# kubectl – Execute tasks in pods running on Kubernetes

New in version 2.5.

- Synopsis

- Requirements

- Parameters

- Status

## Synopsis

- Use the kubectl exec command to run tasks in, or put/fetch files to, pods running on the Kubernetes container platform.

## Requirements

The below requirements are needed on the local master node that executes this connection.

- kubectl (go binary)

## Parameters

Parameter | Choices/Defaults | Configuration | Comments
--- | --- | --- | ---
ca_cert - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_SSL_CA_CERT var: ansible_kubectl_ssl_ca_cert var: ansible_kubectl_ca_cert | Path to a CA certificate used to authenticate with the API. aliases: kubectl_ssl_ca_cert
client_cert - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_CERT_FILE var: ansible_kubectl_cert_file var: ansible_kubectl_client_cert | Path to a certificate used to authenticate with the API. aliases: kubectl_cert_file
client_key - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_KEY_FILE var: ansible_kubectl_key_file var: ansible_kubectl_client_key | Path to a key file used to authenticate with the API. aliases: kubectl_key_file
kubectl_container - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_CONTAINER var: ansible_kubectl_container | Container name. Required when a pod contains more than one container.
kubectl_context - | Default: "" | env:k8S_AUTH_CONTEXT var: ansible_kubectl_context | The name of a context found in the K8s config file.
kubectl_extra_args - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_EXTRA_ARGS var: ansible_kubectl_extra_args | Extra arguments to pass to the kubectl command line. Please be aware that this passes information directly on the command line and it could expose sensitive data.
kubectl_host - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_HOST env:K8S_AUTH_SERVER var: ansible_kubectl_host var: ansible_kubectl_server | URL for accessing the API.
kubectl_kubeconfig - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_KUBECONFIG var: ansible_kubectl_kubeconfig var: ansible_kubectl_config | Path to a kubectl config file. Defaults to ~/.kube/config
kubectl_namespace - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_NAMESPACE var: ansible_kubectl_namespace | The namespace of the pod
kubectl_password - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_PASSWORD var: ansible_kubectl_password | Provide a password for authenticating with the API. Please be aware that this passes information directly on the command line and it could expose sensitive data. We recommend using the file based authentication options instead.
kubectl_pod - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_POD var: ansible_kubectl_pod | Pod name. Required when the host name does not match pod name.
kubectl_token - |  | env:K8S_AUTH_TOKEN env:K8S_AUTH_API_KEY var: ansible_kubectl_token var: ansible_kubectl_api_key | API authentication bearer token. Please be aware that this passes information directly on the command line and it could expose sensitive data. We recommend using the file based authentication options instead.
kubectl_username - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_USERNAME var: ansible_kubectl_username var: ansible_kubectl_user | Provide a username for authenticating with the API.
validate_certs - | Default: "" | env:K8S_AUTH_VERIFY_SSL var: ansible_kubectl_verify_ssl var: ansible_kubectl_validate_certs | Whether or not to verify the API server's SSL certificate. Defaults to true. aliases: kubectl_verify_ssl

## Status

- This connection is not guaranteed to have a backwards compatible interface. [preview]

- This connection is maintained by the Ansible Community. [community]

### Authors

- xuxinkun

Hint

If you notice any issues in this documentation, you can edit this document to improve it.

Hint

Configuration entries for each entry type have a low to high priority order. For example, a variable that is lower in the list will override a variable that is higher up.