Chapter 6. Differences Between oc and kubectl

Kubernetes' command line interface (CLI), kubectl, is used to run commands against any Kubernetes cluster. Because OpenShift Container Platform runs on top of a Kubernetes cluster, a copy of kubectl is also included with oc, OpenShift Container Platform’s command line interface (CLI).

Although there are several similarities between these two clients, this guide’s aim is to clarify the main reasons and scenarios for using one over the other.

The oc binary offers the same capabilities as the kubectl binary, but it is further extended to natively support OpenShift Container Platform features, such as:

The kubectl binary is provided as a means to support existing workflows and scripts for new OpenShift Container Platform users coming from a standard Kubernetes environment. Existing users of kubectl can continue to use the binary with no changes to the API, but should consider upgrading to oc in order to gain the added functionality mentioned in the previous section.

Because oc is built on top of kubectl, converting a kubectl binary to oc is as simple as changing the binary’s name from kubectl to oc.

See Get Started with the CLI for installation and setup instructions.