{"id":49943,"date":"2025-07-04T06:45:54","date_gmt":"2025-07-04T06:45:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/?p=49943"},"modified":"2025-07-04T06:45:54","modified_gmt":"2025-07-04T06:45:54","slug":"kubernetes-troubleshooting-pods-in-pending-causes-fixes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/kubernetes-troubleshooting-pods-in-pending-causes-fixes\/","title":{"rendered":"Kubernetes Troubleshooting: Pods in Pending \u2013 Causes & Fixes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Below is a complete, production-grade list<\/strong> of all common reasons why a Kubernetes pod stays in Pending<\/code> state<\/strong>, along with detailed solutions<\/strong>, commands<\/strong>, and how to verify and fix each issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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\ud83d\udd0d How to Start Investigating<\/h2>\n\n\n
kubectl describe pod <pod-name<\/span>><\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> HTML, XML<\/span> (<\/span>xml<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
Focus on the Events:<\/code> section \u2014 it will reveal why<\/strong> the pod is stuck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
\ud83d\udd01 Common Reasons and Solutions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>Reason<\/th>Error Message \/ Symptom<\/th>Command to Diagnose<\/th>How to Fix<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
1<\/td>\u274c No available nodes (unschedulable)<\/strong><\/td>0\/2 nodes are available: Not schedulable<\/code><\/td>kubectl get nodes<\/code><\/td>Ensure at least one node is Ready<\/code> and schedulable<\/strong>. Use: kubectl uncordon <node><\/code><\/td><\/tr>
2<\/td>\u274c Node Taints (control-plane nodes tainted)<\/strong><\/td>pod didn't tolerate node taint<\/code><\/td>`kubectl describe node<\/td>grep Taint`<\/td><\/tr>
3<\/td>\u274c Node Selectors \/ Affinity don’t match<\/strong><\/td>0\/2 nodes match node selector<\/code><\/td>`kubectl get pod -o yaml<\/td>grep -A5 nodeSelector`<\/td><\/tr>
4<\/td>\u274c Tolerations missing for tainted nodes<\/strong><\/td>No matching tolerations for taints<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe node <node><\/code> Check taints:<\/code><\/td>Add toleration in pod spec:yaml<br>tolerations:<br> - key: \"example-key\"<br> operator: \"Exists\"<br><\/code><\/td><\/tr>
5<\/td>\u274c Insufficient CPU or Memory<\/strong><\/td>insufficient memory<\/code>, insufficient cpu<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe pod <pod><\/code> kubectl describe node <node><\/code><\/td>Reduce pod resources.requests<\/code> in YAML:yaml<br>resources:<br> requests:<br> cpu: \"100m\"<br> memory: \"256Mi\"<br><\/code><\/td><\/tr>
6<\/td>\u274c Too many pods on node (maxPods limit reached)<\/strong><\/td>Too many pods<\/code><\/td>`kubectl describe node<\/td>grep pods`<\/td><\/tr>
7<\/td>\u274c PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) pending<\/strong><\/td>pod has unbound PersistentVolumeClaims<\/code><\/td>kubectl get pvc<\/code><\/td>Create or bind the PVC:kubectl get pv<\/code>Ensure storage class and capacity match<\/td><\/tr>
8<\/td>\u274c ImagePullBackOff (incorrect image or no access)<\/strong><\/td>Appears first as Pending<\/code>, then ContainerCreating<\/code>, then ImagePullBackOff<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe pod <pod><\/code><\/td>Check image name and registry authFix typo or use imagePullSecrets<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
9<\/td>\u274c Missing CNI plugin (pod networking not ready)<\/strong><\/td>network plugin is not ready<\/code><\/td>kubectl get pods -n kube-system<\/code><\/td>Ensure CNI is deployed:kubectl apply -f <cni-yaml><\/code> (e.g., Calico, Flannel)<\/td><\/tr>
10<\/td>\u274c DNS issues inside cluster<\/strong><\/td>Pods remain stuck in Pending<\/code> or ContainerCreating<\/code><\/td>kubectl logs <pod><\/code> or kubectl exec -it <pod> -- nslookup kubernetes<\/code><\/td>Ensure kube-dns<\/code> or CoreDNS<\/code> is running:kubectl get pods -n kube-system<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
11<\/td>\u274c Pod Disruption Budgets (PDBs)<\/strong><\/td>Not enough available pods to meet the PDB<\/code><\/td>kubectl get pdb<\/code><\/td>Adjust minAvailable<\/code> or maxUnavailable<\/code> in your PDB<\/td><\/tr>
12<\/td>\u274c InitContainers stuck or failing<\/strong><\/td>Pod hangs in Init:<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe pod <pod><\/code> Check Init:<\/code> section<\/td>Fix issues in the InitContainer: volume mounts, scripts, dependencies<\/td><\/tr>
13<\/td>\u274c Pod Quotas \/ LimitRanges hit<\/strong><\/td>LimitRange violated<\/code>, ResourceQuota exceeded<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe quota<\/code> kubectl describe limitrange<\/code><\/td>Adjust resource quotas \/ limits:kubectl edit quota <name><\/code><\/td><\/tr>
14<\/td>\u274c Custom Scheduler misconfiguration<\/strong><\/td>No default-scheduler<\/code> events<\/td>kubectl describe pod <pod><\/code> check .spec.schedulerName<\/code><\/td>Use correct scheduler, or omit schedulerName<\/code> to default to default-scheduler<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
15<\/td>\u274c No available IPs (CNI limit)<\/strong><\/td>Not shown in event, but pod stuck<\/td>Check kubelet<\/code> logs or CNI plugin logs<\/td>Ensure node\u2019s CNI plugin can allocate more IPs (esp. AWS, Azure)<\/td><\/tr>
16<\/td>\u274c Container runtime errors (e.g., containerd\/dockerd)<\/strong><\/td>Pod stuck in Pending<\/code> or ContainerCreating<\/code><\/td>journalctl -u containerd<\/code> or docker info<\/code><\/td>Restart the runtime:sudo systemctl restart containerd<\/code><\/td><\/tr>
17<\/td>\u274c Cluster Autoscaler delay<\/strong> (in autoscaled clusters)<\/td>waiting for node scale up<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe pod<\/code> and look for scaling delay messages<\/td>Wait or trigger autoscaler node scaling<\/td><\/tr>
18<\/td>\u274c Security context or PodSecurityPolicy blocks<\/strong><\/td>violates PodSecurityPolicy<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe pod <pod><\/code><\/td>Ensure pod adheres to allowed securityContext \/ capabilities<\/td><\/tr>
19<\/td>\u274c ServiceAccount or RBAC missing<\/strong><\/td>Forbidden: ServiceAccount ...<\/code><\/td>kubectl describe pod<\/code><\/td>Create or bind proper ServiceAccount<\/code> with correct RBAC<\/td><\/tr>
20<\/td>\u274c Wrong Namespace used<\/strong><\/td>Pod is Pending<\/code>, PVC not found<\/td>kubectl get pods -A<\/code> kubectl get pvc -A<\/code><\/td>Ensure objects are created in the same namespace or use -n<\/code> flag<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\ud83e\uddea Bonus: Best Commands for Troubleshooting<\/h2>\n\n\n
# Check events on the pod<\/span>\nkubectl describe pod <pod-name>\n\n# Check node pod limits<\/span>\nkubectl describe node <node-name> | grep -A10 Allocatable\n\n# List all pods on a node<\/span>\nkubectl get pods --all-namespaces -o wide | grep <node-name>\n\n# PVC status<\/span>\nkubectl get pvc\n\n# CNI status<\/span>\nkubectl get pods -n kube-system | grep -E 'cni|calico|flannel'<\/span>\n\n# Resource quotas<\/span>\nkubectl describe resourcequota\nkubectl describe limitrange\n\n# Get pod spec with scheduler\/affinity\/tolerations<\/span>\nkubectl get pod <pod-name> -o yaml\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
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\ud83e\udded How to Fix Pending in General<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Start with kubectl describe pod<\/code><\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. If it says:\n
      \n
    • Too many pods<\/code> \u2192 Increase maxPods<\/code> or add nodes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Insufficient cpu\/memory<\/code> \u2192 Reduce resource requests or free up node<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Taint<\/code> \u2192 Add toleration or remove taint<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • PVC pending<\/code> \u2192 Fix volume<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • No message \u2192 Check CNI\/DNS<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n
      Here is a Bash script<\/strong> that checks for the 20 most common reasons why Kubernetes pods are stuck in Pending<\/code> state<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \n
      \u2705 It loops over all Pending pods and checks taints, resources, PVCs, tolerations, affinity, maxPods, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
      \ud83d\udce6 You can copy, save as check-pending-pods.sh<\/code>, and run on your control-plane\/master node.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n
      \u2705 check-pending-pods.sh<\/code><\/h3>\n\n\n
      #!\/bin\/bash<\/span>\n\necho<\/span> \"==========================\"<\/span>\necho<\/span> \"\ud83d\udd0d Checking Pending Pods...\"<\/span>\necho<\/span> \"==========================\"<\/span>\n\nPENDING_PODS=$(kubectl get pods --all-namespaces --field-selector=status.phase=Pending -o jsonpath='{range .items[*]}{.metadata.namespace}{\" \"}{.metadata.name}{\"\\n\"}{end}'<\/span>)\n\nif<\/span> [ -z \"$PENDING_PODS\"<\/span> ]; then\n  echo<\/span> \"\u2705 No pending pods found.\"<\/span>\n  exit<\/span> 0<\/span>\nfi\n\necho<\/span> \"$PENDING_PODS\"<\/span> | while<\/span> read namespace<\/span> pod<\/span>; do<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\"<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83d\udd0d Analyzing pod: $pod in namespace: $namespace\"<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"------------------------------------------------\"<\/span>\n\n  # Describe pod<\/span>\n  kubectl describe pod $pod -n $namespace > \/tmp\/pod_desc.txt\n\n  # 1. Check for failed scheduling<\/span>\n  grep -i \"FailedScheduling\"<\/span> \/tmp\/pod_desc.txt\n\n  # 2. Check node selectors<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea NodeSelector:\"<\/span>\n  grep -A2 \"Node-Selectors\"<\/span> \/tmp\/pod_desc.txt\n\n  # 3. Check tolerations<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Tolerations:\"<\/span>\n  grep -A5 \"Tolerations:\"<\/span> \/tmp\/pod_desc.txt\n\n  # 4. Check affinity<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Affinity:\"<\/span>\n  kubectl get pod $pod -n $namespace -o jsonpath='{.spec.affinity}'<\/span> || echo<\/span> \"None\"<\/span>\n\n  # 5. Check resource requests<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Resource Requests:\"<\/span>\n  kubectl get pod $pod -n $namespace -o jsonpath='{range .spec.containers[*]}{.name}{\" => CPU: \"}{.resources.requests.cpu}{\" | MEM: \"}{.resources.requests.memory}{\"\\n\"}{end}'<\/span>\n\n  # 6. Check PVCs<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea PVCs:\"<\/span>\n  PVCs=$(kubectl get pod $pod -n $namespace -o jsonpath='{.spec.volumes[*].persistentVolumeClaim.claimName}'<\/span>)\n  for<\/span> pvc in $PVCs; do<\/span>\n    echo<\/span> \"  \ud83d\udd04 PVC: $pvc => Status: $(kubectl get pvc $pvc -n $namespace -o jsonpath='{.status.phase}')\"<\/span>\n  done\n\n  # 7. Check scheduler<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Scheduler:\"<\/span>\n  kubectl get pod $pod -n $namespace -o jsonpath='{.spec.schedulerName}'<\/span>; echo<\/span>\n\n  echo<\/span> \"\"<\/span>\ndone\n\necho<\/span> \"===============================\"<\/span>\necho<\/span> \"\ud83d\udd0d Checking Node Conditions...\"<\/span>\necho<\/span> \"===============================\"<\/span>\n\nfor<\/span> node in $(kubectl get nodes -o name); do<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"\"<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"Node: $node\"<\/span>\n  echo<\/span> \"-----------\"<\/span>\n\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Taints:\"<\/span>\n  kubectl describe $node | grep Taint || echo<\/span> \"No taints\"<\/span>\n\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Allocatable Resources:\"<\/span>\n  kubectl describe $node | grep -A10 \"Allocatable\"<\/span>\n\n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Max Pods Limit:\"<\/span>\n  kubectl describe $node | grep -A10 Allocatable | grep \"pods\"<\/span>\n  \n  echo<\/span> \"\ud83e\uddea Running Pods Count:\"<\/span>\n  nodeName=$(basename $node)\n  kubectl get pods --all-namespaces -o wide | grep $nodeName | wc -l\ndone\n\necho<\/span> \"\"<\/span>\necho<\/span> \"\u2705 Done checking all pending pod conditions!\"<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> PHP<\/span> (<\/span>php<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
      \n\n\n\n
      \ud83e\uddea How to Use<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
        \n
      1. Save the script:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
        nano<\/span> check-pending-pods<\/span>.sh<\/span>\n# Paste<\/span> the<\/span> code<\/span>\nchmod<\/span> +x<\/span> check-pending-pods<\/span>.sh<\/span>\n<\/code><\/span>Code language:<\/span> CSS<\/span> (<\/span>css<\/span>)<\/span><\/small><\/pre>\n\n\n
          \n
        1. Run the script:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n
          .\/check-pending-pods.sh\n<\/code><\/span><\/pre>\n\n\n
          \n\n\n\n
          \u2705 What it Checks<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
            \n
          • Pod scheduling failures<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Node selectors<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Tolerations<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Affinity\/anti-affinity<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • CPU\/Memory resource requests<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • PVC binding status<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Scheduler used<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Taints on nodes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Allocatable and used pod count<\/li>\n\n\n\n
          • Max pod limits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n
            \n\n\n\n
            <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
            Below is a complete, production-grade list of all common reasons why a Kubernetes pod stays in Pending state, along with detailed solutions, commands, and how to verify and fix each… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49943","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=49943"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49944,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49943\/revisions\/49944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devopsschool.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}