Openshift Pod Status Meanings

Pending: The pod is accepted but not yet running, often waiting to be scheduled or for resources (e.g., images, volumes) to be provisioned.

• Implications:
  • Scheduling Issues: Insufficient nodes, CPU, memory, or node taints preventing scheduling.
  • Image Pull Failures: Network issues, registry downtime, or missing image pull secrets.
  • Storage Delays: PersistentVolumeClaim (PVC) binding issues due to misconfigured storage classes or insufficient storage capacity.
  • Cluster Health: Scheduler or API server issues.
• Actions:
  • Check the pod’s events for issues like image pull errors or scheduling failures:
    • oc get pods -n <namespace>
    • oc describe pod <pod-name> -n <namespace>

Running: The pod is bound to a node, and all containers are created and running.

• Implications:
  • The pod is operational, but monitor for resource contention or node health issues. Application-level issues (e.g., failing readiness probes) may exist.
• Actions:
  • Verify logging/monitoring systems capture pod metrics:
    • oc get pods -n <namespace>
    • oc logs <pod-name> -n <namespace>

Succeeded: All containers in the pod have terminated successfully (exit code 0) and won’t restart.

• Actions:
  • Confirm the job’s output or logs to ensure task completion.

Failed: At least one container terminated with a non-zero exit code, and no containers are running.

• Implications:
  • Resource Limits: OOMKilled (exit code 137) due to memory limits or CPU throttling.
  • Node Issues: Disk pressure, network failures, or node crashes may cause failures.
  • Configuration Errors: Missing secrets, config maps, or storage volumes can trigger failures.
  • Image Issues: Invalid or inaccessible container images.
• Actions:
  • Use oc describe pod <pod-name> or oc logs <pod-name> to investigate failure reasons.

Unknown: The pod’s state cannot be determined, typically due to communication failures between the node and the control plane.

• Implications:
  • Node Failure: The node may be down, unreachable, or experiencing kubelet issues.
  • Network Issues: Cluster networking problems preventing status updates.
  • Control Plane Issues: API server or etcd failures.
• Actions:
  • Check node status: oc get nodes.
  • Restart kubelet: systemctl restart kubelet.
  • Investigate network connectivity and check control plane components:
    • oc get pods -n openshift-kube-apiserver
    • oc get clusteroperators.
  • Evict pods to reschedule: oc delete pod <pod-name> --force.

CrashLoopBackOff (Condition, not a phase): A container is repeatedly crashing, and Kubernetes is waiting before restarting it.

• Implications:
  • Resource Constraints: Memory or CPU limits causing crashes.
  • Node Issues: Disk or network problems affecting stability.
  • Configuration Issues: Missing or incorrect secrets, config maps, or environment variables.
• Actions:
  • Check logs: oc logs <pod-name> --previous.
  • Review resource usage: oc adm top pod <pod-name>.
  • Validate node health: oc describe node <node-name>.
  • Ensure existence of secrets/config maps: oc get secret <secret-name> or oc get configmap <configmap-name>.

Completed (Similar to Succeeded): The pod has finished successfully, and all containers exited with code 0.

• Actions:
  • Review logs or output to confirm job success.

ContainerCreating: The pod is being created, often pulling images or mounting volumes.

• Implications:
  • Image Pull Delays: Network latency or registry issues.
  • Storage Issues: Slow volume provisioning or misconfigured storage classes.
• Actions:
  • Check events: oc describe pod <pod-name>.
  • Verify registry connectivity and validate storage provisioner:
    • oc get storageclass
    • oc describe pvc.
  • Optimize image size or use a local registry.

Error: The pod encountered an error during creation or execution, often due to misconfiguration.

• Implications:
  • Configuration Issues: Invalid image, missing resources, or permissions.
  • Cluster Issues: Issues with underlying infrastructure components.
• Actions:
  • Review events: oc describe pod <pod-name>.
  • Check RBAC permissions: oc describe sa <service-account-name>.
  • Validate infrastructure resources.

Terminating: The pod is being deleted, either manually, via scaling, or eviction.

• Implications:
  • Deletion Delays: Finalizers, graceful termination, or network issues.
  • Node Issues: Eviction due to node maintenance or resource pressure.
• Actions:
  • Check finalizers: oc get pod <pod-name> -o yaml.
  • Force deletion: oc delete pod <pod-name> --force.
  • Review node events: oc describe node <node-name>.
  • Ensure proper node drainage: oc adm drain <node-name>.