kubectl: The Kubernetes Commands

To interact with a Kubernetes cluster, we use a command-line tool called kubectl.

The basic syntax for every command is:

kubectl [command] [TYPE] [NAME] [flags]

• Command: What you want to do (get, describe, create, delete).
• Type: The resource you are touching (pod, service, deployment, node).
• Name: The specific name of the resource (optional if you want to list everything).
• Flags: Extra options (like -n for namespace or -o for output format).

Must-Know Commands

Category	Command	What it does (Simple English)
Viewing	kubectl get pods	Lists all pods in the default namespace.
	kubectl get pods -o wide	Shows more details like IP address and Node name.
	kubectl get all	Shows pods, services, deployments, etc.
Inspection	kubectl describe pod [name]	“Show me the medical report.” Gives detailed history/errors.
	kubectl logs [pod-name]	“Show me the diary.” See what the application printed out.
Action	kubectl delete pod [name]	Deletes the pod (K8s will usually restart it!).
	kubectl apply -f [file.yaml]	“Make it happen.” Creates/Updates resources from a file.
Access	kubectl exec -it [pod-name] -- /bin/bash	“Log in.” Opens a shell inside the container.

Official kubectl commands links

https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/quick-reference

https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubectl/kubectl-commands