How do I troubleshoot namespaces in a terminated state in my Amazon EKS cluster?

Short description

To delete a namespace, Kubernetes must first delete all the resources in the namespace. Then, it must check registered API services for the status. A namespace gets stuck in Terminating status for the following reasons:

• The namespace contains resources that Kubernetes can't delete.
• An API service has a False status.

Resolution

1.    Save a JSON file like in the following example:

kubectl get namespace TERMINATING_NAMESPACE -o json > tempfile.json

Note: Replace TERMINATING_NAMESPACE with the name of your stuck namespace.

2.    Remove the finalizers array block from the spec section of the JSON file:

"spec": {
        "finalizers": [
            "kubernetes"
        ]
    }

After you remove the finalizers array block, the spec section of the JSON file looks like this:

"spec" : {
    }

3.    To apply the changes, run the following command:

kubectl replace --raw "/api/v1/namespaces/TERMINATING_NAMESPACE/finalize" -f ./tempfile.json

Note: Replace TERMINATING_NAMESPACE with the name of your stuck namespace.

4.    Verify that the terminating namespace is removed:

kubectl get namespaces

Repeat these steps for any remaining namespaces that are stuck in the Terminating status.

Related information

What is Amazon EKS?

Namespaces (on the Kubernetes site)