About the Book

This is an up-to-date book about Kubernetes. It's relatively short, and it's straight-to-the-point.

Let me be clear about this, as I don't want to mislead people... This is not a deep dive, and it does not attempt to cover everything. This is an easy-to-read book that covers the fundamental and important parts of Kubernetes.

Paperback

A paperback version is available in selected Amazon markets. I have no control over which markets Amazon makes the paperback available in — if it was my choice, I'd make it available everywhere.

I've opted for a high-quality, full-color paperback that I think you'll love. That means no cheap paper, and no black-and-white diagrams from the 1990s.

Audio Book

I plan to make an audio version of the book available via Audible in April 2019. There will be minor tweaks to the examples and labs so that they are easier to follow in an audio book.

eBook and Kindle Editions

You can get a Kindle edition from Amazon, which also gets free updates. However, Kindle is notoriously bad at delivering updates. If you have problems getting updates to your Kindle, contact Kindle Support and they will resolve the issue.

Feedback

I'd love it if you'd give the book a review on Amazon. Writing technology books is lonely work. I literally spent months making this book as great as possible, so a couple of minutes of your time for a review would be magic. No pressure though – I won't hunt you down at the next KubeCon if you don't.

Why Should Anyone Read This Book or Care about Kubernetes?

Kubernetes is white-hot, and Kubernetes skills are in high demand. So, if you want to push ahead with your career and work with a technology that's shaping the future, you need to read this book. If you don't care about your career and are fine being left behind, don't read it. It's the truth.

Should I Buy the Book If I've Already Watched Your Video Training Courses?

Kubernetes is Kubernetes. So, yes, there's obviously some similar content between my books and video courses. But reading books and watching videos are totally different experiences. In my opinion, videos are more fun, but books are easier to write notes in and flick through when you're trying to find something.

If I was you, I'd watch the videos and get the book. They complement each other and learning via multiple methods is a proven strategy.

Final word: take a look at the reviews my videos and books have. That should reassure you they'll be great investments.

Versions of the Book

Kubernetes is developing fast! As a result, the value of a book like this is inversely proportional to how old it is. In other words, the older any Kubernetes book is, the less valuable it is. With this in mind, I'm committed to updating the book at least once per year. And when I say "update," I mean real updates – every word and concept is reviewed, and every example is tested and updated. I'm 100% committed to making this book the best Kubernetes book in the world.

If at least one update a year seems like a lot... welcome to the new normal.

We no longer live in a world where a 2-year-old technology book is valuable. In fact, I question the value of a 1-year-old book on a topic that's developing as fast as Kubernetes. As an author, I'd love to write a book that was useful for 5 years. But that's not the world we live in. Again... welcome to the new normal.

• Version 4 March 2019. All content updated and all examples tested on the latest versions of Kubernetes. Added Chapter 7, Kubernetes Storage. Added a new real-world security section with two new chapters.
• Version 3 November 2018. Re-ordered some chapters for better flow. Removed the ReplicaSets chapter and shifted that content to an improved Chapter 5, Kubernetes Deployments. Added a new chapter giving an overview of other major concepts not covered in dedicated chapters.
• Version 2.2 January 2018. Fixed a few typos, added several clarifications, and added a couple of new diagrams.
• Version 2.1 December 2017. Fixed a few typos and updated Figures 6.11 and Figure 6.12 to include missing labels.
• Version 2. October 2017. Added new chapter on ReplicaSets. Added significant changes to Chapter 4, Kubernetes Pods. Fixed typos and made a few other minor updates to existing chapters.
• Version 1. First version.

About the Authors

Nigel Poulton is a techoholic who spends his life creating books and training videos on the latest and greatest cloud technologies. He's the author of best-selling books on Docker and Kubernetes, as well as the most popular online training videos on the same topics. He's a Docker Captain. Prior to this, Nigel has held various infrastructure roles for large enterprises (mainly banks). When he's not playing with technology, he's dreaming about it. When he's not dreaming about it, he's reading and watching sci-fi. He wishes he lived in the future so he could explore spacetime, the universe, and tons of other mind-blowing stuff. He likes cars, football (soccer), and food. He has a fabulous wife and three fabulous children.

I'd like to thank Pushkar for his contributions to the security chapters. Pushkar approached me at KubeCon and asked if he could contribute some content on real-world security. Collaborating on content isn't something I've done before, and I tried to tell him "no thanks" (I'm quite disorganized and can be hard to work with). However, Pushkar was keen, so we made it happen. To be clear, the technical content for the security chapters is all Pushkar's. I just tweaked the writing style so that the book has a consistent feel.

Pushkar Joglekar is currently working as a defensive security engineer at the cross-roads of containers, applied machine learning, and distributed systems. In the last few years, he has built multiple "secure by design" production container deployments for a Fortune 100 company. When not securing containers, he spends his time exploring neighborhood bike trails and capturing beautiful sunsets with his camera while sipping home-made masala ginger chai. He lives with his wonderful wife, who happens to be the real engineer among them.

Learning Objectives

• Explore cluster-level and node-level isolation and runtime isolation options
• Use Kubernetes Deployments for self-healing, scaling, and updating apps
• Manage Kubernetes clusters with kubectl
• Write a Container Storage Interface (CSI) plugin to work across multiple orchestrators
• Use Kubernetes features such as Jons and CronJobs in your apps
• Identify vulnerabilities and learn measures to prevent and mitigate them

Audience

If you want to be more comfortable using Kubernetes to orchestrate your containerized applications, this is the ideal book for you. To easily grasp the concepts explained in this book, you must be familiar with Docker and containers.

Approach

This book is an easy reference to learning how Kubernetes orchestrates your containerized applications. The book gradually progresses to advanced topics, with each chapter building upon the concepts explained in the previous chapter. It also contains illustrations that enable you to easily understand a concept.

Dedications Section

• Education is about inspiring and creating opportunities. I hope this book, and my video training courses, inspire you and create some great new opportunities!
• A huge thanks to my family for putting up with me. I'm a geek who thinks he's software running on midrange biological hardware. I know it's not easy living with me.
• Thanks as well to everyone who watches my Pluralsight and A Cloud Guru training videos. I love connecting with you and appreciate all the feedback I've had over the years. That is what inspired me to write this book. I think you'll love it, and I hope it helps drive your career forward.