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Pod Filesystem Browse & Mount

Browse a running pod's container filesystem like a PVC, or mount it locally. Works without any special in-cluster deployment — just kubectl exec-style commands.

When to use this vs PVC Browse​

Use pod browse whenUse PVC browse when
You need to inspect an image's filesystem (e.g. /etc, /app, /tmp)The data lives on a PVC and the pod may not be running
You want to grab config files generated at runtimeYou want a view that outlives any specific pod
You need to patch a file inside a running pod for debuggingYou're looking at shared storage

Browse​

  1. Right-click a pod → Browse.
  2. If the pod has multiple containers, a picker appears. Choose one.
  3. The file browser opens at /.

Alternatively, from Pod Info → Containers, each running container has a Browse (folder icon) button.

The browser UI is identical to PVC browse: sortable Name/Size/Modified/Mode columns, double-click to navigate, Upload, Download, Rename, Delete, chmod, New Folder, Disk Usage toggle.

Mount​

Right-click a pod → Mount (or use the Mount button — hard-drives icon — in Pod Info → Containers).

The mount dialog asks:

FieldDefault
ContainerFirst container (if multiple)
Path in container/
Local mount path/tmp/kubezilla-pod-{ns}-{pod}-{container}
Read-only✅ checked

Click Mount.

Read-only default​

Pod mounts default to read-only because writing to a running container's filesystem is almost never what you want — changes disappear when the pod restarts, and system files may break the running process. Uncheck only when you know the write target is a bind-mounted volume.

Path in container​

Setting this to something other than / mounts a subtree. Useful when:

  • The pod image has a giant /usr you don't care about — just mount /app.
  • You only need /etc/mycfg for a quick config export.

Active mounts​

All pod mounts appear in the same Active Mounts toolbar section as PVC mounts:

[💾 my-pod / nginx  /tmp/kubezilla-pod-default-my-pod-nginx  Mounted]  [Open] [Copy path] [Unmount]

The toolbar chip reads {pod}/{container} so you can tell mounts apart when multiple are active.

On macOS, the combined name {pod}-{container} shows in Finder.

Pod Info header​

When a pod has one or more active mounts, Pod Info renders a header section listing each active mount with:

  • Container name.
  • Status (Mounting / Mounted / Error).
  • Live disk usage (if the scan has run).
  • Open — open in file manager.
  • Unmount.

Under the hood​

Same FUSE (Linux/macOS) / WinFsp (Windows) implementation as PVC mount:

  • Streaming cat with 4MB chunks and CRC32 validation.
  • Writes through 12 parallel dd workers at distinct byte offsets.
  • Persistent shell for CRC verification; fallback to one-off exec if the persistent shell can't be established.

See PVC for the full mount architecture.

Caveats​

  • Some minimal images lack dd, cksum, or even sh. For those, browse works partially (via any available shell) but mount may fail.
  • Symlinks pointing outside the mounted subtree follow the target on the pod, not the host — this can surprise if you mount a subdirectory and open a symlink to /etc/passwd.
  • Distroless containers generally can't be browsed or mounted. Use an ephemeral debug container instead.