How to delete kubernetes stuck CRD deletion

Sometimes when you delete your CustomResourceDefinition (CRD) without deleting some dependencies first or your config will depend on another proces which takes place your delete action might freeze.

I had a problem setting up a knative configuration, and I had to delete a full config and create it again. I found that my brokers.eventing.knative.dev CRD hold and nothing could be done:

$ kubectl delete -f knative-broker.yaml

broker.eventing.knative.dev "default" deleted
...

Now to fix it:

Download a yaml file with a broken resource:

kubectl get brokers.eventing.knative.dev -o yaml > my-resource.yaml

Find a finalizers list in your resource

apiVersion: v1
items:
- apiVersion: eventing.knative.dev/v1
  kind: Broker
  metadata:
    annotations:
      eventing.knative.dev/broker.class: Kafka
    creationTimestamp: "2022-07-04T09:45:23Z"
    deletionGracePeriodSeconds: 0
    deletionTimestamp: "2022-07-04T12:43:01Z"
    finalizers:
    - brokers.eventing.knative.dev

Make a finalizers list empty

apiVersion: v1
items:
- apiVersion: eventing.knative.dev/v1
  kind: Broker
  metadata:
    annotations:
      eventing.knative.dev/broker.class: Kafka
    creationTimestamp: "2022-07-04T09:45:23Z"
    deletionGracePeriodSeconds: 0
    deletionTimestamp: "2022-07-04T12:43:01Z"
    finalizers: []

Apply your changes and unblock your work

kubectl apply -f my-resource.yaml

note

In most cases you should not play with finalizers, this is for extremal situations when you are loosing hope with the situation.

rogulski.it

My name is Piotr, a passionate pythonista and this is my blog!

How to delete kubernetes stuck CRD deletion