Related Links

Course GitHub repository: https://github.com/cloudacademy/intro-to-k8s

Introduction to Kubernetes Playground Lab: https://cloudacademy.com/lab/introduction-kubernetes-playground/

Docker Desktop for Mac or Windows: https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop

Minikube: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube

Kubernetes in Docker: https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind

Transcript

- [Avery King] Welcome to the introduction to Kubernetes course. Kubernetes is a production-grade container orchestration system that helps you maximize the benefits of using containers. Kubernetes provides you with a toolbox to automate deploy, scaling, and operating containerized applications in production. This course will teach you all about Kubernetes, including what it is and how to use it. I appreciate your time today and the opportunity to help you in your pursuit of knowledge.

My name is Avery King, and I will be helping you to better understand Kubernetes throughout this course. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to work with Logan Rakai in creating what we will be going through to accomplish this understanding. In the past, I have worked in the security consulting capacity and am an avid pursuer of knowledge. I am an Amazon Web Services solutions architect associate. Please feel free to reach out to me via LinkedIn, or send any feedback that you have on this learning path to our platform. Thank you again for your time today, and let's get started. This course is for anyone deploying containerized applications. It is especially useful if you have an existing system and are evaluating deployment options. Container orchestration skills are relevant for cyber-reliability engineering positions, operations engineers, and other DevOps type roles.

This course is also beneficial for anyone building their full stack portfolio. In this course, we will cover three main topics.

The first is an overview of Kuberentes. These lessons will explain more about what Kubernetes is, why it has been so successful, and how you can start using it for your own container application needs.

The second main topic is deploying containerized applications to Kubernetes. We will get hands on with Kubernetes in these lessons. We'll learn how to deploy a microservice application to kubernetes in a sequence of lessons that build upon each other to make the application more and more production worthy. I've made it as easy as possible to follow along with me at each step of the way. All of the source files I use are available at the courses GitHub repository but I've gone a step farther and made an Introduction to Kubernetes Playground lab here on Cloud Academy. The lab is an exact copy of the environment I used in the production of this course. You don't need to worry about installing anything or freeing up system resources. Just start the lab and you can follow along and get hands-on experience deploying containers on Kubernetes. I've also copied the commands I use into the lab instructions in case you need them.

The third main topic is a relatively short one on the Kubernetes ecosystem. There is so much going on around Kubernetes that I want to highlight a few topics that I think are worth getting a bit of early exposure to. They might help you somewhere along your journey with Kubernetes and I want you to get a sense of the vibrant ecosystem that is in place.

To get the most from this course, you should have experience working with Docker and be comfortable using it at the command line. Try out some of the introductory Docker courses, labs, and learning paths if you need to before diving into Kubernetes. You'll also benefit from an understanding of the YAML file format, although you can still follow along and pick it up as we go. As I mentioned, you can follow along with the course examples, and I'd encourage you to. I have also created a Kubernetes Cluster Playground lab that you can use. I am using Minikube locally on my computer for the demos in this course. I recommend you start the lab after this lesson so everything will be ready to use when we get to the hands-on lesson. However, you can use any Kubernetes cluster you have access to, including clusters you can run locally. For example, Docker Desktop for Mac or Windows, Minikube, or Kubernetes in Docker. Please let me know your thoughts after taking this course so that I can continually improve your experience on our platform. I appreciate constructive criticism or any positive feedback that you may have.

Now let's get to it. We'll begin with an overview of what Kubernetes is and what it can do in the next lesson.