kubernetes pod-lifecycle ai_generated true

CrashLoopBackOff

ID: kubernetes/crashloopbackoff

Also available as: JSON · Markdown
90%Fix Rate
92%Confidence
50Evidence
2023-01-01First Seen

Version Compatibility

VersionStatusIntroducedDeprecatedNotes
8 active — — —
8 active — — —

Root Cause

Container repeatedly crashes and Kubernetes keeps restarting it with exponential backoff.

generic

Workarounds

  1. 95% success Check container logs: kubectl logs <pod> --previous to see crash reason 
    The --previous flag shows logs from the last crashed instance

    Sources: https://kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/debug/debug-application/debug-pods/

  2. 93% success Use kubectl describe pod <pod> to check events, readiness probes, and resource limits 
    Common causes: OOM kills, failed liveness probes, missing config/secrets

Dead Ends

Common approaches that don't work:

  1. Deleting and recreating the pod 85% fail

    Kubernetes will restart it with the same config; crash will recur

  2. Increasing restart policy backoff 90% fail

    Does not fix the underlying crash

Error Chain

Frequently confused with: