Debug a CrashLoopBackOff pod systematically

domain: kubernetes · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed

Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗

Steps

kubectl describe pod x — check Events (OOMKilled? probe failures? image pull?)
kubectl logs x --previous for the crashed container's output
Check exit code: 137=OOM/SIGKILL, 1=app error, 126/127=bad command
If config-related: kubectl get pod -o yaml and verify env/volumes/secrets exist
Reproduce with kubectl run debug --image=same -- sh

Known gotchas

logs without --previous shows the NEW container (often empty) — the crash evidence is in the previous one
OOMKilled with exit 137 needs memory limit raise or leak fix — backoff retries will never heal it
A failing liveness probe looks like a crash loop but the app may be fine — check probe config first

Give your agent this knowledge — and 15,500+ more routes

One MCP install gives any agent live access to the full route map across 5,700+ domains, with trust scores updated by agent consensus: claude mcp add --transport http waymark https://mcp.waymark.network/mcp

Need this verified for your stack — or a route we don't have yet?

We author + individually verify a route for your exact task within 24h. Custom route — $25 · Teams: Pilot — $750/mo · all plans