kubectl describe displays detailed information about a Kubernetes object, expanding the summary returned by kubectl get into readable fields and operational context. section 3.2.3 section 4.2.4
Use it to inspect nodes, pods, services, and other resources when a short status line does not explain what is happening. section 3.2.3 section 5.2.3
A describe result can combine object data with useful related information:
- Node details include its name, addresses, conditions, capacity, running pods, allocated resources, and related events. section 4.2.4
- Pod details show information comparable to the complete YAML manifest, followed by chronological events such as scheduling, image pulling, container creation, and startup. section 5.2.3
- Annotations appear in describe output, although kubectl's internal last-applied-configuration annotation is omitted there. section 7.5.3
- Omitting the resource name prints information for all objects of the requested type, which is convenient when only one exists. section 3.2.3
Inspecting a pod
Run `kubectl describe pod kiada`. Read the object fields first, then inspect the events at the bottom. A normal sequence assigns the pod to a worker node, pulls its image, creates the container, and starts it; warning events indicate that further troubleshooting may be needed. section 5.2.3
$ kubectl describe node kind-worker-2
Name: kind-worker2
Roles: <none>
Labels: beta.kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
beta.kubernetes.io/os=linux
kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
kubernetes.io/hostname=kind-worker2
kubernetes.io/os=linux
Annotations: kubeadm.alpha.kubernetes.io/cri-socket: /run/contain...
node.alpha.kubernetes.io/ttl: 0
volumes.kubernetes.io/controller-managed-attach-deta...
CreationTimestamp: Sun, 03 May 2020 17:09:48 +0200
Taints: <none>
Unschedulable: false
Lease:
HolderIdentity: kind-worker2
AcquireTime: <unset>
RenewTime: Sun, 17 May 2020 16:15:03 +0200
Conditions:
Type Status ... Reason Message
---- ------ --- ------ -------
MemoryPressure False ... KubeletHasSufficientMemory ...
DiskPressure False ... KubeletHasNoDiskPressure ...
PIDPressure False ... KubeletHasSufficientPID ...
Ready True ... KubeletReady ...
Addresses:
InternalIP: 172.18.0.4
Hostname: kind-worker2
Capacity:
cpu: 8
ephemeral-storage: 401520944Ki
hugepages-1Gi: 0
hugepages-2Mi: 0
memory: 32720824Ki
pods: 110
Allocatable:
...
System Info:
...
PodCIDR: 10.244.1.0/24
PodCIDRs: 10.244.1.0/24
Non-terminated Pods: (2 in total)
Namespace Name CPU Requests CPU Limits ... AGE
--------- ---- ------------ ---------- ... ---
kube-system kindnet-4xmjh 100m (1%) 100m (1%) ... 13d
kube-system kube-proxy-dgkfm 0 (0%) 0 (0%) ... 13d
Allocated resources:
(Total limits may be over 100 percent, i.e., overcommitted.)
Resource Requests Limits
-------- -------- ------
cpu 100m (1%) 100m (1%)
memory 50Mi (0%) 50Mi (0%)
ephemeral-storage 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
hugepages-1Gi 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
hugepages-2Mi 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Events:
Type Reason Age From Message
---- ------ ---- ---- -------
Normal Starting 3m50s kubelet, kind-worker2 ...
Normal NodeAllocatableEnforced 3m50s kubelet, kind-worker2 ...
Normal NodeHasSufficientMemory 3m50s kubelet, kind-worker2 ...
Normal NodeHasNoDiskPressure 3m50s kubelet, kind-worker2 ...
Normal NodeHasSufficientPID 3m50s kubelet, kind-worker2 ...
Normal Starting 3m49s kube-proxy, kind-worker2 ...
A sample node description shows the readable layout of identity, labels, annotations, scheduling state, lease data, and conditions. section 4.2.4
