kubectl

Get resources

$ kubectl get [pods|deployments|services|nodes]

$ kubectl describe [pod] [name]

$ kubectl apply -f [manifest.yaml]

$ kubectl delete [pod] [name]

$ kubectl logs [pod-name]

$ kubectl exec -it [pod-name] -- [/bin/bash]

$ kubectl port-forward [pod-name] [8080:80]

kubectl [options] command [type] [name] [flags]

kubectl is the official command-line interface for Kubernetes, used to communicate with the cluster's API server to manage and inspect resources. It supports the full lifecycle of Kubernetes objects, including creating, reading, updating, and deleting resources such as pods, deployments, services, configmaps, and more through declarative manifests or imperative commands.
The tool reads connection details from a kubeconfig file, which defines clusters, users, and contexts that determine which cluster and namespace kubectl targets. Beyond basic resource management, kubectl provides capabilities for debugging with log retrieval and exec sessions, scaling workloads, rolling out updates, port-forwarding to pods, and applying configuration changes from YAML or JSON manifests. Role-based access control (RBAC) on the cluster side governs what operations each authenticated user may perform.

get TYPE

List resources.

Show resource details.

Apply configuration.

Delete resource.

Show pod logs.

Execute in container.

Target namespace.

Display help information.

Requires kubeconfig. Context determines cluster. RBAC affects access.

kubectl is the official CLI for Kubernetes, developed as the primary cluster management interface.

kubeadm(1), k9s(1), helm(1), kubectx(1)