🚀 K9s Practical Guide – From Installation to Usage

K9s is a terminal-based UI for managing Kubernetes clusters. It provides a more intuitive and interactive way to explore resources, view logs, and execute commands compared to raw kubectl.

1. 🔧 Installation

Linux / macOS

# Install via curl
curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/k9s | bash
 
# Or via brew (macOS/Linux with Homebrew)
brew install derailed/k9s/k9s

Windows

choco install k9s

✅ After installation, verify:

k9s version

2. ⚙️ Setup

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

kubectl get nodes

Then simply run:

k9s

K9s will auto-detect the current context and namespace.

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

4. 📑 Common Workflows

🔍 View Pods

k9s
# Navigate to Pods → press Enter

📜 View Pod Logs

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

🐚 Exec into Pod

Select pod → press s
Opens interactive shell inside container

📦 Manage Deployments

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

5. 🎨 Customization

Config stored in:
```
~/.k9s/config.yml
```
You can set:
- Theme (skins)
- Default namespace
- Keybindings

Example config snippet:

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

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

7. ✅ Summary

K9s makes Kubernetes management faster and more intuitive:

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

🔥 With K9s, you’ll save tons of time navigating and debugging your Kubernetes clusters.

Helm Kubectx