Essential kubectl Commands: Operations and Debugging Cheat Sheet

# ── CLUSTER INSPECTION ──────────────────────────────────────────
kubectl cluster-info                        # API server URL + CoreDNS
kubectl get nodes -o wide                   # Node list with IPs and versions
kubectl api-resources                       # All resource types with shortnames
kubectl explain deployment.spec.strategy    # Inline documentation for any field

# ── RESOURCE INSPECTION ─────────────────────────────────────────
kubectl get pods                            # List pods in current namespace
kubectl get pods -A -o wide                 # All namespaces with node + IP
kubectl get all -n production               # All resources in a namespace
kubectl describe pod my-pod                 # Full detail + events (most useful debug tool)
kubectl get pod my-pod -o yaml              # Full YAML of live object
kubectl get pod my-pod -o jsonpath='{.status.podIP}'  # Extract specific field

# ── CREATING & MANAGING ─────────────────────────────────────────
kubectl apply -f manifest.yaml              # Declarative — always prefer this
kubectl apply -f ./dir/ -R                  # Apply all YAML in directory recursively
kubectl delete -f manifest.yaml             # Delete by manifest
kubectl delete pod my-pod --grace-period=0 --force  # Force delete stuck pod

# ── DEBUGGING ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
kubectl logs my-pod                         # Container logs
kubectl logs my-pod --previous              # Logs from previous (crashed) container
kubectl logs my-pod -f --tail=100           # Stream last 100 lines
kubectl logs -l app=nginx -n production     # Logs from all pods matching label
kubectl exec -it my-pod -- /bin/bash        # Interactive shell in pod
kubectl exec my-pod -- env                  # Print env vars non-interactively
kubectl port-forward pod/my-pod 8080:80     # Forward local port to pod
kubectl port-forward svc/my-svc 8080:80     # Forward local port to service
kubectl debug -it my-pod --image=busybox    # Attach debug container to pod

# ── ROLLOUTS & SCALING ──────────────────────────────────────────
kubectl scale deployment my-app --replicas=5
kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app
kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app
kubectl rollout restart deployment/my-app   # Force rolling restart
kubectl set image deployment/my-app app=myimage:v2

# ── EVENTS (often overlooked — extremely useful) ─────────────────
kubectl get events -n production --sort-by='.lastTimestamp'
kubectl get events --field-selector reason=BackOff