3 First steps with Kubernetes

·   Deploying an application in Kubernetes and making it available across the globe

·   Horizontally scaling the application

The goal of this chapter is to show you how to run a local single-node development Kubernetes cluster or set up a proper, managed multi-node cluster in the cloud. Once your cluster is running, you’ll use it to run the container you created in the previous chapter.

3.1   Deploying a Kubernetes cluster

Setting up a full-fledged, multi-node Kubernetes cluster isn’t a simple task, especially if you’re not familiar with Linux and network administration. A proper Kubernetes installation spans multiple physical or virtual machines and requires proper network setup to allow all containers in the cluster to communicate with each other.

You can install Kubernetes on your laptop computer, on your organization’s infrastructure, or on virtual machines provided by cloud providers (Google Compute Engine, Amazon EC2, Microsoft Azure, and so on). Alternatively, most cloud providers now offer managed Kubernetes services, saving you from the hassle of installation and management. Here’s a short overview of what the largest cloud providers offer:

3.1.1   Using the built-in Kubernetes cluster in Docker Desktop

3.1.2   Running a local cluster using Minikube

3.1.3   Running a local cluster using kind (Kubernetes in Docker)

3.1.4   Creating a managed cluster with Google Kubernetes Engine

3.1.5   Creating a cluster using Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service

3.1.6   Deploying a multi-node cluster from scratch

3.2   Interacting with Kubernetes

3.2.1   Setting up kubectl - the Kubernetes command-line client

3.2.2   Configuring kubectl to use a specific Kubernetes cluster

3.2.3   Using kubectl

3.2.4   Interacting with Kubernetes through web dashboards

3.3   Running your first application on Kubernetes

3.3.1   Deploying your application

3.3.2   Exposing your application to the world

3.3.3   Horizontally scaling the application

3.3.4   Understanding the deployed application

3.4   Summary