Applies To:
Any Kubernetes environment
Summary:
kubectx is a power tool to switch between kubernetes clusters with ease as well as a utility to manage and switch between kubectl contexts
Kubens is a power tool that allows for ease of switching between namespaces
These power tools come in handy when navigating your clusters and namespaces.
More Information:
You can find download instructions for kubectx and kubens here:
https://github.com/ahmetb/kubectx
Kubens
When working within kubernetes, there are a few tools that can assist you in your overall navigation of your clusters and namespaces.
For example, you can create as many namespaces as you would like within a cluster. Kubens allows you to change from the default namespace as your active namespace, to your desired namespace.
Example:
You can see on first startup of my kubernetes environment, that I'm configured to use the "minikube" cluster and "default" namespace by default.
I have many different namespaces to work within. In this example, I have created my certificate resources and TPP issuer in the "cert-manager" namespace:
Above you can see my default namespace is selected. I can use Kubens to switch to my cert-manager namespace:
This acts as a shortcut to allow me to not have to specify my namespace in each of my commands. Instead, kubernetes knows I am now choosing to work within my cert-manager namespace
Example: Difference between looking at resources from the active namespace using kubens vs. not switching the namespace and having to specify namespace in every command:
The difference between these two are in the commands
kubectl get pods
kubectl get pods -n kube-system
As the complexity of your environment grows and the commands become more involved, you can see how specifying the namespace can become a very cumbersome affair.
Kubectx
The same general functionality exists with kubectx for switching between clusters.
please refer to their github for usage and download instructions
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