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🚀 K9s Practical Guide – From Installation to Usage

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1. 🔧 Installation

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Linux / macOS

# Install via curl
curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/k9s | bash

# Or via brew (macOS/Linux with Homebrew)
brew install derailed/k9s/k9s

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Windows

choco install k9s

✅ After installation, verify:

k9s version

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2. ⚙️ Setup

• K9s uses your existing kubeconfig (usually ~/.kube/config).
• Ensure you can access your cluster:

kubectl get nodes

• Then simply run:

k9s

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3. 🧭 Navigation

* **Arrow keys / j k** → Move through resources
* **Enter** → Drill down into resource details
* **:q** → Quit current view
* **:ns <namespace>** → Switch namespace
* **:ctx <context>** → Switch cluster context
* **/search** → Filter resources
* **d** → Describe resource (like `kubectl describe`)
* **l** → View logs of a pod
* **s** → Shell into a pod (exec)
* **Shift+0** → Show all namespaces

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4. 📑 Common Workflows

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🔍 View Pods

k9s
# Navigate to Pods → press Enter

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📜 View Pod Logs

• Select pod → press l
• For specific container → press 0-9 to switch

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🐚 Exec into Pod

• Select pod → press s
• Opens interactive shell inside container

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📦 Manage Deployments

• Navigate to Deployments
• Press d to describe
• Press e to edit (opens YAML in editor)

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5. 🎨 Customization

• Config stored in:
  Copy

  ~/.k9s/config.yml
  
• You can set:
  • Theme (skins)
  • Default namespace
  • Keybindings

k9s:
  refreshRate: 2
  ui:
    skin: onedark
  namespace:
    active: default

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6. 📌 Tips & Shortcuts

• : → Command mode
• ? → Show help & shortcuts
• Shift+g → Jump to bottom of list
• Ctrl+a → View all resources
• Shift+c → Switch cluster context

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7. ✅ Summary

• No need to remember complex kubectl commands
• Easy navigation through pods, deployments, logs
• Supports exec, editing, scaling, and context switching
• Customizable interface for personal workflow