What is Kubernetes Pod Lifecycle Termination?

Question

Accepted Answer

**Termination** — graceful shutdown of Pods.

```yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myapp
spec:
  replicas: 3
  template:
    spec:
      terminationGracePeriodSeconds: 60
      containers:
      - name: app
        image: myapp:latest
        lifecycle:
          preStop:
            exec:
              command:
              - sh
              - -c
              - |
                # Drain connections
                curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/admin/drain
                sleep 15  # Wait for load balancer to remove
                # Graceful shutdown
                kill -TERM 1
        startupProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /healthz
            port: 8080
          failureThreshold: 30
          periodSeconds: 10
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /ready
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 10
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /healthz
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 15
          periodSeconds: 20
```

```bash
# Check termination behavior
kubectl get pod my-pod -o jsonpath='{.spec.terminationGracePeriodSeconds}'

# Watch termination
kubectl get pods -w
kubectl get events --field-selector reason=Killing

# Force delete (bypass grace period)
kubectl delete pod my-pod --grace-period=0 --force

# Check preStop hook
kubectl describe pod my-pod | grep -A 5 "preStop"

# Verify endpoint removal
kubectl get endpoints myapp -w
```

**Termination Sequence:**
1. Pod marked for deletion.
2. preStop hook executes.
3. SIGTERM sent to containers.
4. Endpoint removed from Service.
5. Grace period countdown.
6. SIGKILL if still running.

**Best Practices:**
- Handle SIGTERM in application.
- Drain connections before shutdown.
- Match preStop sleep to endpoint removal time.

DevOps: What is Kubernetes Pod Lifecycle Termination?