Kubectl describe
kubectl describe is a kubectl command that displays detailed configuration, status, and related events for a specified Kubernetes resource.
Acing the Certified Kubernetes Administrator Exam, Second Edition
kubectl describe is a kubectl command that displays detailed information about Kubernetes resources, including status, configuration, and events.
- How it is used
- Uses detailed resource output to diagnose pod, node, and control-plane failures during Kubernetes troubleshooting.
- How deep it goes
- Shows practical commands and representative output for states, messages, resource allocation, and events, stopping short of command reference completeness.
- Examples
- Uses the failing brick pod, allocated node resources, and a scaled prod-app Deployment with Pending replicas.
- What you can do after
- Diagnose/debug Kubernetes failures by interpreting resource state, container messages, node conditions, and event history.
Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition
kubectl describe is a kubectl command that displays detailed information about a Kubernetes object and related cluster information.
- How it is used
- Uses detailed inspection after kubectl get to understand node, pod, service, and resource status.
- How deep it goes
- Shows readable object fields, related pods, allocated resources, annotations, and recent events, but omits complete command output.
- Examples
- Demonstrates node, pod, service, and annotated-pod inspections, including scheduling, image-pull, creation, and startup events.
- What you can do after
- Diagnose/debug with it by reading resource state, related objects, annotations, and recent lifecycle events.
Read how Kubernetes in Action, Second Edition explains kubectl describe →
Related concepts
- poduses · A Kubernetes Pod is the smallest deployable unit in Kubernetes, grouping one or more co-located containers that share networking and other resources.
- annotationuses · A Kubernetes annotation is key-value metadata attached to an object for storing non-identifying descriptive, configuration, or operational information.
- Kubernetes resourceuses · A Kubernetes resource is a persistent API-managed object representing the desired or observed state of a workload, configuration, or other cluster entity.
- kubectl getalternative to · kubectl get is a kubectl command that retrieves and displays Kubernetes resources of a specified type from the API.
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