kubectl logs: How to Get Pod Logs in Kubernetes (With Examples)

Prerequisites Create a Pod How to View Pod Logs View Pod logs in real time Fetch a specific number of lines of Pod logs View logs of an exited container Fetch Pod logs from a specific time period Fetch the logs of a specific container in a multi-container Pod Conclusion Exploring System Architecture for DevOps Engineers Why KubeCon India 2025 Meant More to KodeKloud Linux: List Disks Linux: "cat" Command Linux Made Easy for DevOps Beginners From CFP to Stage: Win Your Tech Talk Slot MCP Explained Simply: How AI Can Actually Do Things Now Still Not Job-Ready After Learning DevOps? What Is Kubernetes? Finally, a Simple Explanation! Like any software, these applications can sometimes fail or not perform as expected due to various reasons. When such failures occur, it’s important to identify and rectify the issue quickly. One key aspect of troubleshooting involves analyzing the application logs, which can provide valuable information about the root cause of the problem. Logs are essentially records of events happening within your application. By examining these logs, we can often gain insights into what went wrong. In this blog post, we’ll learn how to access Pod logs in Kubernetes using the kubectl logs command. Note that when we say Pod logs, we’re generally referring to the logs of the applications running in containers inside the Pod. kubectl logs To easily follow along with the examples in this post, we recommend using KodeKloud’s Kubernetes playground. This playground will provide you instant access to a running Kubernetes cluster with kubectl already installed. No need for you to install any software. With just one click, you'll be ready to run the example code snippets and start experimenting right away. kubectl Alternatively, if you prefer to set up your own Kubernetes cluster, you can use a tool such as minikube.