Viewing Pod details and logs in Kubernetes - Commands & Configuration

Introduction

Sometimes your app inside Kubernetes pods may not work as expected. You need to look inside the pod to see what is happening and check its logs to find errors or messages.

When you want to check if a pod is running correctly after deployment

When your application inside the pod crashes or behaves unexpectedly

When you want to see real-time output or error messages from your app

When you need to understand why a pod is restarting frequently

When debugging network or configuration issues inside a pod

Commands

This command lists all pods in the current namespace so you can find the pod name you want to inspect.

Terminal

kubectl get pods

Expected Output

NAME           READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE

my-app-pod     1/1     Running   0          3m

This command shows detailed information about the pod, including its status, events, and resource usage. It helps you understand the pod's current state and any recent issues.

Terminal

kubectl describe pod my-app-pod

Expected Output

Name:         my-app-pod

Namespace:    default

Node:         node-1

Start Time:   Thu, 01 Jun 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Labels:       app=my-app

Status:       Running

IP:           10.244.1.5

Containers:

  my-app-container:

    Container ID:   docker://abcdef123456

    Image:          my-app-image:1.0

    State:          Running

    Ready:          True

    Restart Count:  0

Events:

  Type    Reason     Age   From               Message

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

  Normal  Scheduled  5m    default-scheduler  Successfully assigned default/my-app-pod to node-1

This command fetches the logs from the main container inside the pod. Logs show what the app is printing, including errors and info messages.

Terminal

kubectl logs my-app-pod

Expected Output

2024-06-01T10:01:00Z Starting application

2024-06-01T10:01:05Z Application ready to accept requests

This command streams the logs live, so you can watch new log messages as they appear. Useful for real-time debugging.

Terminal

kubectl logs -f my-app-pod

Expected Output

2024-06-01T10:01:00Z Starting application

2024-06-01T10:01:05Z Application ready to accept requests

2024-06-01T10:02:00Z Received request from user

→

-f - Follow logs live as new lines appear

Key Concept

If you remember nothing else from this pattern, remember: use 'kubectl describe pod' for detailed pod info and 'kubectl logs' to see what your app is saying.

Common Mistakes

Trying to get logs from a pod name that does not exist

kubectl will return an error because it cannot find the pod to get logs from

Run 'kubectl get pods' first to find the correct pod name before fetching logs

Not specifying the container name when a pod has multiple containers

kubectl logs will fail or show logs from the wrong container

Use 'kubectl logs my-app-pod -c container-name' to specify which container's logs to view

Not using the '-f' flag when wanting to see live logs

You only get static logs up to the command run time, missing new log entries

Add '-f' to stream logs live for real-time monitoring

Summary

Use 'kubectl get pods' to list pods and find the pod name.

Use 'kubectl describe pod <pod-name>' to see detailed pod information and events.

Use 'kubectl logs <pod-name>' to view the application logs inside the pod.

Use 'kubectl logs -f <pod-name>' to stream logs live for real-time debugging.