kubectl-actuator

README

kubectl-actuator

A kubectl plugin for interacting with Spring Boot Actuator endpoints.

Features

• Logger Management: List all loggers and dynamically change log levels at runtime
• Scheduled Tasks Monitoring: View scheduled tasks with execution status, timing, and schedules
• Application Info: View application build and runtime information

Installation

Download the latest release from the GitHub releases page:

# Extract and install
tar -xzf kubectl-actuator_*.tar.gz
mv kubectl-actuator ~/.local/bin/

# Enable shell completion
ln -sr ~/.local/bin/kubectl-actuator ~/.local/bin/kubectl_complete-actuator

Configuration

Pod Annotations

By default, the plugin expects Spring Boot Actuator on http://localhost:8080/actuator. Customize via pod annotations:

• kubectl-actuator.device-insight.com/port: Actuator port (default: 8080)
• kubectl-actuator.device-insight.com/basePath: Actuator base path (default: actuator)

Usage

Global Flags

All commands support target selection:

• --pod <pod-name> or -p: Target one or more specific pods
• --deployment <deployment-name> or -d: Target all pods in a deployment
• --selector <label-selector> or -l: Target pods by label selector (e.g., app=myapp,env=prod)

Standard kubectl flags such as --namespace or --context are also supported.

Logger Commands

List all loggers

View current logger configuration:

❯ kubectl actuator --pod my-app-pod logger
LOGGER                                               LEVEL
ROOT                                                 INFO
com.example.app                                      INFO
com.example.app.service                              DEBUG
org.apache.catalina.startup.DigesterFactory          ERROR
org.apache.catalina.util.LifecycleBase               ERROR
org.springframework.web                              INFO

Set logger level

Change a logger's level at runtime:

# Set a specific logger to DEBUG
❯ kubectl actuator --pod my-app-pod logger com.example.app.service DEBUG

# Set ROOT logger level
❯ kubectl actuator --pod my-app-pod logger ROOT WARN

Available log levels: TRACE, DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, FATAL, OFF

Scheduled Tasks

View scheduled tasks with execution details:

❯ kubectl actuator --deployment my-app scheduled-tasks
TYPE         TARGET                                  SCHEDULE                           NEXT            LAST         STATUS
cron         BackupScheduler.scheduleBackups         cron(0 * * * * *)                  in 49s          11s ago      SUCCESS
fixedDelay   CacheRefreshService.refreshCache        fixedDelay=5m                      in 4m33s        27s ago      SUCCESS
fixedDelay   HealthCheckService.checkServiceHealth   fixedDelay=12h initialDelay=15m    in 11h59m58s    27s ago      ERROR - Connection timeout
fixedDelay   CleanupScheduler.triggerCleanup         fixedDelay=24h                     in 23h44m33s    15m27s ago   SUCCESS
fixedDelay   StatusWatcher.checkStatus               fixedDelay=5s                      -               2s ago       STARTED
fixedRate    UpdateService.checkForUpdates           fixedRate=30m                      in 14m33s       15m27s ago   SUCCESS

Application Info

View application build and runtime information:

❯ kubectl actuator --pod my-app-pod info
{
  "build": {
    "artifact": "my-app",
    "name": "my-app",
    "time": "2025-10-21T22:34:55.709Z",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "group": "com.example"
  },
  "kubernetes": {
    "nodeName": "node-1",
    "podIp": "10.0.0.23",
    "hostIp": "10.0.0.10",
    "namespace": "default",
    "podName": "my-app-5d4c8f9b-xk7pq",
    "serviceAccount": "my-app",
    "inside": true
  }
}

Multi-Target Operations

Target multiple pods

# Target specific pods
❯ kubectl actuator --pod app-pod-1 --pod app-pod-2 logger

app-pod-1:
LOGGER                    LEVEL
ROOT                      INFO
com.example.app           DEBUG

app-pod-2:
LOGGER                    LEVEL
ROOT                      INFO
com.example.app           DEBUG

Target deployments

Automatically targets all pods from the deployment's selector:

# Target all pods in a deployment
❯ kubectl actuator --deployment my-app logger

# Target multiple deployments
❯ kubectl actuator --deployment app-1 --deployment app-2 scheduled-tasks

Target by label selector

Use standard Kubernetes label selectors to target pods:

# Target pods by single label
❯ kubectl actuator -l app=myapp logger

# Target pods by multiple labels
❯ kubectl actuator --selector app=myapp,env=production scheduled-tasks

# Combine with other target options
❯ kubectl actuator -l tier=backend --deployment frontend-app logger

Namespace selection

Use standard kubectl namespace flags:

# Specific namespace
❯ kubectl actuator -n production --deployment my-app logger

# All namespaces
❯ kubectl actuator --all-namespaces --pod my-pod logger

Building from Source

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/deviceinsight/kubectl-actuator.git
cd kubectl-actuator

# Build
go build -o kubectl-actuator .

# Install
mv kubectl-actuator ~/.local/bin/

License

See LICENSE file for details.