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When logs aren’t enough, get inside. KubeStacks opens a terminal in a running container, like kubectl exec -it, right in the pod’s panel. For images with no shell at all, it adds a debug container that brings its own tools, like kubectl debug.
The Shell tab of a pod in the detail panel: a terminal session in the pod's container, with a container picker and a Reconnect button.The Shell tab of a pod in the detail panel: a terminal session in the pod's container, with a container picker and a Reconnect button.

A shell in a running container.

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Open a shell

1

Open a running pod

Find the pod in Pods, or in a workload’s Pods tab, and open it.
2

Choose Shell

Choose Shell at the top of the panel, or open the Shell tab.
3

Pick the container

The terminal connects to the pod’s first container. Pick another from the container menu; debug containers you’ve added are listed too.
KubeStacks starts bash when the container has it, and sh otherwise. There’s nothing to choose:

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In the terminal

  • The terminal fits the panel, and the container learns its new size when you resize the panel. Expand the panel for more room.
  • It keeps 5,000 lines of scrollback, and uses the app’s colors in light and dark.
  • Keys go to the terminal: Esc works in vi and less, and doesn’t close the panel.
  • Reconnect starts a fresh session in the same container.

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When it ends

The session ends when the shell exits, when the connection to the container closes, or when you close the tab, open something else or quit. The terminal says why: Reconnect starts again either way.

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When a shell isn’t offered

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Debug containers

Distroless and scratch images have no shell, and many slim images have no tools. A debug container fixes both: KubeStacks adds a temporary container with the tools you pick to the running pod, and opens a shell in it. The pod’s own containers aren’t restarted.
1

Choose Debug…

Open a running pod, and choose Debug… from its actions. Or choose Debug where a shell says the container has none.
2

Pick an image

3

Choose whose processes to share

Share processes with a container to see its processes from the debug container, with ps, and reach its files through /proc. It starts on the pod’s first container. Choose no container to keep them apart.
4

Start debugging

Choose Start debugging. KubeStacks adds a container named debugger- and five random characters, and opens a shell in it, in the pod’s Shell tab.
The equivalent command is shown before you start:
A debug container is an ephemeral container: it stays in the pod until the pod is replaced, and can’t be removed before then. Adding one needs patch on pods/ephemeralcontainers, and like other changes, it’s off in read-only clusters.

Logs

Every pod of a workload, merged in the order lines were written.

Port forwarding

Reach a pod or service from your own computer.