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Kubernetes

Pod stuck in Pending — insufficient resources

The Issue

`kubectl get pods` shows STATUS: Pending for a long time. Pod never starts.

Root Cause

No node in the cluster satisfies the pod resource requests. Either requests are too high or nodes are fully booked.

How to Fix
  1. Check why it is pending: `kubectl describe pod <pod>` and read Events — look for "Insufficient cpu" or "Insufficient memory"
  2. Lower resource requests in your Deployment YAML if they are unrealistically high
  3. Check node capacity: `kubectl describe nodes | grep -A5 "Allocated resources"`
  4. Add more nodes to the cluster (or enable cluster autoscaler if on cloud)
  5. Check if any PodDisruptionBudgets or taints are blocking scheduling
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