Beyond Kubernetes - An overview of the most popular Kubernetes-based applications that you should know about now
Tuesday, 9:00 AM MDT - Westminster II
What you will learn:
Kubernetes has won the war when it comes to running and managing containerized workloads. It is essentially the operating system for containers. But beyond Kubernetes itself, there are a large set of community applications and tools that can greatly extend its value and integrate directly with it.
In this full-day workshop, author, trainer, and DevOps leader Brent Laster will provide you with an introduction AND hands-on experience with these various applications and tools. You'll learn not only what they are and how they interact with Kubernetes but get to experience actually using them to accomplish a task.
We'll cover orchestration with Helm & Kustomize, service meshes with Istio, CI/CD pipelines with Tekton, GitOps with ArgoCD and, if time allows - creating and managing Custom Resources in Kubernetes with the Operator pattern.
The planned workshop outline follows (subject to change).
Class outline
Part 1: Introduction and brief refresher/level-set on core concepts in Kubernetes. Agenda for class and quick overview of technologies.
Part 2: What is Helm? Basic concepts and function. Helm charts.
Lab 1: Working with Helm - in this lab, we'll compare a Helm chart against standard Kubernetes manifests and then deploy the Helm chart into Kubernetes
Part 3: Using custom values and functions in Helm charts
Lab 2: Templating with Helm - in this lab, we'll see how to change hard-coded values into templates, override values, and upgrade releases through Helm
Part 4: What is Kustomize? Basic concepts and function. How does Kustomize differ from Helm?
Lab 3: Run a basic Kustomize example - in this lab, we'll see how to make a set of manifests usable with Kustomize to add additional changes without modifying the original files
Part 5: Working with variants, overlays, and bases to create different versions of K8s manifests
Lab 4 - Creating Variants - in this lab, we'll see how to create production and stage variants of our simple application
Part 6: Service mesh leveraging Istio - what is it? How does it work? When should you use it?
Lab 5: Working with Istio - in this lab, we'll look at Istio and see how we can leverage some of its functionality with the sidecar containerss to do traffic-shifting, fault injection and more.
Part 7: CD with Tekton - defining Tasks as building blocks. What is Tekton and what are the advantages and disadvantages of it?
Lab 6: Working with Tekton Tasks - in this lab, we'll see how to run and use a basic Tekton Task.
Part 8: CICD with Tekton Pipelines - explaining how tasks are combined in Pipelines and how those can be used for CD
Lab 7: Creating Tekton Pipelines - in this lab, we'll see how to create a Tekton Pipeline to orchestrate our tasks and run them together.
Part 9: What is GitOps? How and why is it used? Intro to ArgoCD.
Lab 8: Getting Started with Argo CD.
Part 10: How to manage Custom Resources in Kubernetes with Operators. What is a custom resource, a custom resource definition, a control loop, and an operator? When do you need/use custom resources and operators?
Lab 9: Kubernetes Operators - in this lab, we'll get to install and work with a simple Kubernetes operator.
Workshop Requirements
This session is a workshop. Please come prepared.
Thank you for signing up for the Beyond Kubernetes workshop. We're excited that you'll be joining us and want to help you get the most out of your session. With that in mind, please read through the preparation steps below and in the referenced docs to ensure you are ready to go on the day of the session. ( You MUST have one of the environments - the pre-configured VM or the user-supplied option setup and ready to go prior to the workshop.)
The WIFI setup at the conference location will NOT allow you to do all the prep at that location, so you need to ensure that if you are attending at the location, the setup of the environment is done prior to your arrival where you can download large images and come to the workshop without needing to do that.
This workshop is a combination of lecture and hands-on labs. It assumes you have a basic working knowledge of Kubernetes. (There will not be an opportunity to provide substantial foundational Kubernetes knowledge given the time constraints.)
To do the labs, you will need a modern laptop to use during the workshop. Since the workshop will be all day, you should make sure to bring your charger.
In advance of the workshop, you should ensure that your laptop is setup to use one of the environments below - either the virtual machine image with VirtualBox or an environment that you configure yourself with Docker, Kubernetes, Helm, Tekton, ArgoCD and Istio as outlined.
TO-DO:
- Ensure that you have a laptop (with charger) that is powerful enough to run either VirtualBox or an environment you setup according to the specifications.
- Prior to coming to the class, setup either the VirtualBox environment or the User-supplied environment. Details are below. You only need one - not both.
To setup the pre-configured environment with the virtual machine and VirtualBox, follow the instructions in https://github.com/skilldocs/beyond-k8s/blob/main/beyond-k8s-setup-vm-environment-option.pdf
Or to setup the user-supplied environment with your own cluster, follow the instructions at https://github.com/skilldocs/beyond-k8s/blob/main/beyond-k8s-setup-user-supplied-environment-option.pdf
About Brent Laster
Hi, I'm Brent Laster - a global trainer and book author, experienced corporate technology developer and leader, and founder and president of Tech Skills Transformations LLC. I've been working with and presenting at NFJS events for many years now and it is always exciting and interesting.
Through my decades in programming and management,I've always tried to make time to learn and develop both technical and leadership skills and share them with others Regardless of the topic or technology, my belief is that there is no substitute for the excitement and sense of potential that come from providing others with the knowledge they need to help them accomplish their goals.
In my spare time, I hang out with my wife Anne-Marie, 4 children and 2 small dogs in Cary, North Carolina where I design and conduct trainings and write books. You can find me on LinkedIn (linkedin.com/in/brentlaster), Twitter (@brentclaster) or through my company's website at www.getskillsnow.com.
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