A Kubernetes readiness probe is a health check that indicates whether a container or application instance is ready to receive traffic.
A Kubernetes readiness probe tells the platform whether a microservice has started and can receive traffic. Kubernetes can therefore keep an instance out of service until its dependencies are available. section 11.2.8
Readiness differs from a liveness probe: readiness controls whether requests should arrive, while liveness indicates that the running service remains alive and accepting requests. section 11.2.8
HTTP readiness endpoint
Configure a gateway Deployment with a readiness probe that calls /ready on the container port after a five-second initial delay. Add /alive separately for liveness checks.
How Bootstrapping Microservices, Second Edition: With Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and Terraform covers it
How deep it goes
Explains readiness alongside liveness and demonstrates HTTP configuration, but does not detail endpoint implementation.
Examples
Uses a gateway Deployment calling /ready and /alive over HTTP, plus a history service waiting for RabbitMQ.
What it assumes
Assumes Kubernetes Deployments, containers, HTTP endpoints, and microservice dependencies; contrasts with an earlier wait-port workaround.
What you can do after
Operate/configure Kubernetes Deployments with HTTP readiness and liveness probes for dependency-aware service availability.
How it connects
Connects readiness probes with liveness probes, Kubernetes Deployments, microservices, and upstream dependencies such as RabbitMQ.
Kubernetes in Action, Second EditionA readiness endpoint is an application-provided HTTP endpoint that reports whether the application is ready to serve requests.
Spring in Action, Sixth EditionA readiness probe is a Kubernetes health check that determines whether an application instance is prepared to receive traffic.
Kubernetesused by · Kubernetes is an open-source platform for orchestrating and automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized workloads across computing clusters.
health checkkind of · A health check is an assessment or probe that determines whether a system, service, or component is functioning acceptably according to defined criteria.
liveness checkcontrasts with · A liveness check is an automated health test that determines whether a running workload remains functional or should be restarted.
TCP socket probeincludes · A TCP socket probe is a Kubernetes container probe that checks whether a TCP connection can be established on a specified port.
http get probeincludes · An HTTP GET probe is a Kubernetes liveness-check mechanism that sends an HTTP GET request to a specified path and port in a container and succeeds for a non-error response.
This explainer was generated by Manning's knowledge graph from the text of Bootstrapping Microservices, Second Edition: With Docker, Kubernetes, GitHub Actions, and Terraform. The section links point to the parts of the book it draws on.
