{"id":49101,"date":"2025-04-14T14:54:32","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T14:54:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/?p=49101"},"modified":"2025-07-12T05:56:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-12T05:56:26","slug":"openshift-comprehensive-guide-oc-vs-kubectl-cli","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/openshift-comprehensive-guide-oc-vs-kubectl-cli\/","title":{"rendered":"Openshift: Comprehensive Guide: oc vs kubectl CLI"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Here\u2019s a comprehensive guide<\/strong> comparing the oc<\/code> (OpenShift CLI) and kubectl<\/code> (Kubernetes CLI) commands, focusing on their differences, similarities<\/strong>, and real-world usage<\/strong>. This is especially useful for OpenShift developers or admins coming from Kubernetes backgrounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udcd8 Comprehensive Guide: oc<\/code> vs kubectl<\/code> CLI<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Aspect<\/strong><\/th>oc<\/code> (OpenShift CLI)<\/strong><\/th>kubectl<\/code> (Kubernetes CLI)<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Definition<\/strong><\/td>CLI tool for managing OpenShift resources and clusters<\/td>CLI tool for managing Kubernetes resources and clusters<\/td><\/tr>
Default Cluster<\/strong><\/td>Targets OpenShift (Red Hat Kubernetes platform)<\/td>Targets any CNCF-compliant Kubernetes cluster<\/td><\/tr>
Installation<\/strong><\/td>Installed with OpenShift tools or CRC<\/td>Comes bundled with most Kubernetes distributions<\/td><\/tr>
Resource Access<\/strong><\/td>Supports all Kubernetes APIs + OpenShift APIs (e.g., Build<\/code>, Route<\/code>, ImageStream<\/code>)<\/td>Supports only Kubernetes-native APIs<\/td><\/tr>
Customization<\/strong><\/td>Includes extended functionality and OpenShift-specific templates<\/td>No built-in support for OpenShift-only resources<\/td><\/tr>
Login<\/strong><\/td>Uses oc login<\/code> with OpenShift OAuth<\/td>Uses kubectl config<\/code> or kubeconfig files<\/td><\/tr>
Compatibility<\/strong><\/td>Fully supports kubectl<\/code> commands as aliases<\/td>Cannot access OpenShift-only resources<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

\u2705 Similarities Between oc<\/code> and kubectl<\/code><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Feature<\/strong><\/th>Example Command (same for both)<\/strong><\/th>Description<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Get Pods<\/td>oc get pods<\/code> \/ kubectl get pods<\/code><\/td>Lists pods in current namespace<\/td><\/tr>
Describe Resource<\/td>oc describe pod <name><\/code> \/ kubectl describe pod <name><\/code><\/td>Detailed pod description<\/td><\/tr>
Apply YAML<\/td>oc apply -f app.yaml<\/code> \/ kubectl apply -f app.yaml<\/code><\/td>Apply resource configuration<\/td><\/tr>
Delete Resources<\/td>oc delete pod <name><\/code> \/ kubectl delete pod <name><\/code><\/td>Delete a resource<\/td><\/tr>
Logs<\/td>oc logs <pod><\/code> \/ kubectl logs <pod><\/code><\/td>Stream logs from a container<\/td><\/tr>
Port-forward<\/td>oc port-forward svc\/myapp 8080:80<\/code><\/td>Forward local port to a service<\/td><\/tr>
Exec<\/td>oc exec -it <pod> -- \/bin\/bash<\/code><\/td>Get shell access to a pod<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u2705 Fact<\/strong>: Every valid kubectl<\/code> command is also valid in oc<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83d\udd34 Differences: oc<\/code> Adds OpenShift-Specific Features<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Command<\/strong><\/th>Only in oc<\/code><\/strong><\/th>Purpose<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
oc new-app<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Rapid app deployment from source\/image<\/td><\/tr>
oc new-project<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Create a new OpenShift project (namespace)<\/td><\/tr>
oc adm<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>OpenShift admin utility commands<\/td><\/tr>
oc rollout<\/code><\/td>Extended<\/td>Manage OpenShift-specific rollouts<\/td><\/tr>
oc status<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Visual overview of current project<\/td><\/tr>
oc whoami<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Check current OpenShift user<\/td><\/tr>
oc get route<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>View OpenShift routes (external access)<\/td><\/tr>
oc import-image<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Import images into OpenShift image streams<\/td><\/tr>
oc policy<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>RBAC management for OpenShift<\/td><\/tr>
oc start-build<\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Trigger OpenShift BuildConfig<\/td><\/tr>
oc logs -f bc\/<buildConfig><\/code><\/td>Yes<\/td>Stream logs from OpenShift build<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

\u26a0\ufe0f kubectl<\/code> does not support OpenShift-specific resources<\/strong> like Route<\/code>, BuildConfig<\/code>, DeploymentConfig<\/code>, ImageStream<\/code>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\ud83e\uddea Example: Deploying a Sample App<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Using kubectl<\/code> (Kubernetes way):<\/h3>\n\n\n
kubectl<\/span> apply<\/span> -f<\/span> deployment<\/span>.yaml<\/span>\nkubectl<\/span> apply<\/span> -f<\/span> service<\/span>.yaml<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Using oc<\/code> (OpenShift way):<\/h3>\n\n\n
oc new<\/span>-app nodejs~https:\/\/github.com\/sclorg\/nodejs-ex.git<\/span>\noc expose svc\/nodejs-ex\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> JavaScript<\/span> (<\/span>javascript<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
OpenShift simplifies workflows with oc new-app<\/code> and oc expose<\/code>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udc69\u200d\ud83d\udcbb Example: Working with Projects\/Namespaces<\/h2>\n\n\n
# Create and switch in OpenShift<\/span>\noc new<\/span>-project myapp\n\n# Create namespace in Kubernetes<\/span>\nkubectl create namespace<\/span> myapp<\/span>\nkubectl<\/span> config<\/span> set<\/span>-context<\/span> --current<\/span> --namespace<\/span>=myapp<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\u2699\ufe0f oc adm<\/code> (Admin Commands Exclusive to OpenShift)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Command<\/strong><\/th>Purpose<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
oc adm diagnostics<\/code><\/td>Run cluster diagnostics<\/td><\/tr>
oc adm top<\/code><\/td>View resource usage like kubectl top<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
oc adm policy add-role-to-user<\/code><\/td>Manage RBAC easily<\/td><\/tr>
oc adm groups<\/code><\/td>Manage OpenShift user groups<\/td><\/tr>
oc adm node-logs<\/code><\/td>View node logs in OpenShift<\/td><\/tr>
oc adm drain<\/code><\/td>Drain node (similar to kubectl drain<\/code>)<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83e\udde0 When to Use What?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Use Case<\/strong><\/th>Recommended CLI<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Basic Kubernetes operations<\/td>kubectl<\/code> or oc<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
OpenShift templates, routes, and builds<\/td>oc<\/code> only<\/td><\/tr>
Admin tasks on OpenShift (RBAC, node mgmt)<\/td>oc adm<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
Scripting across clusters (K8s generic)<\/td>kubectl<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
Using CRC<\/code> or OpenShift Online<\/td>oc<\/code> preferred<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udccc Summary Table<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Command Type<\/strong><\/th>kubectl<\/code> Support<\/th>oc<\/code> Support<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Kubernetes Resources<\/td>\u2705 Yes<\/td>\u2705 Yes<\/td><\/tr>
OpenShift Resources<\/td>\u274c No<\/td>\u2705 Yes<\/td><\/tr>
CLI Alias of Each Other<\/td>\u2705 oc<\/code> supports all kubectl<\/code><\/td>\u2705 Yes<\/td><\/tr>
Admin Commands<\/td>\u274c Limited<\/td>\u2705 Full (oc adm<\/code>)<\/td><\/tr>
Developer Productivity<\/td>\u274c No templating<\/td>\u2705 Powerful templates, routes, builds<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udca1 Tip: You can always alias kubectl<\/code> to oc<\/code> if you’re using OpenShift full-time:<\/h3>\n\n\n
alias kubectl='oc'<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> JavaScript<\/span> (<\/span>javascript<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Here\u2019s a comprehensive guide comparing the oc (OpenShift CLI) and kubectl (Kubernetes CLI) commands, focusing on their differences, similarities, and real-world usage. This is especially useful for OpenShift developers or… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-openshift"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49101"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49101\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49102,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49101\/revisions\/49102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}