A computer cluster coordinates connected machines as a shared execution environment. In Kubernetes, the cluster supplies nodes, namespaces, and deployable Pods for running workloads; local development can bootstrap a single-node or multinode cluster with k3d and k3s. section 8.2.1
A practical cluster workflow includes:
- Create a local cluster named distml with k3d, using a specified k3s image. section 8.2.1
- Inspect node readiness, roles, versions, labels, operating system, architecture, and container runtime with kubectl. section 8.2.1
- Create a namespace to isolate project resources, then switch contexts and namespaces when working across environments. section 8.2.1
- Deploy a Pod from YAML and inspect its status, logs, and resolved configuration. section 8.2.1
A minimal workload path
Create the distml cluster, activate its basics namespace, and submit a whalesay Pod. The Pod runs a container command, completes, and exposes output through kubectl logs; its effective configuration can be examined as raw YAML. section 8.2.1
Listing 8.21 Creating a local Kubernetes cluster
> k3d cluster create distml --image rancher/k3s:v1.25.3-rc3-k3s1
Use the command listing to bootstrap a local Kubernetes cluster before creating namespaces and workloads. section 8.2.1
