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Kubernetes Learning Roadmap

The Kubernetes Learning Roadmap is constantly updated with new content, so you can be sure that you're getting the latest and most up-to-date information available.

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Kubernetes Learning Prerequisites

If you want to learn Kubernetes, it's important to start with the basics. That means brushing up on your IT fundamentals first because Kubernetes builds on those. Once you have a good grasp of the basics, learning Kubernetes can be fun and easy. So don't skip the fundamentals – take some time to study them before diving into Kubernetes!

• Learn Container concepts^{Complete Guide}
• Learn Contianer Management Tool - Docker ^{Complete Guide}
• Understand Distributed system ^Blog
• Understand Authentication & Authorization ^Blog
• Learn Basics of Key Value Store^Blog
• Learn the basics of REST API^Blog
• Learn YAML^Blog
• Understand Service Discovery ^Blog
• Learn Networking Basics
  • L4 & L7 Layers (OSI Layers)^Blog
  • SSL/TLS^Blog
  • Network Proxy Basics^Blog
  • DNS^Blog
  • IPTables^Video
  • Software Defined Networking (SDN)^Blog

Learn Kubernetes Architecture

The following image shows the high-level kubernetes architecture and how external services connect to the cluster.

Refer to the following documents to learn the Kubernetes Architecture.

• Kubernetes Architecture Explained^Blog
• Kubernetes Garbage Collection^Doc

$1000+ Free Cloud Credits to Launch Clusters

Launching large clusters in the cloud can be costly. So utilize the available cloud credits to practice deploying clusters as if you work on a real project. All cloud platforms offer managed Kubernetes services.

• GKE -Google Cloud $300 free credits^{Cloud Platform}
• EKS - AWS $300 free POC credits^{Cloud Platform}
• DO Kubernetes - Digital Ocean – $200 free credits^{Cloud Platform}
• Linode Kubernetes Engine - Linode Cloud – $100 Free credits^{Cloud Platform}
• Vultr Kubernetes Engine - Vultr Cloud - $250 Free Credits^{Cloud Platform}
• AKS - Azure Cloud Hosting - $200 Free Credits^{Cloud Platform}

Learn Kubernetes Cluster Setup & Administration

As DevOps engineers, gaining a thorough understanding of each component and cluster configuration is crucial to work in production environments. Though there are various methods for deploying a Kubernetes cluster, it is advisable to learn how to set up multi-node clusters from scratch. This allows you to gain knowledge on concepts such as High Availability, Scaling, and Networking and simulates a real-world project.

Additionally, mastering the configuration of multi-node clusters can be beneficial for interviews and building confidence in your abilities. The following are recommended ways to establish a Kubernetes cluster.

• Kubernetes the Hard Way^Github
• Kubeadm Cluster Setup^Blog
• Minikube Development Cluster ^Blog
• Kind Development Cluster^{Official Documentation}
• Vagrant Automated Cluster^Github

Following are some of the important cluster administrative tasks

• Deploy Kubernetes Dashboard^{Official Doc}
• Important Kubernetes Cluster Configurations^Blog
• Kubeadm Cluster Upgrade^Blog
• etcd backup using etcdctl^Blog
• Run CIS benchmarks using kube-bench^Blog

Understand KubeConfig File

As a DevOps engineer, it is important to become familiar with the Kubeconfig file. It is crucial for tasks such as setting up cluster authentication for CI/CD systems, providing cluster access to developers, and more.

A Kubeconfig file is a YAML file that stores information and credentials for connecting to a Kubernetes cluster. It is used by command-line tools such as kubectl and other client libraries to authenticate with the cluster and interact with its resources.

The Kubeconfig file can be used to store information for multiple clusters and users, allowing users to switch between different clusters and contexts easily. It is an important tool for managing access to and interacting with Kubernetes clusters.

Refer the following document to learn about Kubeconfig File in detail.

• Kubeconfig File Explained With Practical Examples ^Blog

Understand Kubernetes Objects And Resources

In Kubernetes, an object is a persisted entity in the cluster that represents a desired state of the system. It is created and managed by the Kubernetes API server and is stored in the etcd key-value store. Examples of Kubernetes objects include pods, services, and deployments.

Here is an example of a Pod Object

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: nginx
spec:
  containers:
  - name: nginx
    image: nginx:1.14.2
    ports:
    - containerPort: 80

A resource is a representation of a Kubernetes object that is exposed by the Kubernetes API. It is a way for clients to interact with and manipulate objects in the cluster.

A resource refers to a specific API URL used to access an object. Resources are typically accessed through the Kubernetes API using HTTP verbs such as GET, POST, and DELETE. For instance, the /api/v1/pods resource can be used to retrieve a list of v1 Pod objects. Additionally, an individual v1 Pod object can be obtained from the /api/v1/namespaces/namespace-name/pods/pod-name resource.

Detailed Blog: Kubernetes Objects & Resources Explained

Learn About the Object YAML Structure

Every object in Kubernetes is represented/created using a YAML file. Kubernetes has many native objects (20+), however, every object YAML follows a hierarchical structure as shown below.

apiVersion: <API version>
kind: <Kind of object>
metadata:
  name:  <Name of the object>
spec:
  <Specification of the object>>

Here is what each section means.

• apiVersion: Specifies the Kubernetes API version used for the object.
• kind: Defines the type of Kubernetes object being created or modified.
• metadata: Contains information about the object.
• spec: Defines the desired state of the object, including its configuration and behavior. Under spec, there could be many subfields depending upon the object type.

The structure remains the same for all native Kubernetes objects. While learning about each object, you can check the hierarchy, and you will be able to relate.

Learn About Pod & Associated Resources

• Begin by understanding what is a Pod
• Understand the basic building blocks for Pod YAML

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Learn About Pod Dependent Objects

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Deploy End to End Application on Kubernetes

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Learn About Securing Kubernetes Cluster

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Learn About Kubernetes Operator Pattern

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Learn Important Kubernetes Configurations

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Learn Kubernetes Best Practices

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Learn Kubernetes Logging & Monitoring

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Learn Kubernetes Production Best Practices

• Production Readiness Checklist
• Learn About 12 Factor Apps ^{Official Guide}
• Scheduling 300,000 Kubernetes Pods in Production Daily ^Video
• Recycling Kubernetes Nodes - Yelp^Blog

Real-World Kubernetes Case Studies

If you do not have real-world Kubernetes experience, it is better to read case studies of other companies using kubernetes.

• List of Kubernetes User Case Studies^{Official Case Studies}
• How OpenAI Scaled Kubernetes to 7,500 Nodes^Blog
• Testing 500 Pods Per Node^Blog
• Dynamic Kubernetes Cluster Scaling at Airbnb^Blog
• Scaling 100 to 10,000 pods on Amazon EKS^Blog
• Kubernetes Infrastructure At Medium^Blog

Kubernetes Failures/Learnings

• Learn From Kubernetes Failure Stories ^{List of Blogs}
• Reddit: The Pi-Day Outage^Blog
• How a Production Outage Was Caused Using Kubernetes Pod Priorities^Blog

Learn Kubernetes Templating Tools

Helm and Kustomize are both tools that are used to manage Kubernetes manifests. They are similar in many ways but have some key differences.

Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes that allows users to easily install, manage, and upgrade applications on a Kubernetes cluster. It uses a concept called "charts" which are pre-configured sets of Kubernetes resources that can be easily deployed, upgraded, and rolled back.

Kustomize, on the other hand, is a tool that allows users to customize and configure existing Kubernetes manifests. It uses a concept called "patches" which can be applied to existing manifests to customize them for different environments and use cases. Unlike Helm, Kustomize does not include built-in support for versioning and rollback, and does not have a concept of "packages" or "repositories".

• Learn to Create Helm Chart From Scratch^{Hands-On Blog}
• Getting started with Kuztomize^{Hands-On Blog}

Kubernetes Deployment Tools (GitOps Based)

GitOps is a technical practice that uses Git as a single source of truth for declarative infrastructure and application code.

• Guide to GitOps^{Official Doc}

Some popular GitOps based tools for deploying applications to Kubernetes clusters are:

• Argo CD^{Official Doc}

• Argo Rollouts^{Official Doc}

• FluxCD^{Official Doc}

• JenkinsX^{Official Doc}

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