Kubernetes QuickStart: Course Guide
Goals, environment setup, and a practical pace for the series.
This quickstart is built for hands-on practice. The goal is to spin up a cluster quickly, ship a small app, and understand how core objects work together.
Goals
- Use 10-20 core commands to deploy, scale, and roll back
- Read basic YAML:
apiVersion,kind,metadata,spec - Understand how traffic flows from Service to Pod
- Use Namespaces to separate environments
Recommended setup
- Local: Minikube (single node) or K3s (lightweight)
- Team lab: 1 control-plane + 1 worker is enough
- Tools:
kubectl, optionalhelm
Pace
- 1-2 posts per day, always run the commands yourself
- For each topic, change something and roll it back once
- Keep notes of errors; they turn into future checklists
Warm-up checklist
kubectl version --client
kubectl config get-contexts
kubectl get nodes
If you do not have a cluster yet, install Minikube or K3s before continuing.
Practical notes
- Start with a quick inventory:
kubectl get nodes,kubectl get pods -A, andkubectl get events -A. - Compare desired vs. observed state;
kubectl describeusually explains drift or failed controllers. - Keep names, labels, and selectors consistent so Services and controllers can find Pods.
Quick checklist
- The resource matches the intent you described in YAML.
- Namespaces, RBAC, and images are correct for the target environment.
- Health checks and logs are in place before promotion.