exec

Execute a command in a container

Command

$ kubectl exec (POD | TYPE/NAME) [-c CONTAINER] [flags] -- COMMAND [args...]

$ kubectl get pods

NAME                     READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
nginx-6db489d4b7-qkd5d   1/1     Running   0          20m

kubectl exec nginx-6db489d4b7-qkd5d -- date

Notice that date is the command that we are executing on the pod.

Mon Sep 21 03:38:53 UTC 2020

$ kubectl get pods

NAME                     READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
nginx-6db489d4b7-qkd5d   1/1     Running   0          20m

kubectl exec nginx-6db489d4b7-qkd5d -- ls

Notice that ls is the command that we are executing on the pod.

bin
boot
dev
docker-entrypoint.d
docker-entrypoint.sh
etc
home
lib
lib64
media
mnt
opt
proc
root
run
sbin
srv
sys
tmp
usr
var

To get a Shell in a Container, use the -t -i options to get a tty and attach STDIN.

kubectl exec -t -i nginx-78f5d695bd-czm8z bash

root@nginx-78f5d695bd-czm8z:/# ls
bin  boot  dev	etc  home  lib	lib64  media  mnt  opt	proc  root  run  sbin  srv  sys  tmp  usr  var

For Pods running multiple Containers, the Container should be specified with -c <container-name>.

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Last modified September 23, 2020: docs update (b46eb86)