k

k is an open-source enhancement of kubectl, designed to increase your productivity. It offers a variety of features that make Kubernetes cluster management more efficient and intuitive.

Note: This tool is still under active development. Although it has shown significant potential and is being used extensively within the creator's company, further validation and code improvement are anticipated. Contributions are always welcome!

Installation

To install k, use the following command:

go install .

After installation, you need to add the following lines to your .bashrc or .zshrc file:

source <(k rc)

Configuration

Importing configuration from existing KUBECONFIG

You can import your existing Kubernetes configurations from your KUBECONFIG file into the k tool. This will automatically convert all your clusters, including their authentication details, into the k configuration format. To import your existing configurations:

k import

This will import all your clusters from your KUBECONFIG (default: ~/.kube/config), including their authentication settings. Existing clusters in your k configuration will be updated if they share the same name.

Configuration

Check out the configuration located at ~/.k/config.json.

Features

Generating Multiple Kubeconfigs

k generates multiple kubeconfigs based on your configuration file. For instance:

• ~/.k/kubeconfigs/l
• ~/.k/kubeconfigs/l2

Aliases and Shortcuts

k provides aliases and shortcuts for commands, making them easier and faster to use. For example, if l is a cluster, you can use:

kl get pods

Instead of:

kubectl --kubeconfig ~/.k/kubeconfigs/l get pods

You can also define custom shortcuts in the shortcuts section of your ~/.k/config.json file.

For example, if you have "gp": "get pod", then

klgp=kubectl --kubeconfig ~/.k/kubeconfigs/l get pods

You can define shortcuts in your ~/.k/config.json file as follows:

{
  "shortcuts": {
    "gp": "get pod",
    "gd": "get deploy",
    "gsvc": "get svc",
    "ci": "cluster-info"
  }
}

Quick Namespace Switching

You can switch namespaces quickly with the following command:

kns kube-system

After switching,

klgp=kubectl --kubeconfig ~/.k/kubeconfigs/l -n kube-system get pods

Watch Kubernetes Resources and Show Diff

Monitor changes in Kubernetes resources and show differences using commands like:

watch-changes kl get configmap
watch-changes kl get configmap --all-namespaces
watch-changes kl get configmap aaa

Touch

You can trigger a change in a resource with:

kl touch configmap aaa

This is useful when you want to initiate a controller resync.

This command is equivalent to kl annotate ... "touch=$(date)" --overwrite

Scripting Capabilities

You can also use k in scripts to perform actions across multiple clusters:

for cluster in $(k get-all-clusters); do 
  echo "Visiting cluster $cluster"
  K_CLUSTER=$cluster kubectl-k cluster-info; 
done

Future Development

The following features and improvements are planned:

• [ ] Refactor existing code for efficiency and maintainability
• [ ] Develop a comprehensive installation guide
• [ ] Implement functionality to detect mis-installation issues