# kubectl diff

kubectl diffSynopsisDiff configurations specified by file name or stdin between the current online configuration, and the configuration as it would be if applied.The output is always YAML.KUBECTL_EXTERNAL_DIFF environment variable can be used to select your own diff command. Users can use external commands with params too, example: KUBECTL_EXTERNAL_DIFF="colordiff -N -u"By default, the "diff" command available in your path will be run with the "-u" (unified diff) and "-N" (treat absent files as empty) options.Exit status: 0 No differences were found. 1 Differences were found. >1 Kubectl or diff failed with an error.Note: KUBECTL_EXTERNAL_DIFF, if used, is expected to follow that convention.kubectl diff -f FILENAME Examples # Diff resources included in pod.json kubectl diff -f pod.json # Diff file read from stdin cat service.yaml | kubectl diff -f - Options--concurrency int Default: 1Number of objects to process in parallel when diffing against the live version. Larger number = faster, but more memory, I/O and CPU over that shorter period of time.--field-manager string Default: "kubectl-client-side-apply"Name of the manager used to track field ownership.-f, --filename stringsFilename, directory, or URL to files contains the configuration to diff--force-conflictsIf true, server-side apply will force the changes against conflicts.-h, --helphelp for diff-k, --kustomize stringProcess the kustomization directory. This flag can't be used together with -f or -R.--pruneInclude resources that would be deleted by pruning. Can be used with -l and default shows all resources would be pruned--prune-allowlist stringsOverwrite the default allowlist with <group/version/kind> for --prune-R, --recursiveProcess the directory used in -f, --filename recursively. Useful when you want to manage related manifests organized within the same directory.-l, --selector stringSelector (label query) to filter on, supports '=', '==', '!=', 'in', 'notin'.(e.g. -l key1=value1,key2=value2,key3 in (value3)). Matching objects must satisfy all of the specified label constraints.--server-sideIf true, apply runs in the server instead of the client.--show-managed-fieldsIf true, include managed fields in the diff.Parent Options Inherited--as stringUsername to impersonate for the operation. User could be a regular user or a service account in a namespace.--as-group stringsGroup to impersonate for the operation, this flag can be repeated to specify multiple groups.--as-uid stringUID to impersonate for the operation.--cache-dir string Default: "$HOME/.kube/cache"Default cache directory--certificate-authority stringPath to a cert file for the certificate authority--client-certificate stringPath to a client certificate file for TLS--client-key stringPath to a client key file for TLS--cluster stringThe name of the kubeconfig cluster to use--context stringThe name of the kubeconfig context to use--disable-compressionIf true, opt-out of response compression for all requests to the server--insecure-skip-tls-verifyIf true, the server's certificate will not be checked for validity. This will make your HTTPS connections insecure--kubeconfig stringPath to the kubeconfig file to use for CLI requests.--kuberc stringPath to the kuberc file to use for preferences. This can be disabled by exporting KUBECTL_KUBERC=false feature gate or turning off the feature KUBERC=off.--match-server-versionRequire server version to match client version-n, --namespace stringIf present, the namespace scope for this CLI request--password stringPassword for basic authentication to the API server--profile string Default: "none"Name of profile to capture. One of (none|cpu|heap|goroutine|threadcreate|block|mutex)--profile-output string Default: "profile.pprof"Name of the file to write the profile to--request-timeout string Default: "0"The length of time to wait before giving up on a single server request. Non-zero values should contain a corresponding time unit (e.g. 1s, 2m, 3h). A value of zero means don't timeout requests.-s, --server stringThe address and port of the Kubernetes API server--storage-driver-buffer-duration duration Default: 1m0sWrites in the storage driver will be buffered for this duration, and committed to the non memory backends as a single transaction--storage-driver-db string Default: "cadvisor"database name--storage-driver-host string Default: "localhost:8086"database host:port--storage-driver-password string Default: "root"database password--storage-driver-secureuse secure connection with database--storage-driver-table string Default: "stats"table name--storage-driver-user string Default: "root"database username--tls-server-name stringServer name to use for server certificate validation. If it is not provided, the hostname used to contact the server is used--token stringBearer token for authentication to the API server--user stringThe name of the kubeconfig user to use--username stringUsername for basic authentication to the API server--version version[=true]--version, --version=raw prints version information and quits; --version=vX.Y.Z... sets the reported version--warnings-as-errorsTreat warnings received from the server as errors and exit with a non-zero exit codeSee Alsokubectl - kubectl controls the Kubernetes cluster managerThis page is automatically generated.If you plan to report an issue with this page, mention that the page is auto-generated in your issue description. The fix may need to happen elsewhere in the Kubernetes project.