🔧 Kubernetes Debugging

This skill provides debugging commands and troubleshooting guides for the K3s cluster on AWS.

Cluster Overview

Component	Details
Cloud	AWS (Tel Aviv region)
Instance	EC2 t3.small
Kubernetes	K3s
Ingress	NGINX Ingress Controller
TLS	cert-manager + Let's Encrypt
GitOps	ArgoCD

Quick Status Commands

Check All Resources

bash

kubectl get all

Check Pods

bash

# All pods
kubectl get pods

# With more details
kubectl get pods -o wide

# Watch for changes
kubectl get pods -w

Check Specific App Pods

bash

kubectl get pods -l app=barak-web           # Frontend
kubectl get pods -l app=barak-web-backend   # Backend
kubectl get pods -l app=barak-web-db        # Database

Common Debugging Commands

View Pod Logs

bash

# Frontend logs
kubectl logs -l app=barak-web

# Backend logs
kubectl logs -l app=barak-web-backend

# Follow logs in real-time
kubectl logs -f -l app=barak-web-backend

# Last 100 lines
kubectl logs -l app=barak-web --tail=100

Describe Pod (for errors)

bash

kubectl describe pod <pod-name>

# Example
kubectl describe pod barak-web-backend-xxx-xxx

Check Services

bash

kubectl get svc

# Expected:
# barak-web-service         ClusterIP   80/TCP
# barak-web-backend-service ClusterIP   80/TCP
# barak-web-db-service      ClusterIP   5432/TCP

Check Ingress

bash

kubectl get ingress

# Detailed
kubectl describe ingress barak-web-ingress

Check Secrets

bash

kubectl get secrets

# View secret (base64 encoded)
kubectl get secret barak-web-secrets -o yaml

Troubleshooting Scenarios

1. Pods Not Starting (CrashLoopBackOff)

bash

# Check pod status
kubectl get pods

# If CrashLoopBackOff, check logs
kubectl logs <pod-name>

# Check events
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>

Common Causes:

•Missing secrets
•Database connection failed
•Image pull error

2. 502 Bad Gateway

bash

# Check if pods are running
kubectl get pods

# Check ingress backend
kubectl describe ingress barak-web-ingress

# Check service endpoints
kubectl get endpoints

Common Causes:

•Pod not ready
•Service selector mismatch
•Health check failing

3. Database Connection Issues

bash

# Check DB pod
kubectl get pods -l app=barak-web-db

# Check DB logs
kubectl logs -l app=barak-web-db

# Test connection from backend
kubectl exec -it <backend-pod> -- sh
> nc -zv barak-web-db-service 5432

4. TLS/Certificate Issues

bash

# Check certificate
kubectl get certificate

# Check cert-manager logs
kubectl logs -n cert-manager -l app=cert-manager

# Check secret
kubectl get secret barak-web-tls

5. ArgoCD Sync Issues

bash

# Check ArgoCD app status
argocd app get barak-web

# Force sync
argocd app sync barak-web

# Check sync status
argocd app list

Useful One-Liners

bash

# Restart deployment (trigger rollout)
kubectl rollout restart deployment/barak-web
kubectl rollout restart deployment/barak-web-backend

# Check rollout status
kubectl rollout status deployment/barak-web

# Scale deployment
kubectl scale deployment/barak-web --replicas=2

# Execute shell in pod
kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- /bin/sh

# Port forward for local testing
kubectl port-forward svc/barak-web-service 8080:80
kubectl port-forward svc/barak-web-backend-service 3000:80

# Get pod resource usage
kubectl top pods

Check Resource Limits

bash

# Current usage
kubectl top pods

# Configured limits (from app.yaml)
# Frontend: 64Mi-128Mi, 250m-500m CPU
# Backend: No limits configured (should add!)
# Database: No limits configured

SSH to EC2 (If Needed)

bash

ssh -i <key.pem> ec2-user@<ec2-public-ip>

# Then use kubectl as normal
kubectl get pods

Quick Health Check Checklist

• All pods are Running (not CrashLoopBackOff or Pending)
• Services have endpoints
• Ingress has ADDRESS assigned
• TLS certificate is valid
• ArgoCD shows Synced status
• Website loads at https://dogs.barakaloni.com
• Admin dashboard loads at /admin