Deploy a Microservices Application to a Kubernetes Cluster

Description

This project demonstrates how to deploy the Online Boutique demo application, a cloud-native microservices application, into a Kubernetes cluster hosted on Linode.

Before you begin, it’s important to understand the following:

• Which microservices are included in the deployment
• How the services are connected
• What dependencies each service has (e.g., databases, third-party services)
• Which microservice is publicly accessible (i.e., the entry point to the cluster)
• A visual diagram of service interactions is recommended for better understanding

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Setup

Prerequisites

• A Linode account with access to create a Kubernetes cluster

• Minikube installed and running on your local machine for local testing

  • Refer to the Minikube official documentation for installation instructions

  • Minikube requires either a container runtime (e.g., Docker) or a virtual machine manager (e.g., VirtualBox). See the Minikube drivers documentation for details

  • To start Minikube with Docker as the preferred driver:

    minikube start --driver=docker

• kubectl installed for interacting with both local and cloud-based Kubernetes clusters

  Note: kubectl is included with Minikube by default, so a separate installation may not be necessary

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Deployment Steps

1. Create Deployment and Service YAMLs (Optional)

• A ready-to-use config.yaml file is already provided for deployment
• If needed, you can use the included skeleton file config_skeleton.yaml to create custom Deployments and Services for each microservice
• Make sure to define correct resource, labels, ports, and dependencies

2. Launch a Kubernetes Cluster on Linode

• Log in to your Linode account
• Create a new Kubernetes cluster:
  • Choose a name
  • Select your nearest region
  • Add 3 small nodes (shared CPU)
• Once the cluster is ready and nodes are running, download the kubeconfig file (used to authenticate and connect to your cluster)

3. Configure Access to the Cluster

• Set the proper permissions on the kubeconfig file:

  chmod 400 <your-kubernetesconfig-file.yaml>
  

• Export the kubeconfig file as an environment variable:

  export KUBECONFIG=<your-kubernetesconfig-file.yaml>

• Test the connection:

  kubectl get nodes
  

4. Deploy Microservices to the Cluster

• Create a namespace:

  kubectl create namespace microservices
  

• Deploy the microservices into the namespace:

  kubectl apply -f config.yaml -n microservices
  

5. Verify the Deployment

• Check that all pods are running:

  kubectl get pods -n microservices
  

• Check available services:

  kubectl get svc -n microservices
  

6. Access the Application in a Browser

• Go to your Linode Kubernetes dashboard
• Choose a public IP from one of the worker nodes
• Use the assigned NodePort (30007) to access the application:

  http://<worker-node-ip>:30007
  

Screenshots