kubectl plugin to duplicate resources in a Kubernetes cluster.

duplik8s allows you to easily duplicate Kubernetes Pods with overridden commands and configurations. This is useful for testing, debugging, and development purposes. Think of duplik8s as kubectl debug --copy-to on steroids:

• Support multiple resources: Duplicate not just Pods, but also Deployments and StatefulSets.

• Easy Tracking: All duplicated resources are tagged with a duplik8s label for easy identification and cleanup.

• Persistent Storage Handling: Smoothly duplicate Pods mounting persistent volumes without issues.

• Probes cleanup: Disable liveness and readiness probes to keep the cloned Pod idle and avoid restarts.

• User-Friendly Syntax: straightforward syntax that simplifies the selection and duplication of resources.

Installation

Install with Krew

$ kubectl krew install duplicate

Install with Homebrew (Mac/Linux)

$ brew tap Telemaco019/duplik8s
$ brew install duplik8s

Install with Go

$ go install github.com/telemaco019/duplik8s/kubectl-duplicate@latest

Use as k9s plugin

Demo

As you might have guessed, duplik8s shines when used in combination with the amazing k9s ✨.

After installing duplik8s, you can add it to your k9s plugins by adding the following to your $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/k9s/plugins.yml file.

After reloading k9s, you should be able to duplicate Pods with Ctrl-T.

# $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/k9s/plugins.yaml
plugins:
  duplik8s-pod:
    shortCut: Ctrl-T
    description: Duplicate Pod
    scopes:
      - po
    command: kubectl
    background: true
    args:
      - duplicate
      - pod
      - $NAME
      - -n
      - $NAMESPACE
      - --context
      - $CONTEXT
  duplik8s-deploy:
    shortCut: Ctrl-T
    description: Duplicate Deployment
    scopes:
      - deploy
    command: kubectl
    background: true
    args:
      - duplicate
      - deploy
      - $NAME
      - -n
      - $NAMESPACE
      - --context
      - $CONTEXT

On MacOS, you can find the plugins.yml file at ~/Library/Application Support/k9s/plugins.yaml.

For more information on k9s plugins, you can refer to the official documentation.

Examples

duplik8s supports all the standard flags available in kubectl, such as --namespace, --context, and --kubeconfig. You can get the full list of flags by running kubectl duplicate --help.

Duplicate a Pod

$ kubectl duplicate pod my-pod

The cloned Pod will be identical to the original, but with probes disabled and commands overridden to keep it idle.

Interactively select a Pod to duplicate

$ kubectl duplicate pod

The command will prompt you to select a Pod from the list of available Pods in the specified namespace.

Duplicate a Deployment

$ kubectl duplicate deployment my-deployment

Run a specific command in a cloned Pod

$ kubectl duplicate pod nginx-pod --command-override "/bin/sh","-c","echo Hello, World"

With this, you can easily duplicate a Pod and run any command you want in the new instance.

List all duplicated resources

The command will list all the resources duplicated by duplik8s.

$ kubectl duplicate list

Cleanup duplicated resources

The command will show you all the duplicated resources and ask you to confirm the deletion.

$ kubectl duplicate cleanup

Use cases

Scenario 1: You've got a Pod running, but it's not behaving as expected. You need to dive in and debug the issue, maybe install some extra tools along the way.

Scenario 2: You need to run some scripts or commands in the exact same environment as a running Pod, including all the environment variables, secrets, and configurations.

In these cases, you don't want to risk messing with the live Pod. Instead, just use duplik8s! It duplicates the Pod with the same specs but keeps it idle so you can open a shell and troubleshoot without any disruptions. 🎉

Skip the hassle of manually copying configurations, changing commands, and tweaking probes. With duplik8s, simply run kubectl duplicate pod my-pod and you're done! Want to customize? Just add flags. Easy peasy! ⚡

Even better, if you're using duplik8s with k9s, just press Ctrl-T to duplicate the Pod and s to open a shell in one of its containers. 🚀

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License

This project is licensed under the Apache License. See the LICENSE file for details.