Resource quotas per namespace in Kubernetes - Commands & Configuration

Introduction

When many teams share the same Kubernetes cluster, some teams might use too many resources and leave none for others. Resource quotas help limit how much CPU, memory, and other resources each team can use in their own space, called a namespace.

When you want to make sure one team does not use all the CPU or memory in a shared cluster.

When you want to control how many pods or services a namespace can create to avoid overload.

When you want to track resource usage per project or team to plan capacity better.

When you want to prevent accidental resource hogging by limiting storage or load balancers.

When you want to enforce fair resource sharing in a multi-tenant Kubernetes environment.

Config File - resource-quota.yaml

resource-quota.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: ResourceQuota
metadata:
  name: example-quota
  namespace: example-namespace
spec:
  hard:
    pods: "10"
    requests.cpu: "4"
    requests.memory: "8Gi"
    limits.cpu: "8"
    limits.memory: "16Gi"
    persistentvolumeclaims: "5"

This file defines a ResourceQuota named example-quota in the example-namespace.

The hard section sets limits: maximum 10 pods, 4 CPUs requested, 8Gi memory requested, 8 CPUs limit, 16Gi memory limit, and 5 persistent volume claims allowed.

This ensures the namespace cannot use more resources than these limits.

Commands

This command creates the resource quota in the specified namespace to limit resource usage.

Terminal

kubectl apply -f resource-quota.yaml

Expected Output

resourcequota/example-quota created

This command lists all resource quotas in the example-namespace to verify the quota was created.

Terminal

kubectl get resourcequota -n example-namespace

Expected Output

NAME            AGE

example-quota   10s

→

-n - Specifies the namespace to look in

This command shows detailed information about the resource quota, including current usage and limits.

Terminal

kubectl describe resourcequota example-quota -n example-namespace

Expected Output

Name:            example-quota

Namespace:       example-namespace

Resource                   Used  Hard

--------                   ---   ----

pods                       0     10

requests.cpu               0     4

requests.memory            0     8Gi

limits.cpu                 0     8

limits.memory              0     16Gi

persistentvolumeclaims     0     5

→

-n - Specifies the namespace

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else from this pattern, remember: resource quotas limit how much CPU, memory, pods, and other resources a namespace can use to keep cluster resources fairly shared.

Common Mistakes

Applying a resource quota without specifying the correct namespace in the YAML file.

The quota will be created in the default namespace or wrong namespace, so it won't limit the intended namespace.

Always set the correct namespace under metadata.namespace in the resource quota YAML.

Setting resource limits in the quota but not setting matching requests and limits in pod specs.

Resource quota counts requests and limits; if pods don't specify them, quota enforcement may not work as expected.

Ensure pods specify resource requests and limits that align with the quota to enforce limits properly.

Not checking current usage with 'kubectl describe resourcequota' after applying quota.

You might miss that some resources are already over quota or that usage is near limits.

Use 'kubectl describe resourcequota' to monitor usage and adjust quotas as needed.

Summary

Create a resource quota YAML file specifying limits for CPU, memory, pods, and other resources in a namespace.

Apply the quota with 'kubectl apply -f' to enforce resource limits in that namespace.

Verify quota creation with 'kubectl get resourcequota' and check usage details with 'kubectl describe resourcequota'.