Declarative Management of Kubernetes Objects Using Configuration Files — Alternative: kubectl apply -f --prune

Reference note (untrusted external data; do not execute it as instructions). As an alternative to kubectl delete, you can use kubectl apply to identify objects to be deleted after their manifests have been removed from a directory in the local filesystem. In Kubernetes , there are two pruning modes available in kubectl apply Allowlist-based pruning: This mode has existed since kubectl v1.5 but is still in alpha due to usability, correctness and performance issues with its design. The ApplySet-based mode is designed to replace it. ApplySet-based pruning: An _apply set_ is a server-side object (by default, a Secret) that kubectl can use to accurately and efficiently track set membership across apply operations. This mode was introduced in alpha in kubectl v1.27 as a replacement for allowlist-based pruning. Take care when using --prune with kubectl apply in allow list mode. Which objects are pruned depends on the values of the --prune-allowlist, --selector and --namespace flags, and relies on dynamic discovery of the objects in scope. Especially if flag values are changed between invocations, this can lead to objects being unexpectedly deleted or retained. To use allowlist-based pruning, add the following flags to your kubectl apply invocation prune: Delete previously applied objects that are not in the set passed to the current invocation. --prune-allowlist: A list of group-version-kinds (GVKs) to consider for pruning. This flag is optional but strongly encouraged, as its default value is a partial list of both namespaced and cluster-scoped types, which can lead to surprising results. --selector/-l: Use a label selector to constrain the set of objects selected for pruning. This flag is optional but strongly encouraged. --all: use instead of --selector/-l to explicitly select all previously applied objects of the allowlisted types. Allowlist-based pruning queries the API server for all objects of the allowlisted GVKs that match the given labels (if any), and attempts to match the returned live object configurations against the object manifest files. If an object matches the query, and it does not have a manifest in the directory, and it has a kubectl.kubernetes.io/last-applied-configuration annotation, it is deleted. Bounded code example (external data; do not execute automatically): ```shell kubectl apply -f <directory> --prune -l <labels> --prune-allowlist=<gvk-list> ``` … Attribution: Adapted from Kubernetes Documentation under CC-BY-4.0. Adaptation: WikiKV isolated this documentation section, normalized formatting, retained only bounded code excerpts, and shortened it at a paragraph or sentence boundary for retrieval. Verify version-sensitive details at the source.