Kubernetes
Master container orchestration with Kubernetes — the industry standard for deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications.
Documentation
| Guide | Description |
|---|---|
| Fundamentals | Architecture, pods, services, deployments, and core concepts |
| Workloads & Scheduling | Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs, auto-scaling, and health checks |
| Networking & Services | Service types, Ingress, DNS, Network Policies, and service mesh |
| Storage & Persistence | Volumes, PV/PVC, StorageClasses, CSI, and backup strategies |
| Security & Hardening | RBAC, pod security, image scanning, secrets, and NSA/CISA hardening guide |
| Exam Prep (CKA/CKAD/CKS) | Certification domains, practice questions, study tips, and labs |
| kubectl Cheat Sheet | 200+ commands for pods, deployments, services, debugging, and cluster management |
| Production & Operations | CI/CD, Helm, monitoring, logging, disaster recovery, and cloud providers |
| Interview Questions | 60+ questions from beginner to advanced with detailed answers |
Core Architecture
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Control Plane │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌──────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────┐ │
│ │API Server │ │ etcd │ │ Scheduler │ │Ctrl Mgr│ │
│ └───────────┘ └──────┘ └───────────┘ └───────┘ │
└──────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┘
│
┌───────────────┼───────────────┐
▼ ▼ ▼
┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐
│ Worker 1 │ │ Worker 2 │ │ Worker 3 │
│ kubelet │ │ kubelet │ │ kubelet │
│ kube-proxy │ │ kube-proxy │ │ kube-proxy │
│ [pods] │ │ [pods] │ │ [pods] │
└─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘
Essential Concepts
| Concept | Description |
|---|---|
| Pod | Smallest deployable unit, one or more containers |
| Service | Stable network endpoint for pods |
| Deployment | Manages ReplicaSets and rolling updates |
| StatefulSet | For stateful applications with stable identity |
| DaemonSet | Runs a pod on every node |
| Ingress | HTTP/HTTPS routing to services |
| ConfigMap | Configuration data as key-value pairs |
| Secret | Sensitive data (passwords, tokens) |
| PV/PVC | Persistent storage for pods |
| Namespace | Virtual cluster for resource isolation |
Learning Path
- Start with fundamentals — understand architecture, pods, services
- Master workloads — deployments, scaling, scheduling, health checks
- Learn networking — services, ingress, DNS, network policies
- Understand storage — volumes, PV/PVC, StatefulSets with data
- Harden security — RBAC, pod security, image scanning
- Prepare for certifications — CKA, CKAD, CKS exam prep
- Go to production — CI/CD, monitoring, Helm, disaster recovery
Certification Path
| Certification | Level | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| KCNA | Beginner | Kubernetes and Cloud Native concepts |
| CKA | Intermediate | Cluster administration and operations |
| CKAD | Intermediate | Application development on Kubernetes |
| CKS | Advanced | Security specialist (requires CKA) |
Quick Start
# Install minikube and start a local cluster
minikube start
# Deploy an app
kubectl create deployment hello --image=nginx
kubectl expose deployment hello --port=80 --type=NodePort
# View resources
kubectl get pods,svc,deploy
# Scale up
kubectl scale deployment hello --replicas=3
# Clean up
kubectl delete deployment hello
kubectl delete svc hello
External Resources
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Kubernetes Official Docs | Official documentation |
| Kubernetes the Hard Way | Learn K8s from scratch by Kelsey Hightower |
| Play with K8s | Free K8s playground |
| Killercoda | Interactive K8s scenarios |
| CNCF Landscape | Cloud native ecosystem overview |
| Kubernetes Troubleshooting Guide | Visual troubleshooting flowchart |
Security Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Kubescape | Security testing per NSA/CISA hardening guidance |
| Falco | Kubernetes threat detection engine |
| OPA Gatekeeper | Policy-as-code for Kubernetes |
| Trivy | Container image vulnerability scanner |
Useful Tools
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Helm | Kubernetes package manager |
| Telepresence | Fast local development for K8s microservices |
| Lens | Kubernetes IDE |
| k9s | Terminal UI for Kubernetes |
| Datree | Prevent K8s misconfigurations in development |