kubectx + kubens: Power tools for kubectl
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This repository provides both kubectx and kubens tools.
Install →
What are kubectx and kubens?
kubectx is a tool to switch between contexts (clusters) on kubectl
faster.
kubens is a tool to switch between Kubernetes namespaces (and
configure them for kubectl) easily.
Here's a kubectx demo:
...and here's a kubens demo:
Examples
# switch to another cluster that's in kubeconfig
$ kubectx minikube
Switched to context "minikube".
# switch back to previous cluster
$ kubectx -
Switched to context "oregon".
# create an alias for the context
$ kubectx dublin=gke_ahmetb_europe-west1-b_dublin
Context "dublin" set.
Aliased "gke_ahmetb_europe-west1-b_dublin" as "dublin".
# change the active namespace on kubectl
$ kubens kube-system
Context "test" set.
Active namespace is "kube-system".
# go back to the previous namespace
$ kubens -
Context "test" set.
Active namespace is "default".
If you have fzf installed, you can also
interactively select a context or cluster, or fuzzy-search by typing a few
characters. To learn more, read interactive mode →
Both kubectx and kubens support Tab completion on bash/zsh/fish
shells to help with long context names. You don't have to remember full context
names anymore.
Installation
Stable versions of kubectx and kubens are small bash scripts that you
can find in this repository.
Starting with v0.9.0, kubectx and kubens are now rewritten in Go. They
should work the same way (and we'll keep the bash-based implementations around)
but the new features will be added to the new Go programs. Please help us test
this new Go implementation by downloading the binaries from the Releases page
→
Installation options:
- as kubectl plugins (macOS & Linux)
- with Homebrew (macOS & Linux)
- with MacPorts (macOS)
- with apt (Debian)
- with pacman (Arch Linux)
- with Chocolatey (Windows)
- manually (macOS & Linux)
If you like to add context/namespace information to your shell prompt ($PS1),
you can try out kube-ps1.
Kubectl Plugins (macOS and Linux)
You can install and use the Krew kubectl
plugin manager to get kubectx and kubens.
Note: This will not install the shell completion scripts. If you want them, *choose another installation method or install the scripts manually.
kubectl krew install ctx
kubectl krew install ns
After installing, the tools will be available as kubectl ctx and kubectl ns.
Homebrew (macOS and Linux)
If you use Homebrew you can install like this:
brew install kubectx
This command will set up bash/zsh/fish completion scripts automatically. Make sure you configure your shell to load completions for installed Homebrew formulas.
MacPorts (macOS)
If you use MacPorts you can install like this:
sudo port install kubectx
apt (Debian)
sudo apt install kubectx
Newer versions might be available on repos like Debian Buster (testing), Sid (unstable) (if you are unfamiliar with the Debian release process and how to enable testing/unstable repos, check out the Debian Wiki):
pacman (Arch Linux)
Available as official Arch Linux package. Install it via:
sudo pacman -S kubectx
Windows Installation (using Chocolatey)
Available as packages on Chocolatey
choco install kubens kubectx
Manual Installation (macOS and Linux)
Since kubectx and kubens are written in Bash, you should be able to install
them to any POSIX environment that has Bash installed.
- Download the
kubectx, andkubensscripts. - Either:
- save them all to somewhere in your
PATH, - or save them to a directory, then create symlinks to
kubectx/kubensfrom somewhere in yourPATH, like/usr/local/bin
- save them all to somewhere in your
- Make
kubectxandkubensexecutable (chmod +x ...)
Example installation steps:
sudo git clone https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx /opt/kubectx
sudo ln -s /opt/kubectx/kubectx /usr/local/bin/kubectx
sudo ln -s /opt/kubectx/kubens /usr/local/bin/kubens
If you also want to have shell completions, pick an installation method for the
completion scripts that fits your system best: zsh with
antibody, plain
zsh,
bash or
fish.
Completion scripts for zsh with antibody
Add this line to your Plugins File (e.g.
~/.zsh_plugins.txt):
ahmetb/kubectx path:completion kind:fpath
Depending on your setup, you might or might not need to call compinit or
autoload -U compinit && compinit in your ~/.zshrc after you load the Plugins
file. If you use oh-my-zsh, load the
completions before you load oh-my-zsh because oh-my-zsh will call
compinit.
Completion scripts for plain zsh
The completion scripts have to be in a path that belongs to $fpath. Either
link or copy them to an existing folder.
Example with oh-my-zsh:
mkdir -p ~/.oh-my-zsh/completions
chmod -R 755 ~/.oh-my-zsh/completions
ln -s /opt/kubectx/completion/_kubectx.zsh ~/.oh-my-zsh/completions/_kubectx.zsh
ln -s /opt/kubectx/completion/_kubens.zsh ~/.oh-my-zsh/completions/_kubens.zsh
If completion doesn't work, add autoload -U compinit && compinit to your
.zshrc (similar to
zsh-completions).
If you are not using oh-my-zsh, you
could link to /usr/share/zsh/functions/Completion (might require sudo),
depending on the $fpath of your zsh installation.
In case of errors, calling compaudit might help.
Completion scripts for bash
git clone https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx.git ~/.kubectx
COMPDIR=$(pkg-config --variable=completionsdir bash-completion)
ln -sf ~/.kubectx/completion/kubens.bash $COMPDIR/kubens
ln -sf ~/.kubectx/completion/kubectx.bash $COMPDIR/kubectx
cat << EOF >> ~/.bashrc
#kubectx and kubens
export PATH=~/.kubectx:\$PATH
EOF
Completion scripts for fish
mkdir -p ~/.config/fish/completions
ln -s /opt/kubectx/completion/kubectx.fish ~/.config/fish/completions/
ln -s /opt/kubectx/completion/kubens.fish ~/.config/fish/completions/
Interactive mode
If you want kubectx and kubens commands to present you an interactive menu
with fuzzy searching, you just need to install
fzf in your $PATH.
If you have fzf installed, but want to opt out of using this feature, set the
environment variable KUBECTX_IGNORE_FZF=1.
If you want to keep fzf interactive mode but need the default behavior of the
command, you can do it by piping the output to another command (e.g. kubectx | cat).
Customizing colors
If you like to customize the colors indicating the current namespace or context,
set the environment variables KUBECTX_CURRENT_FGCOLOR and
KUBECTX_CURRENT_BGCOLOR (refer color codes
here):
export KUBECTX_CURRENT_FGCOLOR=$(tput setaf 6) # blue text
export KUBECTX_CURRENT_BGCOLOR=$(tput setab 7) # white background
Colors in the output can be disabled by setting the
NO_COLOR environment variable.
If you liked kubectx, you may like my
kubectl-aliases project, too. I
recommend pairing kubectx and kubens with fzf and
kube-ps1.
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