Kubernetes Fundamentals and Cluster Operations

This  four day, instructor led Kubernetes Fundamentals and Cluster Operations certification is a credential validating expertise in managing systems using Kubernetes – an open-source platform for automating computer application deployment, scaling, and management. It focuses on understanding core concepts like creating and configuring Kubernetes clusters, deploying applications, ensuring high availability, and setting up secure access. This certification is of utmost importance in industries involved with cloud computing and IT operations due to traits like scalability, portability, and extensibility of Kubernetes. It is used to ensure professionals have key practical knowledge and skills to build, deploy, and scale modern applications in the IT environment. At the completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Understand what containers are, why they are used, and how to run and manage them effectively.
• Gain proficiency in building and managing container images and working with image registries.
• Learn the architecture of Kubernetes, including plugin interfaces, and how to interact with clusters using the kubectl CLI.
• Master the creation and management of Kubernetes objects, using YAML for declarative configuration, and managing pods, replicas, and deployments.
• Implement services and manage deployment strategies, including rolling updates and controlling deployments.
• Comprehend the intricacies of Kubernetes networking, including pod-to-pod communication, service discovery, and ingress controllers.
• Manage stateful applications with an understanding of volumes, persistent volume claims, StorageClasses, and StatefulSets.
• Configure dynamic application settings with ConfigMaps, protect sensitive data with Secrets, and schedule batch jobs using Jobs and CronJobs.
• Establish security best practices by enforcing network policies and applying them to secure cluster communications.
• Monitor and log the activity within a Kubernetes environment, using tools like Octant and VMware vRealize® Operations Manager™ for operational insights.
• Perform essential cluster operations such as application onboarding, backups, upgrades, node maintenance with drain and cordon commands, and troubleshoot common issues.
• Get an overview of the VMware Tanzu™ portfolio and understand how it integrates with Kubernetes for enterprise environments.

• Basic understanding of Linux command line operations, as Kubernetes is often run on Linux-based systems.
• Familiarity with basic Linux system administration tasks, such as managing files and system processes.
• Basic knowledge of networking concepts (e.g., IP addressing, ports, firewalls) to grasp Kubernetes networking modules.
• Some experience with software development or system administration is beneficial for comprehending the deployment and management of applications on Kubernetes.
• Awareness of cloud computing and virtualization concepts to appreciate the context in which Kubernetes operates.

• DevOps Engineers
• Software Developers
• System Administrators
• Cloud Engineers
• IT Project Managers
• Technical Leads
• Software Architects
• Security Professionals
• Application Developers
• IT Operations Staff
• Network Engineers who are interested in deployment automation
• Infrastructure Engineers looking to manage containerized applications

1 Course Introduction

• Introductions and objectives

2 Containers

• What and Why containers

• Building images

• Running containers

• Registry and image management

3 Kubernetes Overview

• Kubernetes project

• Plugin interfaces

• Building Kubernetes

• Kubectl CLI

4 Beyond Kubernetes Basics

• Kubernetes objects

• YAML

• Pods, replicas, and deployments

• Services

• Deployment management

• Rolling updates

• Controlling deployments

• Pod and container configurations

5 Kubernetes Networking

• Networking within a pod

• Pod-to-Pod Networking

• Services to Pods

• ClusterIP, NodePort, and LoadBalancer

• Ingress controllers

• Service Discovery via DNS

6 Stateful Applications in Kubernetes

• Stateless versus Stateful

• Volumes

• Persistent volumes claims

• StorageClasses

• StatefulSets

7 Additional Kubernetes Considerations

• Dynamic configuration

• ConfigMaps

• Secrets

• Jobs, CronJobs

8 Security

• Network policy

• Applying a NetworkPolicy

• SecurityContext

• runAsUser/Group

• Service accounts

• Role-based access control

9 Logging and Monitoring

• Logging for various objects

• Sidecar logging

• Node logging

• Audit logging

• Monitoring architecture

• Monitoring solutions

• Octant

• VMware vRealize® Operations Manager™

10 Cluster Operations

• Onboarding new applications

• Backups

• Upgrading

• Drain and cordon commands

• Impact of an upgrade to running applications

• Troubleshooting commands

• VMware Tanzu™ portfolio overview