{"id":456,"date":"2025-10-01T05:28:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T05:28:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.ngocha.biz\/?p=456"},"modified":"2025-10-01T05:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T05:28:13","slug":"kubectl-aliases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.ngocha.biz\/?p=456","title":{"rendered":"How to Setup Kubectl Aliases with Kuberc (Native Method)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this blog, you will learn how to set up kubectl aliases using Kubectl user preferences (kuberc) configuration file..<\/p>\n

Before Kubernetes v1.33, we had to manually add kubectl aliases in .bashrc<\/code> or .zshrc<\/code>, mixing them with other shell configurations. <\/p>\n

This was not a native solution. Starting with Kubernetes v1.33, we can now use a dedicated YAML file called kuberc<\/code> to define aliases. Kubectl directly reads these aliases from the file, making configuration much cleaner<\/p>\n

By the end of this blog, you will have learned<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Setup the Kuberc on the local machine.<\/li>\n
  2. Configure aliases to interact with Kubernetes<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  3. Test the configured aliases<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    To setup this, we need to update our Kubectl<\/a> with appropriate version.<\/p>\n

    Upgrade kubectl to v1.33+<\/h2>\n

    For this feature to work, the Kubectl version should be 1.33<\/code> or higher.<\/p>\n

    Visit the official kubectl documentation<\/a> and upgrade kubectl to version 1.33<\/code> or later.<\/p>\n

    To validate the installed kubectl<\/code> version, run the following command. Make sure the version is 1.33 or higher.<\/p>\n

    $ kubectl version  --client\n\nClient Version: v1.33.1\nKustomize Version: v5.6.0<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Once the version is confirmed, we can configure the Kuberc.<\/p>\n
    The configuration of the Kuberc involves the creation of files and adding alias configurations.<\/p>\n
    Enable Kuberc Feature<\/h2>\n
    Kubectl will not automatically use the kuberc<\/code> file even after we upgrade the version to 1.33.<\/p>\n
    To enable this, we need to set an environment variable.<\/p>\n
    export KUBECTL_KUBERC=true<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Setting the value true<\/code> is telling the Kubectl to use the kuberc for aliases.<\/p>\n
    \n
    \ud83d\udca1<\/div>\n
    To permanently set the environment variable, store export KUBECTL_KUBERC<\/code> to the system files, \/.bashrc<\/code> or <\/sub>\/.bash-profile<\/code> or ~\/.profile<\/code>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    Kuberc File Location<\/h2>\n
    The default kuberc<\/code> configuration file path is ~\/.kube\/kuberc<\/code><\/p>\n
    When you enable the Kuberc feature using the environment variable, Kubectl will look into the default location.<\/p>\n
    If you want to give a custom path, you need to use the --kuberc<\/code> flag with the kubectl<\/code> command to give the configuration path.<\/p>\n
    kubectl --kuberc <CUSTOM KUBERC CONFIG PATH> <COMMAND><\/code><\/pre>\n
    \n
    \ud83d\udca1<\/div>\n
    The --kuberc<\/code> flag lets you use different kuberc files for various projects or environments.<\/p>\n
    If you use this flag, Kubectl ignores the default kuberc instead it uses the specified one.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
    Create a Kuberc File<\/h2>\n
    The kuberc<\/code> configuration is also similar to the Kubernetes object<\/a> manifest, which means the configuration has the apiVersion<\/code> and the kind<\/code>.<\/p>\n
    Create a YAML file in the home directory (~\/.kube\/kuberc<\/code>)<\/p>\n
    vim ~\/.kube\/kuberc<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Once the file is created, we can add our necessary aliases to it.<\/p>\n
    Example Kuberc Configuration<\/h3>\n
    Here is the example structure of the kuberc<\/code> YAML configuration.<\/p>\n
    apiVersion: kubectl.config.k8s.io\/v1beta1\nkind: Preference\naliases:\n  - name: kgp           \n    command: get        \n    appendArgs:\n      - pods            \n  - name: klogs         \n    command: logs       \n    appendArgs:\n      - --follow    \n      - --tail=50           \n  - name: crns          \n    command: create namespace \n    appendArgs:\n      - dev-project-01\n\noverrides:\n  - command: apply\n    flags:\n      - name: server-side\n        default: \"true\"\n  - command: delete\n    flags:\n      - name: interactive\n        default: \"true\"\n  - command: get\n    flags:\n      - name: output\n        default: \"yaml\"\n  - command: exec\n    flags:\n      - name: it<\/code><\/pre>\n
    Since this is an beta feature of the configuration, the apiVersion<\/code> is kubectl.config.k8s.io\/v1beta1<\/code> and the kind<\/code> is Preference<\/code><\/p>\n
    This indicates that the object is the user’s preferences for kubectl.<\/p>\n
    Now, you need to understand the following two key configs in kuberc.<\/p>\n
    1. aliases<\/h3>\n
    Here is what the parameters under aliases<\/code> section mean.<\/p>\n