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Investigate CrashLoopBackOff with PromQL before blaming OOMKilled

An actionable flow for combining kube-state-metrics, cAdvisor, events, and previous logs without turning a clue into a closed diagnosis.

Learn how to move from a CrashLoopBackOff alert to a verifiable OOMKilled hypothesis with PromQL, kubectl, and validation rules that avoid false pages.

Created: August 8, 2026

Published: August 8, 2026

Estimated time35 min

LevelIntermediate

Before you startPrometheus or a PromQL-compatible platform collecting kube-state-metrics and container metrics.

PlatformsLinux / Docker

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Docker

Local lab with Prometheus, kube-state-metrics exported from a test cluster, and promtool for rule validation.

Dockerpromtoolversioned rules.yml file

Validate rules

promtool check rules rules/kubernetes-crashloopbackoff.yml

Run an instant query

curl -G http://localhost:9090/api/v1/query --data-urlencode 'query=max_over_time(kube_pod_container_status_waiting_reason{reason="CrashLoopBackOff"}[2m])'

Also available inInvestigar CrashLoopBackOff con PromQL antes de culpar a OOMKilled

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