Debug Init Containers [page]deterministic

This page shows how to investigate problems related to the execution of Init Containers. The example command lines below refer to the Pod as `<pod-name>` and the Init Containers as `<init-container-1>` and `<init-container-2>`.

##

* You should be familiar with the basics of [Init Containers](/docs/concepts/workloads/pods/init-containers/). * You should have [Configured an Init Container](/docs/tasks/configure-pod-container/configure-pod-initialization/#create-a-pod-that-has-an-init-container).

## Checking the status of Init Containers

Display the status of your pod:

```shell kubectl get pod <pod-name> ```

For example, a status of `Init:1/2` indicates that one of two Init Containers has completed successfully:

``` NAME READY STATUS RESTARTS AGE <pod-name> 0/1 Init:1/2 0 7s ```

See [Understanding Pod status](#understanding-pod-status) for more examples of status values and their meanings.

## Getting details about Init Containers

View more detailed information about Init Container execution:

```shell kubectl describe pod <pod-name> ```

For example, a Pod with two Init Containers might show the following:

``` Init Containers: <init-container-1>: Container ID: ... ... State: Terminated Reason: Completed Exit Code: 0 Started: ... Finished: ... Ready: True Restart Count: 0 ... <init-container-2>: Container ID: ... ... State: Waiting Reason: CrashLoopBackOff Last State: Terminated Reason: Error Exit Code: 1 Started: ... Finished: ... Ready: False Restart Count: 3 ... ```

You can also access the Init Container statuses programmatically by reading the `status.initContainerStatuses` field on the Pod Spec:

```shell kubectl get pod <pod-name> --template '{{.status.initContainerStatuses}}' ```

This command will return the same information as above, formatted using a [Go template](https://pkg.go.dev/text/template).

## Accessing logs from Init Containers

Pass the Init Container name along with the Pod name to access its logs.

```shell kubectl logs <pod-name> -c <init-container-2> ```

Init Containers that run a shell script print commands as they're executed. For example, you can do this in Bash by running `set -x` at the beginning of the script.

## Understanding Pod status

A Pod status beginning with `Init:` summarizes the status of Init Container execution. The table below describes some example status values that you might see while debugging Init Containers.

Status | Meaning ------ | ------- `Init:N/M` | The Pod has `M` Init Containers, and `N` have completed so far. `Init:Error` | An Init Container has failed to execute. `Init:CrashLoopBackOff` | An Init Container has failed repeatedly. `Pending` | The Pod has not yet begun executing Init Containers. `PodInitializing` or `Running` | The Pod has already finished executing Init Containers.