Kubernetes Workloads Cheat Sheet

kubectl get deployments -A

# Show deployments across namespaces.

kubectl describe deployment web -n payments

# Inspect rollout state, replicas, and events.

kubectl set image deployment/web web=ghcr.io/acme/web:2.4.1 -n payments

# Roll out a new container image.

kubectl set resources deployment/web -c web --limits=cpu=500m,memory=512Mi --requests=cpu=200m,memory=256Mi -n payments

# Update requests and limits from the CLI.

kubectl set env deployment/web APP_ENV=production -n payments

# Set or update environment variables.

kubectl rollout status deployment/web -n payments

# Block until the rollout finishes or fails.

kubectl rollout history deployment/web -n payments

# List deployment revisions.

kubectl rollout undo deployment/web -n payments

# Roll back to the previous revision.

kubectl rollout undo deployment/web --to-revision=3 -n payments

# Roll back to a chosen revision.

kubectl rollout restart deployment/web -n payments

# Trigger a restart without changing the image.

kubectl get statefulsets -A

# Show StatefulSets across namespaces.

kubectl describe statefulset postgres -n data

# Inspect ordinal pods, PVCs, and update strategy.

kubectl scale statefulset postgres --replicas=3 -n data

# Change StatefulSet replica count.

kubectl rollout status statefulset/postgres -n data

# Wait for StatefulSet updates to finish.

kubectl get daemonsets -A

# Show DaemonSets across namespaces.

kubectl describe daemonset node-exporter -n observability

# Inspect node coverage and update status.

kubectl rollout restart daemonset/node-exporter -n observability

# Trigger a rolling restart for a DaemonSet.

kubectl rollout status daemonset/node-exporter -n observability

# Watch daemonset rollout status.

kubectl get jobs -A

# Show Jobs across namespaces.

kubectl describe job db-migrate -n data

# Inspect completions, pods, and failures.

kubectl delete job db-migrate -n data

# Remove a finished or failed Job.

kubectl create job --from=cronjob/nightly-backup manual-backup-20260305 -n ops

# Trigger an ad hoc run from an existing CronJob.

kubectl get cronjobs -A

# Show CronJobs across namespaces.

kubectl describe cronjob nightly-backup -n ops

# Inspect the cron schedule, history limits, and concurrency policy.

kubectl patch cronjob nightly-backup -n ops -p '{"spec":{"suspend":true}}'

# Pause CronJob scheduling without deleting it.

kubectl patch cronjob nightly-backup -n ops -p '{"spec":{"suspend":false}}'

# Resume a suspended CronJob.

kubectl autoscale deployment web --cpu-percent=70 --min=2 --max=10 -n payments

# Create a HorizontalPodAutoscaler for a deployment.

kubectl get hpa -A

# Show HorizontalPodAutoscalers.

kubectl describe hpa web -n payments

# Inspect metrics, thresholds, and scaling recommendations.

kubectl scale replicaset web-7cbb9f9d44 --replicas=0 -n payments

# Directly scale a ReplicaSet when needed.

kubectl get rs -n payments

# Show ReplicaSets created by Deployments.

kubectl describe rs web-7cbb9f9d44 -n payments

# Inspect pod template and controller ownership.

kubectl wait --for=condition=Ready pod -l app=web -n payments --timeout=180s

# Wait on readiness conditions.

kubectl wait --for=condition=Available deployment/web -n payments --timeout=180s

# Block until a deployment is available.

kubectl patch deployment web --subresource=scale -p '{"spec":{"replicas":8}}' -n payments

# Update the scale subresource directly.

kubectl get pods -n payments -o custom-columns=NAME:.metadata.name,OWNER:.metadata.ownerReferences[0].name

# Show which controller owns each pod.

kubectl drain worker-02 --ignore-daemonsets --delete-emptydir-data

# Safely evict workloads before maintenance.

kubectl uncordon worker-02

# Allow new pods to schedule on a node again.

kubectl cordon worker-02

# Mark a node unschedulable.