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kubectl cp — Copy files and directories between a local filesystem and a container in a pod. More information: <h

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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Problem

How to use the kubectl cp command: Copy files and directories between a local filesystem and a container in a pod. More information: <https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/generated/kubectl_cp/>.

Solution

kubectl cp — Copy files and directories between a local filesystem and a container in a pod. More information: <https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/generated/kubectl_cp/>.

Copy a local file or directory to a pod:

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}}

Copy a local file or directory to a pod in a specific namespace:

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{namespace}}/{{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}}

Copy a file or directory from a pod to the local machine:

kubectl cp {{namespace}}/{{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}} {{path/to/local_file}}

Copy a file or directory to a specific container in a pod:

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}} {{[-c|--container]}} {{container_name}}

Copy a file or directory to a pod without preserving ownership and permissions:

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{namespace}}/{{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}} --no-preserve

Copy a local file or directory to a pod with retries on failure:

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}} --retries {{3}}

Code Snippets

Copy a local file or directory to a pod

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}}

Copy a local file or directory to a pod in a specific namespace

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{namespace}}/{{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}}

Copy a file or directory from a pod to the local machine

kubectl cp {{namespace}}/{{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}} {{path/to/local_file}}

Copy a file or directory to a specific container in a pod

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}} {{[-c|--container]}} {{container_name}}

Copy a file or directory to a pod without preserving ownership and permissions

kubectl cp {{path/to/local_file}} {{namespace}}/{{pod_name}}:/{{path/to/file_in_pod}} --no-preserve

Context

tldr-pages: common/kubectl cp

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