If stress.yaml runs on the control-plane node but stays Pending when you target a worker, first check whether that worker is Ready and schedulable. A valid manifest cannot place a pod on a node whose health, taints, labels, or available resources prevent scheduling. Use the pod’s Events and the worker’s node conditions to identify whether the problem is in the YAML or the cluster.
Why the pod stays Pending on the worker
Kubernetes schedules a pod only when a node satisfies its placement rules and can accept the workload. A nodeSelector or affinity rule can exclude the worker if its labels do not match. A NotReady worker, or one carrying blocking taints, can also prevent placement even when the machine itself can contact the API server.
In a Linux Foundation LFD259 lab incident, stress.yaml ran on the master but remained Pending when the worker hostname was selected. The worker was NotReady and had node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoSchedule, node.kubernetes.io/unreachable:NoExecute, and node.cilium.io/agent-not-ready:NoSchedule taints. API connectivity from the worker did not mean Kubernetes considered it healthy or schedulable. The incident is documented in the Linux Foundation forum thread.
As Linux Foundation forum responder Chris Pokorni put it, “A cluster node in "not-ready" state as you noted, implies a cluster that has not been fully bootstrapped and/or configured, or certain readiness conditions that are no longer met as a result of unfavorable cluster events.”
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Check the context, namespace, and manifest first
Before changing labels or tolerations, confirm that you are applying the intended file to the intended cluster and namespace. A wrong context, namespace mismatch, or different manifest can make a valid-looking test misleading.
- Check the active context and its configuration with
kubectl config current-contextandkubectl config view --minify. - Inspect
stress.yamlfor its resourcekind,metadata.name, namespace, and anynodeSelectoror affinity rules. If the namespace is omitted, check the namespace used by your current command context. - List pods in the relevant namespace with
kubectl get pods -n <namespace>. - Validate the manifest without applying it:
kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f stress.yaml, followed bykubectl apply --dry-run=server -f stress.yaml. The server-side check can catch unsupported fields, an incorrectapiVersion, and missing required values.
Verify worker health and selector matches
Check whether Kubernetes reports the worker as Ready, then compare the manifest’s placement rules against the node’s actual labels and taints.
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- Run
kubectl get nodes -o wideto review node status and addresses. - Run
kubectl get nodes --show-labelsto see the labels available for matching. - Inspect conditions, taints, and other node details with
kubectl describe node <worker>. - Compare the manifest’s selector or affinity values with the labels shown by Kubernetes. A
kubernetes.io/hostnamevalue must match the worker’s actual hostname label exactly; values are case-sensitive and vary by environment.
If the worker is NotReady or has unreachable or Cilium agent-not-ready taints, investigate node health before loosening placement rules. Add a toleration only when you intentionally want this pod to run on a node carrying that specific taint; tolerating a taint does not itself make an unhealthy worker ready.
Use pod Events to identify the immediate blocker
Apply the manifest only after validation, then inspect the exact object and its scheduling evidence.
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- Apply it with
kubectl apply -f stress.yaml. - Confirm the object with
kubectl get -f stress.yamland inspect pod placement usingkubectl get pods -n <namespace> -o wide. - Describe the pending pod with
kubectl describe pod <pod> -n <namespace>. Read the Events section for messages such as0/<n> nodes are available, taint or affinity conflicts,FailedMount, image-pull failures, or restart information.
Events are often the quickest way to distinguish a placement problem from a volume, image, or runtime problem. Follow the message that names the failure rather than changing unrelated YAML fields.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.If the pod starts but does not stay running
A pod that is created but exits or repeatedly restarts has moved beyond the initial scheduling question. Check the container’s output and the dependencies or settings it needs to start.
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- Read the previous container’s output with
kubectl logs <pod> --previouswhen it has restarted. - Check that referenced ConfigMaps and Secrets exist in the pod’s namespace and contain the expected names and keys.
- Verify the ServiceAccount and its RBAC permissions if the workload needs Kubernetes API access.
- Confirm the image name and tag, registry credentials, and readiness or liveness probe settings.
- For a Deployment, check rollout progress with
kubectl rollout status deployment/<deployment> -n <namespace>.
Investigate worker storage and infrastructure when health checks point there
In the LFD259 incident, kubelet logs included FreeDiskSpaceFailed, ImageGCFailed, and InvalidDiskCapacity. The worker exposed roughly 10 GB to kubelet despite a larger virtual-disk allocation. Kubelet can use only storage visible inside the guest operating system; allocating a larger virtual disk does not by itself enlarge the guest filesystem. The responder explained that the filesystem may need resizing after a virtual disk is extended. Rebuilding the worker VM with the correct disk setup ultimately resolved that lab incident. These details are specific to that report, not a universal disk threshold or guaranteed fix.
When node conditions and kubelet messages indicate an infrastructure issue, repair the worker’s health and storage configuration rather than editing the stress pod to bypass the symptoms. Once the worker returns to Ready, verify that the lab’s intended labels and taints align with the manifest.
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Quick Recap
Choose a fix that preserves the lab’s intended placement
| What the evidence shows | Appropriate response | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| The selector or affinity value does not match an existing worker label. | Correct the manifest to match the intended worker label, or apply the intended label if the lab requires it. | Preserves placement intent; changing the selector can send the pod somewhere else if done carelessly. |
| The worker is healthy, but an intentional taint excludes this workload. | Add a toleration only if this workload is meant to run on that tainted node. | Allows placement despite the taint; it does not repair node health and can weaken an important scheduling safeguard. |
The worker is NotReady, unreachable, or its node agent is not ready. |
Investigate and restore worker or cluster health, including kubelet and infrastructure issues indicated by node conditions and logs. | Addresses the underlying cause, though it can require repairing the lab VM rather than editing the pod manifest. |
| Events point to a mount, image, configuration, permission, or container-start issue. | Fix the named dependency or runtime configuration. | Targets the reported failure instead of making unrelated placement changes. |
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