freundcloud

Kubernetes Tools for Linux and WSL

As a DevOps engineer working with Kubernetes on Linux or Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), these tools will boost your productivity, troubleshooting, and automation capabilities.

kubectl

The official Kubernetes CLI for managing clusters, resources, and troubleshooting.

kubectl get pods -A
kubectl describe node <node-name>

k9s

Terminal UI for managing Kubernetes clusters interactively.

k9s

kubectx & kubens

Quickly switch between clusters (kubectx) and namespaces (kubens).

kubectx
kubens

Stern

Tail and filter logs from multiple pods in real time.

stern <pod-name>

Helm

Kubernetes package manager for deploying and managing applications.

helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami
helm install myapp bitnami/nginx

Lens

GUI for managing and visualizing Kubernetes clusters. Works on Linux and WSL with X server.

kubeseal

Encrypt Kubernetes secrets for use with GitOps tools like Flux and ArgoCD.

kubeseal < secret.yaml > sealedsecret.yaml

kustomize

Customize Kubernetes YAML configurations.

kustomize build ./overlays/dev | kubectl apply -f -

ArgoCD CLI & Flux CLI

Manage GitOps workflows from the command line.

argocd app list
flux get kustomizations

kubetail

Aggregate logs from multiple pods.

kubetail <pod-base-name>

Best Practices

  • Use kubectl plugins (e.g., krew) to extend functionality
  • Store kubeconfigs securely and use context switching for multi-cluster work
  • Automate repetitive tasks with scripts and CLIs
  • Use LLMs (Copilot, Claude) to generate troubleshooting scripts or YAML manifests

References