Scale a Kubernetes Deployment¶

You can use kubectl scale command to scale a Kubernetes Deployment to a desired value.

Step 1: Scale a Deployment¶

# Command template
kubectl scale deployment <deployment-name> --replicas <desired-count>
{OR}
kubectl scale deployment/<deployment-name> --replicas <desired-count>

# Actual command
kubectl scale deployment my-deployment --replicas 3
{OR}
kubectl scale deployment/my-deployment --replicas 3

Step 2: Verify if the Deployment Was Scaled¶

Verfify the Deployment and Pods:

# Describe deployment
kubectl describe deploy/my-deployment

# List pods
kubectl get pods | grep my-deployment

You'll notice the following:

• New pods come up if the updated value of replicas is greater than the previous value (Scale up)
• Some of the old pods are terminated if the updated value of replicas is less than the previous value (Scale down)

Use kubectl edit Command to Scale the Deployment¶

You can also use kubectl edit command to scale the Deployment as follows:

1. Set the editor you want to use (Default is vim):

   export KUBE_EDITOR=nano
   

2. Edit and update the Deployment:

   # Command template
   kubectl edit deployment <deployment-name>
   {OR}
   kubectl edit deployment/<deployment-name>
   
   # Actual command
   kubectl edit deployment my-deployment
   {OR}
   kubectl edit deployment/my-deployment
   

   Change the replicas to a desired value (For example, 2) and save the file. The Deployment will be updated.

3. Verfify the Deployment and Pods again:

   # Describe deployment
   kubectl describe deploy/my-deployment
   
   # List pods
   kubectl get pods | grep my-deployment