Introduction
Kubernetes (K8s) is a powerful orchestration tool for managing containerized applications. In this blog, we'll walk through setting up a Kubernetes cluster from scratch and cover key components such as:
- Setting up a Kubernetes Cluster
- Installing the Admin Dashboard
- Deploying Services
- Implementing Health Monitoring
- Configuring Load Balancing
- Setting up a Service Mesh (Istio)
- Deploying Kafka and Redis
- Scaling and managing workloads
Let's dive in! 🚀
1. Setting Up a Kubernetes Cluster
Before deploying applications, we need a Kubernetes cluster. We can set up a cluster using kubeadm, Minikube, or a managed service like AWS EKS, Google GKE, or Azure AKS.
Option 1: Using Minikube (For Local Testing)
Minikube is ideal for local development and testing.
Step 1: Install Minikube and Kubectl
# Install Minikube
curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube
# Install kubectl
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/
Step 2: Start Minikube
minikube start --driver=docker
Step 3: Verify Cluster Status
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes
Option 2: Using kubeadm (For Production)
If you need a multi-node cluster for production:
Step 1: Install Dependencies
sudo apt update && sudo apt install -y apt-transport-https curl
curl -s https://packages.cloud.google.com/apt/doc/apt-key.gpg | sudo apt-key add -
sudo apt-add-repository "deb http://apt.kubernetes.io/ kubernetes-xenial main"
sudo apt install -y kubelet kubeadm kubectl
Step 2: Initialize the Kubernetes Cluster
sudo kubeadm init
Step 3: Configure kubectl
mkdir -p $HOME/.kube
sudo cp -i /etc/kubernetes/admin.conf $HOME/.kube/config
sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) $HOME/.kube/config
Step 4: Join Worker Nodes
Run the join command (provided in kubeadm init output) on worker nodes.
2. Installing the Kubernetes Admin Dashboard
The Kubernetes Dashboard provides a web-based UI for managing your cluster.
Step 1: Deploy the Dashboard
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/dashboard/v2.7.0/aio/deploy/recommended.yaml
Step 2: Create an Admin User
Create a file admin-user.yaml:
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
name: admin-user
namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
name: admin-user
roleRef:
apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
kind: ClusterRole
name: cluster-admin
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
name: admin-user
namespace: kubernetes-dashboard
Apply it:
kubectl apply -f admin-user.yaml
Step 3: Get the Admin Token
kubectl -n kubernetes-dashboard create token admin-user
Step 4: Access the Dashboard
kubectl proxy
Then open:
http://localhost:8001/api/v1/namespaces/kubernetes-dashboard/services/https:kubernetes-dashboard:/proxy/
3. Deploying a Service in Kubernetes
Create a simple Nginx deployment.
Step 1: Create a Deployment YAML
Save the following to nginx-deployment.yaml:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: nginx-deployment
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: nginx
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: nginx
spec:
containers:
- name: nginx
image: nginx:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 80
Apply it:
kubectl apply -f nginx-deployment.yaml
Step 2: Expose as a Service
kubectl expose deployment nginx-deployment --type=NodePort --port=80
4. Health Monitoring in Kubernetes
Kubernetes provides liveness and readiness probes to monitor application health.
Modify your deployment:
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /
port: 80
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 10
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /
port: 80
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 10
5. Load Balancing with Ingress
Deploy an NGINX Ingress Controller for load balancing:
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/main/deploy/static/provider/cloud/deploy.yaml
6. Deploying Istio Service Mesh
curl -L https://istio.io/downloadIstio | sh -
cd istio-1.*
export PATH=$PWD/bin:$PATH
istioctl install --set profile=demo -y
Enable Istio on your namespace:
kubectl label namespace default istio-injection=enabled
7. Deploying Kafka in Kubernetes
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bitnami/charts/main/bitnami/kafka/templates/kafka.yaml
8. Deploying Redis in Kubernetes
kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/bitnami/charts/main/bitnami/redis/templates/redis.yaml
Conclusion
You've now successfully set up:
✅ A Kubernetes cluster
✅ The Admin Dashboard
✅ Service deployment
✅ Health monitoring
✅ Load balancing
✅ A service mesh with Istio
✅ Kafka and Redis
Now you have a fully functional Kubernetes environment for running microservices at scale! 🚀🔥
Would you like additional details or troubleshooting tips? Let me know in the comments! 😊
Top comments (0)