ConfigMap Changed But Pods Did Not Notice

Symptom

kubectl apply of a ConfigMap; pods still run the old config.

Root cause

Mounted ConfigMaps do not hot-reload (or sync over 60s+) and most apps never re-read.

Fix, in order

1. Restart the consumers after config changeskubectl rollout restart deploy/<app>
2. Checksum-annotate to trigger on change (GitOps pattern)annotations: { checksum/config: <sha256> }
3. Watch out: subPath mounts never update# subPath mounts are immutable — volumeMount without subPath

Prevent it coming back

Config change = rollout; treat config like code deploys.

Run it on clean infra

Spinning up a fresh box to reproduce or escape this error?

Managed cloud hosting

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Last reviewed 2026-10-02 · NinjaOps SEO grid · DevOps blog