Build Your First Kubernetes Cluster: A 15-Step Hands-On Lab

Deploy, debug, scale, expose, update, and roll back apps using Minikube and kubectl — with bonus challenges included

Chay published in Kubernetes

2026-03-18 435 words 3 minutes

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Contents

Kubernetes Hands-On Mini Lab

Goal

By the end, you’ll know how to:

Create & manage workloads
Debug pods
Expose services
Scale & update apps
Work with namespaces & configs

Step 0: Setup

Start a cluster (example with Minikube)

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minikube start

Verify:

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kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes

Step 1: Create a Namespace

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kubectl create namespace lab
kubectl get namespaces

Use it:

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kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=lab

Step 2: Create a Deployment

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kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx

Check:

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kubectl get deployments
kubectl get pods
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>

Step 3: Inspect & Debug

View logs

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kubectl logs <pod-name>

Execute inside container

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kubectl exec -it <pod-name> -- /bin/bash

Inside container:

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curl localhost
exit

Step 4: Expose the App

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kubectl expose deployment nginx --type=NodePort --port=80
kubectl get svc

Access it:

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minikube service nginx

Step 5: Scale the Application

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kubectl scale deployment nginx --replicas=3
kubectl get pods

Step 6: Update the Application

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kubectl set image deployment/nginx nginx=nginx:latest
kubectl rollout status deployment/nginx

Check history:

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kubectl rollout history deployment/nginx

Rollback:

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kubectl rollout undo deployment/nginx

Step 7: Apply YAML Configuration

Create file nginx.yaml:

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apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-yaml
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx-yaml
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx-yaml
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx

Apply:

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kubectl apply -f nginx.yaml
kubectl get deployments

Step 8: Edit & Patch

Edit live config

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kubectl edit deployment nginx-yaml

Patch replicas

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kubectl patch deployment nginx-yaml -p '{"spec":{"replicas":4}}'

Step 9: ConfigMap Practice

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kubectl create configmap app-config --from-literal=env=dev
kubectl get configmaps
kubectl describe configmap app-config

Step 10: Check Permissions

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kubectl auth can-i create pods

Step 11: Resource Usage (if metrics installed)

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kubectl top pods
kubectl top nodes

Step 12: Port Forwarding

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kubectl port-forward deployment/nginx 8080:80

Open:

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http://localhost:8080

Step 13: Copy Files

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kubectl cp <pod-name>:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf ./nginx.conf

Step 14: Explore APIs

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kubectl api-resources
kubectl explain deployment

Step 15: Cleanup

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kubectl delete namespace lab

Or:

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kubectl delete all --all

Bonus Challenges (Important!)

Try these on your own:

Challenge 1

Create a deployment with:

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kubectl create deployment redis --image=redis

Then expose it.

Challenge 2

Break something:

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kubectl set image deployment/nginx nginx=invalid-image

Then debug using:

kubectl describe
kubectl logs

Challenge 3

Filter pods:

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kubectl get pods -l app=nginx

What You Just Practiced

You used:

create, apply, get, describe, delete
logs, exec, port-forward
scale, rollout
config, auth
edit, patch
api-resources, explain

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