Resolving “Failed to Pull Image” Errors in Kubernetes: A Comprehensive Guide

The error logs indicate that your Kubernetes worker node is having trouble pulling the registry.k8s.io/pause:3.8 image. This problem is leading to failures in creating pod sandboxes, which in turn prevents the network plugin (CNI) from being initialized correctly. Here are steps to troubleshoot and resolve this issue:

Step 1: Check Internet Connectivity

Ensure that the worker node has internet access and can reach registry.k8s.io.

1. Test Connectivity:

ping registry.k8s.io

1. Test HTTPS Access:

curl -v https://registry.k8s.io/v2/

If these commands fail, you may have network connectivity issues or firewall rules blocking access.

Step 2: DNS Resolution

Verify that DNS is working correctly on your worker node.

1. Check DNS Configuration:

cat /etc/resolv.conf

1. Test DNS Resolution:

nslookup registry.k8s.io

Step 3: Docker/Container Runtime Configuration