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Exercises

By · Reviewed & last updated · Part of Kubernetes Tutorial

Five small kubectl exercises that build muscle memory for the workflows you will use weekly.

Five exercises

EXAMPLE
# 1. Deploy nginx and reach it from your laptop
kubectl create deployment web --image=nginx:1.27
kubectl expose deployment web --port=80 --target-port=80 --type=NodePort
kubectl get svc web -o jsonpath='{.spec.ports[0].nodePort}'
# curl http://<node-ip>:<nodeport>

# 2. Scale up and down
kubectl scale deployment web --replicas=5
kubectl get pods -l app=web -w   # watch them come up
kubectl scale deployment web --replicas=0

# 3. Roll out a new image and observe
kubectl set image deployment/web nginx=nginx:1.27-alpine
kubectl rollout status deployment/web
kubectl rollout history deployment/web

# 4. Bad rollout - roll back
kubectl set image deployment/web nginx=nginx:does-not-exist
kubectl rollout status deployment/web --timeout=30s   # will fail
kubectl rollout undo deployment/web
kubectl rollout status deployment/web

# 5. ConfigMap + env
kubectl create configmap web-cfg \
  --from-literal=GREETING='hello, k8s'

kubectl set env deployment/web --from=configmap/web-cfg
kubectl exec -it deploy/web -- printenv GREETING

# Stretch: write the equivalent YAML and apply with kubectl apply -f .
# Compare 'kubectl get deployment web -o yaml' before and after each step.

Why it matters

kubectl is a learnable surface. The verbs (get, describe, logs, exec, apply, rollout) cover 90 percent of day-to-day work. Get fluent with those before reaching for Helm, Kustomize, or operators.

Tip: Tweak the snippet with Try it Yourself », then sit the quiz at the bottom of the page.

Example

Example
# Fill in: kubectl ____ -f deployment.yaml
Try it Yourself »

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