---
assignees:
- Kashomon
- bprashanth
- madhusudancs
title: Replica Sets
---

* TOC
{:toc}

## What is a ReplicaSet?

ReplicaSet is the next-generation Replication Controller. The only difference
between a _ReplicaSet_ and a
[_Replication Controller_](/docs/user-guide/replication-controller/) right now is
the selector support. ReplicaSet supports the new set-based selector requirements
as described in the [labels user guide](/docs/user-guide/labels/#label-selectors)
whereas a Replication Controller only supports equality-based selector requirements.

Most [`kubectl`](/docs/user-guide/kubectl/) commands that support
Replication Controllers also support ReplicaSets. One exception is the
[`rolling-update`](/docs/user-guide/kubectl/kubectl_rolling-update/) command. If
you want the rolling update functionality please consider using Deployments
instead. Also, the
[`rolling-update`](/docs/user-guide/kubectl/kubectl_rolling-update/) command is
imperative whereas Deployments are declarative, so we recommend using Deployments
through the [`rollout`](/docs/user-guide/kubectl/kubectl_rollout/) command.

While ReplicaSets can be used independently, today it's mainly used by
[Deployments](/docs/user-guide/deployments/) as a mechanism to orchestrate pod
creation, deletion and updates. When you use Deployments you don't have to worry
about managing the ReplicaSets that they create. Deployments own and manage
their ReplicaSets.

## When to use a ReplicaSet?

A ReplicaSet ensures that a specified number of pod “replicas” are running at any given
time. However, a Deployment is a higher-level concept that manages ReplicaSets and
provides declarative updates to pods along with a lot of other useful features.
Therefore, we recommend using Deployments instead of directly using ReplicaSets, unless
you require custom update orchestration or don't require updates at all.

This actually means that you may never need to manipulate ReplicaSet objects:
use directly a Deployment and define your application in the spec section.

## Example

{% include code.html language="yaml" file="replicasets/frontend.yaml" ghlink="/docs/user-guide/replicasets/frontend.yaml" %}

Saving this config into `frontend.yaml` and submitting it to a Kubernetes cluster should
create the defined ReplicaSet and the pods that it manages.

```shell
$ kubectl create -f frontend.yaml
replicaset "frontend" created
$ kubectl describe rs/frontend
Name:          frontend
Namespace:     default
Image(s):      gcr.io/google_samples/gb-frontend:v3
Selector:      tier=frontend,tier in (frontend)
Labels:        app=guestbook,tier=frontend
Replicas:      3 current / 3 desired
Pods Status:   3 Running / 0 Waiting / 0 Succeeded / 0 Failed
No volumes.
Events:
  FirstSeen    LastSeen    Count    From                SubobjectPath    Type        Reason            Message
  ---------    --------    -----    ----                -------------    --------    ------            -------
  1m           1m          1        {replicaset-controller }             Normal      SuccessfulCreate  Created pod: frontend-qhloh
  1m           1m          1        {replicaset-controller }             Normal      SuccessfulCreate  Created pod: frontend-dnjpy
  1m           1m          1        {replicaset-controller }             Normal      SuccessfulCreate  Created pod: frontend-9si5l
$ kubectl get pods
NAME             READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
frontend-9si5l   1/1       Running   0          1m
frontend-dnjpy   1/1       Running   0          1m
frontend-qhloh   1/1       Running   0          1m
```

## ReplicaSet as an Horizontal Pod Autoscaler target

A ReplicaSet can also be a target for
[Horizontal Pod Autoscalers (HPA)](/docs/user-guide/horizontal-pod-autoscaling/),
i.e. a ReplicaSet can be auto-scaled by an HPA. Here is an example HPA targeting
the ReplicaSet we created in the previous example.

{% include code.html language="yaml" file="replicasets/hpa-rs.yaml" ghlink="/docs/user-guide/replicasets/hpa-rs.yaml" %}


Saving this config into `hpa-rs.yaml` and submitting it to a Kubernetes cluster should
create the defined HPA that autoscales the target ReplicaSet depending on the CPU usage
of the replicated pods.

```shell
kubectl create -f hpa-rs.yaml
```

Alternatively, you can just use the `kubectl autoscale` command to accomplish the same
(and it's easier!)

```shell
kubectl autoscale rs frontend
```
