype=ssd
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Adds a label to a node.

Annotate Resources

kubectl annotate pod my-pod description="my example pod"
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Adds an annotation to a resource.

6. Network Policies

Create Network Policy

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: allow-nginx
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  policyTypes:
  - Ingress
  ingress:
  - from:
    - podSelector:
        matchLabels:
          app: frontend
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Apply the network policy:

kubectl apply -f network-policy.yaml
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🧠 Advanced Commands

1. Advanced Pod Management

Debug Pod

kubectl debug my-pod --image=busybox --target=my-container
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Debugs a running pod by creating a new debugging container in the pod.

Port Forwarding

kubectl port-forward my-pod 8080:80
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Forwards a local port to a port on a pod.

2. Advanced Node Management

Cordon Node

kubectl cordon my-node
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Marks a node as unschedulable.

Drain Node

kubectl drain my-node --ignore-daemonsets
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Safely evicts all pods from a node before maintenance.

Uncordon Node

kubectl uncordon my-node
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Marks a node as schedulable.

3. Resource Quotas and Limits

Create Resource Quota

apiVersion: v1
kind: ResourceQuota
metadata:
  name: compute-resources
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  hard:
    pods: "10"
    requests.cpu: "4"
    requests.memory: 16Gi
    limits.cpu: "10"
    limits.memory: 32Gi
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Apply the resource quota:

kubectl apply -f resource-quota.yaml
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4. Custom Resources and CRDs

Create Custom Resource Definition

apiVersion: apiextensions.k8s.io/v1
kind: CustomResourceDefinition
metadata:
  name: crontabs.stable.example.com
spec:
  group: stable.example.com
  versions:
    - name: v1
      served: true
      storage: true
      schema:
        openAPIV3Schema:
          type: object
          properties:
            spec:
              type: object
              properties:
                cronSpec:
                  type: string
                image:
                  type: string
                replicas:
                  type: integer
  scope: Namespaced
  names:
    plural: crontabs
    singular: crontab
    kind: CronTab
    shortNames:
    - ct
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Apply the CRD:

kubectl apply -f crd.yaml
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Create Custom Resource

apiVersion: stable.example.com/v1
kind: CronTab
metadata:
  name: my-new-cron-object
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  cronSpec: "* * * * */5"
  image: my-cron-image
  replicas: 3
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Apply the custom resource:

kubectl apply -f custom-resource.yaml
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5. Helm for Kubernetes Package Management

Install Helm

Follow the installation instructions for Helm from the official Helm website.

Add Helm Repository

helm repo add stable https://charts.helm.sh/stable
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Install Helm Chart

helm install my-release stable/nginx
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List Helm Releases

helm list
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Upgrade Helm Release

helm upgrade my-release stable/nginx
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Uninstall Helm Release

helm uninstall my-release
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📊 Best Practices

Use Namespaces

for Isolation

  • Organize resources by namespaces for better management and access control.

Label Resources

  • Use labels to organize and select resources efficiently.

Monitor and Log

  • Continuously monitor your cluster and collect logs for troubleshooting and performance analysis.

Automate with Scripts

  • Use scripts to automate repetitive tasks and ensure consistency.

Secure Your Cluster

  • Implement RBAC, network policies, and secure access controls to protect your cluster.

🚀 Conclusion

Mastering Kubernetes commands, from beginner to advanced levels, is essential for DevOps engineers to manage and troubleshoot clusters effectively. This comprehensive guide serves as a valuable reference for navigating your Kubernetes environment. By following best practices and leveraging these commands, you can ensure a robust and efficient Kubernetes setup.

Happy Clustering!🎉


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