| Reading time: | 10 min |
| Last updated: | 24 Jul 2025 |
| Reading time: |
| 10 min |
| Last updated: |
| 24 Jul 2025 |
This guide is intended to get you up and running with this tool quickly with the most common settings. For a thorough review of all options, refer to the official documentation.
The OpenShift command-line interface (CLI), oc, allows you to work with OpenShift Container Platform projects from a terminal. You can use oc to create applications, manage OpenShift Container Platform projects, and perform administrative tasks.
The OpenShift CLI is a superset of the Kubernetes kubectl command. When you install oc, you get both the OpenShift-specific functionality and all standard Kubernetes kubectl commands in a single tool. This means you can use oc to manage both OpenShift and standard Kubernetes resources.
The OpenShift CLI is available for macOS and Linux and supports the Arm architecture.
This article provides a quick solution to install the latest version of the OpenShift CLI for Ubuntu on Arm and macOS with Apple Silicon.
Confirm that you are using an Arm-based computer by running:
uname -m
If you are on Arm Linux the output should be:
aarch64
If you are on macOS with Apple Silicon the output should be:
arm64
There are multiple ways to install the OpenShift CLI. The methods below download the latest stable version directly from the OpenShift mirror.
To install the OpenShift CLI on Arm Linux:
curl -LO https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/clients/ocp/stable/openshift-client-linux-arm64.tar.gz
tar -xzf openshift-client-linux-arm64.tar.gz
sudo mv oc kubectl /usr/local/bin/
rm openshift-client-linux-arm64.tar.gz README.md
To install the OpenShift CLI on macOS with Apple Silicon:
curl -LO https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/clients/ocp/stable/openshift-client-mac-arm64.tar.gz
tar -xzf openshift-client-mac-arm64.tar.gz
sudo mv oc kubectl /usr/local/bin/
rm openshift-client-mac-arm64.tar.gz README.md
Both installations include both oc and kubectl commands. The oc command provides the full OpenShift functionality, while the kubectl command gives you compatibility with standard Kubernetes clusters. Since oc is a superset of kubectl, you can use oc for all Kubernetes operations, but having both commands available gives you flexibility in your workflow.
You can use either oc or kubectl to manage standard Kubernetes resources. However, oc includes OpenShift-specific features and is preferred for working with OpenShift clusters.
The OpenShift CLI (oc) is built as a superset of the Kubernetes CLI (kubectl).
This means:
oc anywhere you would use kubectloc login, oc new-project, oc new-app, are available to manage OpenShift resourcesVerify the OpenShift CLI is installed by checking the version:
oc version --client
The output shows the client version information:
Client Version: 4.19.3
Kustomize Version: v5.5.0
You can also verify that kubectl is available and shows the same version (since it’s the same binary):
kubectl version --client
The output shows the kubectl client version:
Client Version: v1.32.1
Kustomize Version: v5.5.0
Both commands are now available for managing Kubernetes and OpenShift resources.
To get help with available commands, run:
oc help
This displays the main command groups and options:
OpenShift Client
This client helps you develop, build, deploy, and run your applications on any
OpenShift or Kubernetes cluster. It also includes the administrative
commands for managing a cluster under the 'adm' subcommand.
Usage:
oc [flags]
Basic Commands:
login Log in to a server
new-project Request a new project
new-app Create a new application
status Show an overview of the current project
project Switch to another project
projects Display existing projects
explain Get documentation for a resource
Build and Deploy Commands:
rollout Manage the rollout of a resource
rollback Revert part of an application back to a previous deployment
new-build Create a new build configuration
start-build Start a new build
cancel-build Cancel running, pending, or new builds
import-image Import images from a Docker registry
tag Tag existing images into image streams
Application Management Commands:
create Create a resource from a file or from stdin
apply Apply a configuration to a resource by file name or stdin
get Display one or many resources
describe Show details of a specific resource or group of resources
edit Edit a resource on the server
set Commands that help set specific features on objects
label Update the labels on a resource
annotate Update the annotations on a resource
expose Expose a replicated application as a service or route
delete Delete resources by file names, stdin, resources and names, or by resources and label selector
scale Set a new size for a deployment, replica set, or replication controller
autoscale Autoscale a deployment or replica set
secrets Manage secrets
serviceaccounts Manage service accounts in your project
Troubleshooting and Debugging Commands:
logs Print the logs for a resource
rsh Start a shell session in a pod
rsync Copy files between a local file system and a pod
port-forward Forward one or more local ports to a pod
debug Launch a new instance of a pod for debugging
exec Execute a command in a container
proxy Run a proxy to the Kubernetes API server
attach Attach to a running container
run Run a particular image on the cluster
cp Copy files and directories to and from containers
wait Experimental: Wait for a specific condition on one or many resources
Advanced Commands:
adm Tools for managing a cluster
create Create a resource from a file or from stdin
replace Replace a resource by file name or stdin
patch Update fields of a resource
process Process a template into list of resources
export Export resources so they can be used elsewhere
extract Extract secrets or config maps to disk
observe Observe changes to resources and react to them (experimental)
policy Manage authorization policy
auth Inspect authorization
image Useful commands for managing images
registry Commands for working with the registry
idle Idle scalable resources
api-versions Print the supported API versions on the server, in the form of "group/version"
api-resources Print the supported API resources on the server
cluster-info Display cluster information
diff Diff the live version against a would-be applied version
kustomize Build a kustomization target from a directory or URL
Settings Commands:
logout End the current server session
config Modify kubeconfig files
whoami Return information about the current session
completion Output shell completion code for the specified shell (bash, zsh, fish, or powershell)
Other Commands:
help Help about any command
plugin Provides utilities for interacting with plugins
version Print the client and server version information
Use "oc <command> --help" for more information about a given command.
Use "oc options" for a list of global command-line options (applies to all commands).
To connect to an OpenShift cluster, you need to log in using:
oc login <cluster-url>
Replace <cluster-url> with your OpenShift cluster’s URL. You will be prompted for your username and password.
You are now ready to use the OpenShift CLI to manage your OpenShift Container Platform projects and applications.
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