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Edit a POD

Remember, you CANNOT edit specifications of an existing POD other than the fields below:

spec.containers[*].image
spec.initContainers[*].image
spec.activeDeadlineSeconds
spec.tolerations

For example, you cannot edit the environment variables, service accounts, resource limits (all of which we will discuss later) of a running pod. However, if you really need to, you have two options:

Option 1: kubectl edit pod Command​

Run the following command:

kubectl edit pod <pod-name>

This will open the pod specification in an editor (vi editor by default).
Edit the required properties, but when you try to save, you will be denied because some fields are immutable.

However, a copy of the edited file is saved in a temporary location.

You can then delete the existing pod:

kubectl delete pod webapp

And create a new pod using the temporary file:

kubectl create -f /tmp/kubectl-edit-ccvrq.yaml

Option 2: Extract, Edit & Recreate the Pod​

  1. Extract the pod definition in YAML format to a file:

    kubectl get pod webapp -o yaml > my-new-pod.yaml

  2. Open the extracted file in a text editor:

    vi my-new-pod.yaml

  3. Make the required changes and save the file.

  4. Delete the existing pod:

    kubectl delete pod webapp

  5. Recreate the new pod with the edited YAML file:

    kubectl create -f my-new-pod.yaml

Editing Deployments​

With Deployments, you can easily edit any field/property of the POD template.

Since the pod template is a child of the deployment specification, every change automatically deletes the old pod and creates a new one with the updated changes.

If you need to edit a property of a POD within a deployment, simply run:

kubectl edit deployment my-deployment

This will open the deployment specification in an editor where you can make the required changes. After saving, the Deployment Controller will update the pods accordingly.

Final Notes​

  • You cannot edit a running pod directly (except for specific fields).
  • For Deployments, the pod template updates automatically when you edit the Deployment.

This method ensures zero downtime and keeps your Kubernetes cluster running smoothly! 🚀

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment. 🎯