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Kubernetes Added 12 October 2025

Kubernetes: Insufficient CPU/Memory

Pod cannot be scheduled because no node has enough CPU or memory resources available.

Quick fix

Read the commands before running them. Anything that restarts a service, deletes data or changes permissions should be tried on a non-production system first.

Quick fix
# Check node resources
kubectl top nodes
# Describe node
kubectl describe node node-name
# Check pod resources
kubectl top pods
# Reduce resource requests
kubectl edit deployment deployment-name
# Scale cluster
kubectl scale nodes

How to diagnose Kubernetes errors

Kubernetes errors are best read as a state machine that got stuck. Pending means the scheduler could not place the pod (resources, taints, or an unbound volume). ImagePullBackOff means kubelet could not fetch the image (name, credentials, or registry). CrashLoopBackOff means the container starts and exits, so the answer is in the container's own logs. OOMKilled means the kernel killed it for exceeding its memory limit. Each state points at a different subsystem, and kubectl describe almost always contains the exact reason in its events.

If the quick fix above does not resolve it, work through these steps. They apply to this whole class of error, not just to this one message, which is usually what saves the time.

  1. Start with kubectl describe pod <name> and read the Events section at the bottom. It names the precise failure, including registry errors and scheduling constraints.
  2. For CrashLoopBackOff, read the previous container's logs: kubectl logs <pod> --previous. The current container may not have produced output yet.
  3. Check resource pressure with kubectl top pod and kubectl top node, and compare against the pod's requests and limits.
  4. Test RBAC directly: kubectl auth can-i <verb> <resource> --as=system:serviceaccount:<ns>:<sa>. This answers permission questions definitively.
  5. For networking, confirm the Service has endpoints (kubectl get endpoints) before suspecting DNS, Ingress or the CNI.

Tools worth reaching for

  • kubectl describe
  • kubectl logs --previous
  • kubectl auth can-i
  • kubectl top
  • kubectl events --sort-by=.lastTimestamp
  • k9s

Authoritative references

Primary documentation for this error, worth reading before applying any fix in production.

kubernetes.io

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