Debugging Kubernetes Nodes in NotReady State

A node stuck in NotReady is one of the most common, and most disruptive, Kubernetes issues. When a node goes NotReady, the control plane stops scheduling new pods to it and begins evicting existing workloads after a timeout. Here's how to diagnose the root cause and fix it. What Does NotReady Mean? Every Kubernetes node runs a kubelet process that periodically reports its status to the API server. When the API server stops receiving these heartbeats (default: every 10 seconds, timeout after 40 seconds), it marks the node as NotReady . The NotReady status means: the control plane cannot confirm this node is healthy and available for work. Check node status with: kubectl get nodes Output showing a problem: NAME STATUS ROLES AGE VERSION worker-01 Ready <none> 45d v1.34.2 worker-02 NotReady <none> 45d v1.34.2 worker-03 Ready <none> 45d v1.34.2 Step 1: Check Node Conditions Start with kubectl describe node to see what conditions are reported: kubectl describe node worker-02 Look at the Cond