Configmap data is outputted in random order

[HaraldNordgren]

What happened?

kubectl describe configmap {your-configmap} output data keys are shown in a random order.

What did you expect to happen?

The keys should be ordered in a predictable order.

The current behavior is annoying when using from k9s, because they jump around in the UI between invocations.

How can we reproduce it (as minimally and precisely as possible)?

Run this command a few times and notice that the order is not persistent:

kubectl describe configmap {your-configmap}

Anything else we need to know?

No response

Kubernetes version

$ kubectl version
WARNING: This version information is deprecated and will be replaced with the output from kubectl version --short.  Use --output=yaml|json to get the full version.
Client Version: version.Info{Major:"1", Minor:"26+", GitVersion:"v1.26.14-dispatcher", GitCommit:"929bbaf1bd77b0524b42b8d1ffb1d8410532b904", GitTreeState:"clean", BuildDate:"2024-03-11T22:18:01Z", GoVersion:"go1.21.7", Compiler:"gc", Platform:"darwin/arm64"}
Kustomize Version: v4.5.7
Server Version: version.Info{Major:"1", Minor:"30", GitVersion:"v1.30.9-gke.1046000", GitCommit:"bd22bb26d389ceda2b24067faf3a6346c722a21d", GitTreeState:"clean", BuildDate:"2025-01-15T22:50:02Z", GoVersion:"go1.22.10 X:boringcrypto", Compiler:"gc", Platform:"linux/amd64"}
WARNING: version difference between client (1.26) and server (1.30) exceeds the supported minor version skew of +/-1

Cloud provider

Google Cloud (GKE)

OS version

$ uname -a
Darwin Mac.localdomain 24.3.0 Darwin Kernel Version 24.3.0: Thu Jan  2 20:23:36 PST 2025; root:xnu-11215.81.4~3/RELEASE_ARM64_T8112 arm64

Install tools

Container runtime (CRI) and version (if applicable)

Related plugins (CNI, CSI, ...) and versions (if applicable)

[mpuckett159]

/triage accepted