Cheatsheets

Quick reference guides for Kubernetes commands, YAML structures, and common operations. These cheatsheets are designed to be printed, bookmarked, or kept open in a terminal window for instant access to the commands and syntax you need most often.

What Are Cheatsheets?

Cheatsheets are condensed reference cards that provide essential information at a glance. Unlike full documentation, cheatsheets focus on the most frequently used commands, patterns, and syntax—perfect for when you know what you want to do but need a quick reminder of the exact syntax.

graph TB A[Cheatsheets] --> B[kubectl Commands] A --> C[YAML Templates] A --> D[API Resources] A --> E[Troubleshooting] A --> F[Common Patterns] B --> B1[Get, Describe, Logs] C --> C1[Pod, Service, Deployment] D --> D1[Resource Types] E --> E1[Debug Commands] F --> F1[Quick Solutions] style A fill:#e1f5ff style B fill:#fff4e1 style C fill:#e8f5e9 style D fill:#f3e5f5 style E fill:#ffe1e1 style F fill:#fff4e1

Cheatsheet Categories

kubectl Commands

Essential kubectl commands for daily operations:

Resource Management - Get, create, delete, and update resources
Pod Operations - Exec, logs, port-forward, and debugging
Namespace Management - Creating and switching contexts
Label & Selector - Filtering and querying resources
Output Formats - JSON, YAML, custom columns, and wide output
Context & Config - Managing kubeconfig and contexts
Apply & Patch - Updating resources safely
Watch & Events - Monitoring resource changes

YAML Templates

Ready-to-use YAML templates for common resources:

Pod Templates - Basic pods, init containers, sidecars
Deployment Templates - Rolling updates, strategies, replicas
Service Templates - ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer, Headless
ConfigMap & Secret - Configuration and secret definitions
PersistentVolume & PVC - Storage resource templates
Ingress Templates - Basic and TLS ingress configurations
RBAC Templates - Roles, RoleBindings, ServiceAccounts
Job & CronJob - One-time and scheduled job templates
StatefulSet & DaemonSet - Stateful and daemon workload templates
NetworkPolicy - Network security policy templates

API Resources

Quick reference for Kubernetes API resources:

Core Resources - Pods, Services, Namespaces, Nodes
Workload Resources - Deployments, ReplicaSets, StatefulSets, Jobs
Service Resources - Services, Ingress, Endpoints
Storage Resources - PVs, PVCs, StorageClasses
Config Resources - ConfigMaps, Secrets
RBAC Resources - Roles, RoleBindings, ClusterRoles
Policy Resources - NetworkPolicies, PodSecurityPolicies
Custom Resources - CRDs and their usage

Troubleshooting Commands

Essential commands for debugging and troubleshooting:

Pod Debugging - Describe, logs, exec, events
Node Debugging - Node status, resource usage, conditions
Network Debugging - Service endpoints, DNS resolution, connectivity
Storage Debugging - Volume mounts, PVC status, storage classes
Event Inspection - Viewing and filtering events
Resource Inspection - Getting detailed resource information
API Server Debugging - Checking API availability and versions

Common Patterns

Quick reference for frequently used patterns:

Label Selectors - Common selector patterns
Field Selectors - Filtering by resource fields
JSONPath Queries - Extracting specific data
Port Forwarding - Accessing services locally
File Operations - Copying files to/from pods
Resource Quotas - Setting limits and requests
Affinity Rules - Node and pod affinity patterns
Taints & Tolerations - Node scheduling rules

Helm Commands

Quick reference for Helm operations:

Chart Operations - Install, upgrade, uninstall
Release Management - List, status, history, rollback
Template Commands - Render, lint, validate
Repository Management - Add, update, search charts
Value Overrides - Setting and using values

Kustomize Commands

Quick reference for Kustomize operations:

Build Commands - Building and previewing overlays
Overlay Patterns - Common overlay structures
Patch Operations - Strategic merge and JSON patches
Resource Generation - ConfigMap and Secret generators

Cheatsheet Features

Each cheatsheet includes:

✅ Command syntax - Exact command format with options
✅ Common flags - Most frequently used flags and their meanings
✅ Examples - Real-world usage examples
✅ Shortcuts - Aliases and time-saving tips
✅ Output formats - Different ways to view results
✅ Print-friendly - Designed to be printed or saved as PDF

How to Use Cheatsheets

Bookmark favorites - Save the cheatsheets you use most often
Print for reference - Keep printed copies at your desk
Terminal tabs - Keep cheatsheet pages open while working
Mobile access - Access on your phone for quick lookups
Team sharing - Share relevant cheatsheets with your team

Cheatsheet Format

Each cheatsheet follows a consistent structure:

# [Category] Cheatsheet

## [Section]
Command/Pattern | Description | Example
----------------|-------------|--------
kubectl get pods | List pods | kubectl get pods -n production

## Quick Tips
- Tip 1
- Tip 2

## Common Flags
--flag | Description

Coming Soon

We’re continuously expanding our cheatsheet collection. Upcoming cheatsheets include:

Service mesh commands (Istio, Linkerd)
GitOps tools (ArgoCD, Flux)
Cloud provider CLI commands (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Security scanning tools
Monitoring and observability tools
Advanced kubectl plugins

Tools - Tools