3: Getting Kubernetes
This chapter shows a couple of ways to get a Kubernetes cluster you can use to follow the hands-on examples throughout the book.
You’ll learn how to:
- Create a Kubernetes cluster on your laptop (free)
- Create a hosted Kubernetes cluster in the cloud (costs money)
There are lots of ways to get Kubernetes, and we can’t cover them all. However, I’ve hand-picked two that are easy and will allow you to follow most of the examples in the book. You can use other clusters, but some of the hands-on examples may have small and subtle differences.
The laptop example builds a single-node Kubernetes cluster in Docker Desktop. I recommend this option for most readers, as it’s free1, and you can follow almost all the examples.
The cloud example builds a production-grade Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) cluster in the Google Cloud. It’s easy to build and work with, but it costs money! Only use this option if you are okay with spending money...
