kubectl-taint

adds or removes node taints

TLDR

Add taint to node

$ kubectl taint nodes [node-name] [key=value:NoSchedule]

Remove taint

$ kubectl taint nodes [node-name] [key:NoSchedule-]

Add NoExecute taint

$ kubectl taint nodes [node-name] [key=value:NoExecute]

Add PreferNoSchedule

$ kubectl taint nodes [node-name] [key=value:PreferNoSchedule]

Taint multiple nodes

$ kubectl taint nodes [node1] [node2] [key=value:NoSchedule]

SYNOPSIS

kubectl taint [options] node key=value:effect

kubectl taint adds, updates, or removes node taints. A taint is a key=value:effect tuple attached to a node; pods are scheduled or kept on the node only if they carry a matching toleration in their pod spec. The supported effects are NoSchedule (block new pods that don't tolerate it), PreferNoSchedule (best-effort avoid), and NoExecute (evict running pods that don't tolerate it).Taints are the standard mechanism for dedicating nodes to a workload class (e.g., GPU nodes), keeping pods off control-plane nodes, and gracefully draining nodes for maintenance in conjunction with kubectl drain.

PARAMETERS

NODE

Node name.

KEY=VALUE:EFFECT

Taint specification.

NoSchedule

Prevent scheduling.

NoExecute

Evict existing pods.

PreferNoSchedule

Soft no-schedule.

- (suffix on the taint key)

Remove a taint matching the given key:effect pair (e.g. node1 dedicated:NoSchedule-).

--all

Apply the taint operation to every node in the cluster.

-l, --selector SELECTOR

Apply only to nodes matching the label selector (e.g. `--selector=role=worker`).

--overwrite

Allow updating the value of an existing taint (without it, attempting to add a taint with the same key produces an error).

--dry-run client|server|none

Print what would change without modifying the cluster.

--help

Display help information.

CAVEATS

NoExecute evicts already-scheduled pods that lack a matching toleration; ensure tolerations are in place before tainting a populated node. Overwriting an existing taint requires --overwrite. Removing a taint uses a trailing - on the taint key (no value needed).

HISTORY

kubectl taint provides taint management for Kubernetes advanced scheduling control.