k8s tips

Create an NGINX Pod

kubectl run nginx --image=nginx

Generate POD Manifest YAML file (-o yaml). Don’t create it(–dry-run)

kubectl run nginx --image=nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml

Create a deployment

kubectl create deployment --image=nginx nginx

Generate Deployment YAML file (-o yaml). Don’t create it(–dry-run)

kubectl create deployment --image=nginx nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml

Generate Deployment YAML file (-o yaml). Don’t create it(–dry-run) and save it to a file.

kubectl create deployment --image=nginx nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml > nginx-deployment.yaml

Make necessary changes to the file (for example, adding more replicas) and then create the deployment.

kubectl create -f nginx-deployment.yaml

In k8s version 1.19+, we can specify the –replicas option to create a deployment with 4 replicas.

kubectl create deployment --image=nginx nginx --replicas=4 --dry-run=client -o yaml > nginx-deployment.yaml

Imperative Commands with Kubectl

--dry-run: By default as soon as the command is run, the resource will be created. If you simply want to test your command , use the –dry-run=client option. This will not create the resource, instead, tell you whether the resource can be created and if your command is right.

-o yaml: This will output the resource definition in YAML format on screen.

POD Create an NGINX Pod

kubectl run nginx --image=nginx

Generate POD Manifest YAML file (-o yaml). Don’t create it(–dry-run)

kubectl run nginx --image=nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml

Deployment Create a deployment

kubectl create deployment --image=nginx nginx

Generate Deployment YAML file (-o yaml). Don’t create it(–dry-run)

kubectl create deployment --image=nginx nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml

Generate Deployment with 4 Replicas

kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx --replicas=4

You can also scale a deployment using the kubectl scale command.

kubectl scale deployment nginx --replicas=4

Another way to do this is to save the YAML definition to a file and modify

kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx --dry-run=client -o yaml > nginx-deployment.yaml

You can then update the YAML file with the replicas or any other field before creating the deployment.

Service Create a Service named redis-service of type ClusterIP to expose pod redis on port 6379

kubectl expose pod redis --port=6379 --name redis-service --dry-run=client -o yaml

(This will automatically use the pod’s labels as selectors)

kubectl create service clusterip redis --tcp=6379:6379 --dry-run=client -o yaml 

(This will not use the pods labels as selectors, instead it will assume selectors as app=redis. You cannot pass in selectors as an option. So it does not work very well if your pod has a different label set. So generate the file and modify the selectors before creating the service)

Create a Service named nginx of type NodePort to expose pod nginx’s port 80 on port 30080 on the nodes:

kubectl expose pod nginx --type=NodePort --port=80 --name=nginx-service --dry-run=client -o yaml

(This will automatically use the pod’s labels as selectors, but you cannot specify the node port. You have to generate a definition file and then add the node port in manually before creating the service with the pod.)

kubectl create service nodeport nginx --tcp=80:80 --node-port=30080 --dry-run=client -o yaml

(This will not use the pods labels as selectors)

Both the above commands have their own challenges. While one of it cannot accept a selector the other cannot accept a node port. I would recommend going with the kubectl expose command. If you need to specify a node port, generate a definition file using the same command and manually input the nodeport before creating the service.

Reference: https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/generated/kubectl/kubectl-commands

https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/conventions/

Configuration Best Practices

https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/configuration/overview/#container-images

Kubernetes application example tutorials

https://github.com/kubernetes/examples