Learn Kubernetes with Interactive Tutorials

| devops |

I wanted to get a deeper understanding of how Kubernetes actually works, so I started to work through the tutorials on the kubernetes documentation website.  Kubernetes is a container orchestration system that creates some standard tooling for deploying, scaling, and managing containers at scale.

The tutorials themselves, are amazing.

The tutorials use Katacoda to run a virtual terminal in your web browser that runs Minikube, a small-scale local deployment of Kubernetes that can run anywhere.
At a high level kubernetes allows you to deploy a cluster of resources as a single unit without having to really think about the underlying individual hosts. It follows a master -> node model where there is a centralized control point for managing your cluster and worker nodes that perform the actions that your application needs.

Kubernetes supports running both Docker containers and rkt containers. I’m pretty familiar with Docker. I learned more than I ever wanted to over the last few years of working at CircleCI. I have never used rkt, but am looking forward to learning more in the future.

It is really neat that you can simulate a production-like instance on your local computer using minikube. This is a great way to learn kubernetes as well as be able to do local development.

Kubernetes docs has some interactive tutorials that allow you to get your hands dirty with Kubernetes without having to install anything. These tutorials are powered by KataCoda, a tool that I am not familiar with. This is a neat web service that allows you to learn new technologies in your browser.

[caption id=“attachment_654” align=“alignnone” width=“660”]Kubernetes in your Browser Kubernetes in your Browser[/caption]

The first tutorial teaches you how to use minikube, and the kubectl cli to create a new cluster.

One of the most amazing parts of kubernetes to me is the self-healing aspect. For example once you have defined what your application stack consists of, if a node happens to go down then kubernetes will automatically replace it with another instance.

Not only does the interactive online tutorial allow you to use a real kubernetes cluster from within your browser, you can even preview the web UI portion of the cluster as well as viewing your application running.

[caption id=“attachment_655” align=“alignnone” width=“660”]Kubernetes Web UI Kubernetes Web UI[/caption]

This is such a great way to learn.

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