Application Introspection and Debugging
Once your application is running, you'll inevitably need to debug problems with it.
Earlier we described how you can use kubectl get pods to retrieve simple status information about
your pods. But there are a number of ways to get even more information about your application.
Using kubectl describe pod to fetch details about pods
For this example we'll use a Deployment to create two pods, similar to the earlier example.
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: nginx-deployment
spec:
selector:
matchLabels:
app: nginx
replicas: 2
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: nginx
spec:
containers:
- name: nginx
image: nginx
resources:
limits:
memory: "128Mi"
cpu: "500m"
ports:
- containerPort: 80
Create deployment by running following command:
kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/nginx-with-request.yaml
deployment.apps/nginx-deployment created
Check pod status by following command:
kubectl get pods
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-cx2nz 1/1 Running 0 13s
nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-w6kd7 1/1 Running 0 13s
We can retrieve a lot more information about each of these pods using kubectl describe pod. For example:
kubectl describe pod nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-w6kd7
Name: nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-w6kd7
Namespace: default
Priority: 0
Node: kube-worker-1/192.168.0.113
Start Time: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:51:01 -0500
Labels: app=nginx
pod-template-hash=67d4bdd6f5
Annotations: <none>
Status: Running
IP: 10.88.0.3
IPs:
IP: 10.88.0.3
IP: 2001:db8::1
Controlled By: ReplicaSet/nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5
Containers:
nginx:
Container ID: containerd://5403af59a2b46ee5a23fb0ae4b1e077f7ca5c5fb7af16e1ab21c00e0e616462a
Image: nginx
Image ID: docker.io/library/nginx@sha256:2834dc507516af02784808c5f48b7cbe38b8ed5d0f4837f16e78d00deb7e7767
Port: 80/TCP
Host Port: 0/TCP
State: Running
Started: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:51:05 -0500
Ready: True
Restart Count: 0
Limits:
cpu: 500m
memory: 128Mi
Requests:
cpu: 500m
memory: 128Mi
Environment: <none>
Mounts:
/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount from kube-api-access-bgsgp (ro)
Conditions:
Type Status
Initialized True
Ready True
ContainersReady True
PodScheduled True
Volumes:
kube-api-access-bgsgp:
Type: Projected (a volume that contains injected data from multiple sources)
TokenExpirationSeconds: 3607
ConfigMapName: kube-root-ca.crt
ConfigMapOptional: <nil>
DownwardAPI: true
QoS Class: Guaranteed
Node-Selectors: <none>
Tolerations: node.kubernetes.io/not-ready:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoExecute op=Exists for 300s
Events:
Type Reason Age From Message
---- ------ ---- ---- -------
Normal Scheduled 34s default-scheduler Successfully assigned default/nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-w6kd7 to kube-worker-1
Normal Pulling 31s kubelet Pulling image "nginx"
Normal Pulled 30s kubelet Successfully pulled image "nginx" in 1.146417389s
Normal Created 30s kubelet Created container nginx
Normal Started 30s kubelet Started container nginx
Here you can see configuration information about the container(s) and Pod (labels, resource requirements, etc.), as well as status information about the container(s) and Pod (state, readiness, restart count, events, etc.).
The container state is one of Waiting, Running, or Terminated. Depending on the state, additional information will be provided -- here you can see that for a container in Running state, the system tells you when the container started.
Ready tells you whether the container passed its last readiness probe. (In this case, the container does not have a readiness probe configured; the container is assumed to be ready if no readiness probe is configured.)
Restart Count tells you how many times the container has been restarted; this information can be useful for detecting crash loops in containers that are configured with a restart policy of 'always.'
Currently the only Condition associated with a Pod is the binary Ready condition, which indicates that the pod is able to service requests and should be added to the load balancing pools of all matching services.
Lastly, you see a log of recent events related to your Pod. The system compresses multiple identical events by indicating the first and last time it was seen and the number of times it was seen. "From" indicates the component that is logging the event, "SubobjectPath" tells you which object (e.g. container within the pod) is being referred to, and "Reason" and "Message" tell you what happened.
Example: debugging Pending Pods
A common scenario that you can detect using events is when you've created a Pod that won't fit on any node. For example, the Pod might request more resources than are free on any node, or it might specify a label selector that doesn't match any nodes. Let's say we created the previous Deployment with 5 replicas (instead of 2) and requesting 600 millicores instead of 500, on a four-node cluster where each (virtual) machine has 1 CPU. In that case one of the Pods will not be able to schedule. (Note that because of the cluster addon pods such as fluentd, skydns, etc., that run on each node, if we requested 1000 millicores then none of the Pods would be able to schedule.)
kubectl get pods
NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE
nginx-deployment-1006230814-6winp 1/1 Running 0 7m
nginx-deployment-1006230814-fmgu3 1/1 Running 0 7m
nginx-deployment-1370807587-6ekbw 1/1 Running 0 1m
nginx-deployment-1370807587-fg172 0/1 Pending 0 1m
nginx-deployment-1370807587-fz9sd 0/1 Pending 0 1m
To find out why the nginx-deployment-1370807587-fz9sd pod is not running, we can use kubectl describe pod on the pending Pod and look at its events:
kubectl describe pod nginx-deployment-1370807587-fz9sd
Name: nginx-deployment-1370807587-fz9sd
Namespace: default
Node: /
Labels: app=nginx,pod-template-hash=1370807587
Status: Pending
IP:
Controllers: ReplicaSet/nginx-deployment-1370807587
Containers:
nginx:
Image: nginx
Port: 80/TCP
QoS Tier:
memory: Guaranteed
cpu: Guaranteed
Limits:
cpu: 1
memory: 128Mi
Requests:
cpu: 1
memory: 128Mi
Environment Variables:
Volumes:
default-token-4bcbi:
Type: Secret (a volume populated by a Secret)
SecretName: default-token-4bcbi
Events:
FirstSeen LastSeen Count From SubobjectPath Type Reason Message
--------- -------- ----- ---- ------------- -------- ------ -------
1m 48s 7 {default-scheduler } Warning FailedScheduling pod (nginx-deployment-1370807587-fz9sd) failed to fit in any node
fit failure on node (kubernetes-node-6ta5): Node didn't have enough resource: CPU, requested: 1000, used: 1420, capacity: 2000
fit failure on node (kubernetes-node-wul5): Node didn't have enough resource: CPU, requested: 1000, used: 1100, capacity: 2000
Here you can see the event generated by the scheduler saying that the Pod failed to schedule for reason FailedScheduling (and possibly others). The message tells us that there were not enough resources for the Pod on any of the nodes.
To correct this situation, you can use kubectl scale to update your Deployment to specify four or fewer replicas. (Or you could leave the one Pod pending, which is harmless.)
Events such as the ones you saw at the end of kubectl describe pod are persisted in etcd and provide high-level information on what is happening in the cluster. To list all events you can use
kubectl get events
but you have to remember that events are namespaced. This means that if you're interested in events for some namespaced object (e.g. what happened with Pods in namespace my-namespace) you need to explicitly provide a namespace to the command:
kubectl get events --namespace=my-namespace
To see events from all namespaces, you can use the --all-namespaces argument.
In addition to kubectl describe pod, another way to get extra information about a pod (beyond what is provided by kubectl get pod) is to pass the -o yaml output format flag to kubectl get pod. This will give you, in YAML format, even more information than kubectl describe pod--essentially all of the information the system has about the Pod. Here you will see things like annotations (which are key-value metadata without the label restrictions, that is used internally by Kubernetes system components), restart policy, ports, and volumes.
kubectl get pod nginx-deployment-1006230814-6winp -o yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
creationTimestamp: "2022-02-17T21:51:01Z"
generateName: nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-
labels:
app: nginx
pod-template-hash: 67d4bdd6f5
name: nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-w6kd7
namespace: default
ownerReferences:
- apiVersion: apps/v1
blockOwnerDeletion: true
controller: true
kind: ReplicaSet
name: nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5
uid: 7d41dfd4-84c0-4be4-88ab-cedbe626ad82
resourceVersion: "1364"
uid: a6501da1-0447-4262-98eb-c03d4002222e
spec:
containers:
- image: nginx
imagePullPolicy: Always
name: nginx
ports:
- containerPort: 80
protocol: TCP
resources:
limits:
cpu: 500m
memory: 128Mi
requests:
cpu: 500m
memory: 128Mi
terminationMessagePath: /dev/termination-log
terminationMessagePolicy: File
volumeMounts:
- mountPath: /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount
name: kube-api-access-bgsgp
readOnly: true
dnsPolicy: ClusterFirst
enableServiceLinks: true
nodeName: kube-worker-1
preemptionPolicy: PreemptLowerPriority
priority: 0
restartPolicy: Always
schedulerName: default-scheduler
securityContext: {}
serviceAccount: default
serviceAccountName: default
terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 30
tolerations:
- effect: NoExecute
key: node.kubernetes.io/not-ready
operator: Exists
tolerationSeconds: 300
- effect: NoExecute
key: node.kubernetes.io/unreachable
operator: Exists
tolerationSeconds: 300
volumes:
- name: kube-api-access-bgsgp
projected:
defaultMode: 420
sources:
- serviceAccountToken:
expirationSeconds: 3607
path: token
- configMap:
items:
- key: ca.crt
path: ca.crt
name: kube-root-ca.crt
- downwardAPI:
items:
- fieldRef:
apiVersion: v1
fieldPath: metadata.namespace
path: namespace
status:
conditions:
- lastProbeTime: null
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T21:51:01Z"
status: "True"
type: Initialized
- lastProbeTime: null
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T21:51:06Z"
status: "True"
type: Ready
- lastProbeTime: null
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T21:51:06Z"
status: "True"
type: ContainersReady
- lastProbeTime: null
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T21:51:01Z"
status: "True"
type: PodScheduled
containerStatuses:
- containerID: containerd://5403af59a2b46ee5a23fb0ae4b1e077f7ca5c5fb7af16e1ab21c00e0e616462a
image: docker.io/library/nginx:latest
imageID: docker.io/library/nginx@sha256:2834dc507516af02784808c5f48b7cbe38b8ed5d0f4837f16e78d00deb7e7767
lastState: {}
name: nginx
ready: true
restartCount: 0
started: true
state:
running:
startedAt: "2022-02-17T21:51:05Z"
hostIP: 192.168.0.113
phase: Running
podIP: 10.88.0.3
podIPs:
- ip: 10.88.0.3
- ip: 2001:db8::1
qosClass: Guaranteed
startTime: "2022-02-17T21:51:01Z"
Example: debugging a down/unreachable node
Sometimes when debugging it can be useful to look at the status of a node -- for example, because you've noticed strange behavior of a Pod that's running on the node, or to find out why a Pod won't schedule onto the node. As with Pods, you can use kubectl describe node and kubectl get node -o yaml to retrieve detailed information about nodes. For example, here's what you'll see if a node is down (disconnected from the network, or kubelet dies and won't restart, etc.). Notice the events that show the node is NotReady, and also notice that the pods are no longer running (they are evicted after five minutes of NotReady status).
kubectl get nodes
NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION
kube-worker-1 NotReady <none> 1h v1.23.3
kubernetes-node-bols Ready <none> 1h v1.23.3
kubernetes-node-st6x Ready <none> 1h v1.23.3
kubernetes-node-unaj Ready <none> 1h v1.23.3
kubectl describe node kube-worker-1
Name: kube-worker-1
Roles: <none>
Labels: beta.kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
beta.kubernetes.io/os=linux
kubernetes.io/arch=amd64
kubernetes.io/hostname=kube-worker-1
kubernetes.io/os=linux
Annotations: kubeadm.alpha.kubernetes.io/cri-socket: /run/containerd/containerd.sock
node.alpha.kubernetes.io/ttl: 0
volumes.kubernetes.io/controller-managed-attach-detach: true
CreationTimestamp: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 16:46:30 -0500
Taints: node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoExecute
node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoSchedule
Unschedulable: false
Lease:
HolderIdentity: kube-worker-1
AcquireTime: <unset>
RenewTime: Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:13:09 -0500
Conditions:
Type Status LastHeartbeatTime LastTransitionTime Reason Message
---- ------ ----------------- ------------------ ------ -------
NetworkUnavailable False Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:09:13 -0500 Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:09:13 -0500 WeaveIsUp Weave pod has set this
MemoryPressure Unknown Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:12:40 -0500 Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:13:52 -0500 NodeStatusUnknown Kubelet stopped posting node status.
DiskPressure Unknown Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:12:40 -0500 Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:13:52 -0500 NodeStatusUnknown Kubelet stopped posting node status.
PIDPressure Unknown Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:12:40 -0500 Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:13:52 -0500 NodeStatusUnknown Kubelet stopped posting node status.
Ready Unknown Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:12:40 -0500 Thu, 17 Feb 2022 17:13:52 -0500 NodeStatusUnknown Kubelet stopped posting node status.
Addresses:
InternalIP: 192.168.0.113
Hostname: kube-worker-1
Capacity:
cpu: 2
ephemeral-storage: 15372232Ki
hugepages-2Mi: 0
memory: 2025188Ki
pods: 110
Allocatable:
cpu: 2
ephemeral-storage: 14167048988
hugepages-2Mi: 0
memory: 1922788Ki
pods: 110
System Info:
Machine ID: 9384e2927f544209b5d7b67474bbf92b
System UUID: aa829ca9-73d7-064d-9019-df07404ad448
Boot ID: 5a295a03-aaca-4340-af20-1327fa5dab5c
Kernel Version: 5.13.0-28-generic
OS Image: Ubuntu 21.10
Operating System: linux
Architecture: amd64
Container Runtime Version: containerd://1.5.9
Kubelet Version: v1.23.3
Kube-Proxy Version: v1.23.3
Non-terminated Pods: (4 in total)
Namespace Name CPU Requests CPU Limits Memory Requests Memory Limits Age
--------- ---- ------------ ---------- --------------- ------------- ---
default nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-cx2nz 500m (25%) 500m (25%) 128Mi (6%) 128Mi (6%) 23m
default nginx-deployment-67d4bdd6f5-w6kd7 500m (25%) 500m (25%) 128Mi (6%) 128Mi (6%) 23m
kube-system kube-proxy-dnxbz 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 28m
kube-system weave-net-gjxxp 100m (5%) 0 (0%) 200Mi (10%) 0 (0%) 28m
Allocated resources:
(Total limits may be over 100 percent, i.e., overcommitted.)
Resource Requests Limits
-------- -------- ------
cpu 1100m (55%) 1 (50%)
memory 456Mi (24%) 256Mi (13%)
ephemeral-storage 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
hugepages-2Mi 0 (0%) 0 (0%)
Events:
...
kubectl get node kube-worker-1 -o yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: Node
metadata:
annotations:
kubeadm.alpha.kubernetes.io/cri-socket: /run/containerd/containerd.sock
node.alpha.kubernetes.io/ttl: "0"
volumes.kubernetes.io/controller-managed-attach-detach: "true"
creationTimestamp: "2022-02-17T21:46:30Z"
labels:
beta.kubernetes.io/arch: amd64
beta.kubernetes.io/os: linux
kubernetes.io/arch: amd64
kubernetes.io/hostname: kube-worker-1
kubernetes.io/os: linux
name: kube-worker-1
resourceVersion: "4026"
uid: 98efe7cb-2978-4a0b-842a-1a7bf12c05f8
spec: {}
status:
addresses:
- address: 192.168.0.113
type: InternalIP
- address: kube-worker-1
type: Hostname
allocatable:
cpu: "2"
ephemeral-storage: "14167048988"
hugepages-2Mi: "0"
memory: 1922788Ki
pods: "110"
capacity:
cpu: "2"
ephemeral-storage: 15372232Ki
hugepages-2Mi: "0"
memory: 2025188Ki
pods: "110"
conditions:
- lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-02-17T22:20:32Z"
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T22:20:32Z"
message: Weave pod has set this
reason: WeaveIsUp
status: "False"
type: NetworkUnavailable
- lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-02-17T22:20:15Z"
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T22:13:25Z"
message: kubelet has sufficient memory available
reason: KubeletHasSufficientMemory
status: "False"
type: MemoryPressure
- lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-02-17T22:20:15Z"
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T22:13:25Z"
message: kubelet has no disk pressure
reason: KubeletHasNoDiskPressure
status: "False"
type: DiskPressure
- lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-02-17T22:20:15Z"
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T22:13:25Z"
message: kubelet has sufficient PID available
reason: KubeletHasSufficientPID
status: "False"
type: PIDPressure
- lastHeartbeatTime: "2022-02-17T22:20:15Z"
lastTransitionTime: "2022-02-17T22:15:15Z"
message: kubelet is posting ready status. AppArmor enabled
reason: KubeletReady
status: "True"
type: Ready
daemonEndpoints:
kubeletEndpoint:
Port: 10250
nodeInfo:
architecture: amd64
bootID: 22333234-7a6b-44d4-9ce1-67e31dc7e369
containerRuntimeVersion: containerd://1.5.9
kernelVersion: 5.13.0-28-generic
kubeProxyVersion: v1.23.3
kubeletVersion: v1.23.3
machineID: 9384e2927f544209b5d7b67474bbf92b
operatingSystem: linux
osImage: Ubuntu 21.10
systemUUID: aa829ca9-73d7-064d-9019-df07404ad448
What's next
Learn about additional debugging tools, including: