A node (sometimes also referred to as a "machine") contains one or more pods, and each pod contains one or more containers.

Evicting pods is the process of moving all of the pods on a node to another node.

The oc get nodes command will return the list of nodes.

~]$ oc get nodes
NAME                  STATUS   ROLES            AGE    VERSION
my-node-edge-lm6wz     Ready    infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-edge-pmlls     Ready    infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-infra-c4v5h    Ready    infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-infra-mc8rc    Ready    infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-infra-p9cjv    Ready    infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-master-0       Ready    master           522d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-master-1       Ready    master           522d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-master-2       Ready    master           522d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-worker-lk5vm   Ready    compute,worker   61d    v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-worker-pj4r4   Ready    compute,worker   61d    v1.23.5+012e945

The oc adm drain node command can be used to evict the pods on the node. In this example, the pods on my-node-worker-lk5vm will be evicted, and the pods should be recreated on one of the other worker node.

~]# oc adm drain node my-node-worker-lk5vm
node/my-node-worker-lk5vm cordoned
evicting pod my-pod-9mzm2
evicting pod my-pod-vmzmz
evicting pod my-pod-pflxc
pod/my-pod-9mzm2 evicted
pod/my-pod-vmzmz evicted
pod/my-pod-pflxc evicted
node/my-node-worker-lk5vm drained

I often include the following command line options and flags.

oc adm drain my-node-worker-lk5vm --ignore-daemonsets --delete-emptydir-data --force --grace-period=0 --timeout=180s

Or, the oc adm manage-node command can be used to mark a node as unschedulable. Unlike the oc admin drain node command, the pods will not be evicted from the node. The pods running on the node will continue to remain running on the node.

oc adm manage-node my-node-worker-lk5vm --schedulable=false

After the oc admin drain node command has been issued, the status of the node should include Scheduling Disabled so that no new pods are created on the node. This marks the node as unscheduable.

~]$ oc get nodes
NAME                  STATUS                       ROLES            AGE    VERSION
my-node-edge-lm6wz     Ready                       infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-edge-pmlls     Ready                       infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-infra-c4v5h    Ready                       infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-infra-mc8rc    Ready                       infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-infra-p9cjv    Ready                       infra,worker     519d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-master-0       Ready                       master           522d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-master-1       Ready                       master           522d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-master-2       Ready                       master           522d   v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-worker-lk5vm   Ready                       compute,worker   61d    v1.23.5+012e945
my-node-worker-pj4r4   Ready,SchedulingDisabled    compute,worker   61d    v1.23.5+012e945

The oc admin uncordon command can be used to mark a node as schedulable so that pods can again be created on the node. 

~]$ oc adm uncordon my-node-worker-lk5vm
node/my-node-worker-lk5vm uncordoned

Or, the oc adm manage-node command can be used.

oc adm manage-node my-node-worker-lk5vm --schedulable=true