Getting Started with Kubernetes

4 minute read

In this chapter, we’ll set up your local Kubernetes environment using Minikube and run your very first cluster. By the end, you’ll have a working K8s cluster on your laptop and will have deployed your first application.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have:

  • A computer with at least 8 GB RAM and 20 GB free disk space
  • A hypervisor or container runtime installed (Docker is recommended)
  • Admin/sudo access on your machine

What is Minikube?

Minikube is a tool that runs a single-node Kubernetes cluster on your local machine. It’s perfect for learning, development, and testing.

Minikube supports multiple drivers:

  • Docker (recommended) — runs K8s inside a Docker container
  • VirtualBox — runs K8s inside a VM
  • HyperKit (macOS) — lightweight hypervisor
  • Hyper-V (Windows) — built-in Windows hypervisor

Step 1 — Install kubectl

kubectl is the command-line tool for interacting with Kubernetes clusters. Install it first.

macOS

# Using Homebrew
brew install kubectl

# Verify installation
kubectl version --client

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Download the latest release
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"

# Install
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

# Verify
kubectl version --client

Windows

# Using Chocolatey
choco install kubernetes-cli

# Verify
kubectl version --client

You should see output similar to:

Client Version: v1.31.0
Kustomize Version: v5.4.2

Step 2 — Install Minikube

macOS

# Using Homebrew
brew install minikube

Linux

curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube

Windows

# Using Chocolatey
choco install minikube

Verify the installation:

minikube version

Step 3 — Start Your First Cluster

Start a Kubernetes cluster with a single command:

minikube start

You should see output similar to:

😄  minikube v1.33.0 on Darwin (arm64)
✨  Automatically selected the docker driver
📌  Using Docker Desktop driver with root privileges
👍  Starting control plane node minikube in cluster minikube
🚜  Pulling base image ...
🔥  Creating docker container (CPE) ...
🐳  Preparing Kubernetes v1.30.0 on Docker 26.0.1 ...
    ▪ Generating certificates and keys ...
    ▪ Booting up control plane ...
    ▪ Configuring RBAC rules ...
🔗  Configuring bridge CNI (Container Networking Interface) ...
🔎  Verifying Kubernetes components...
    ▪ Using image gcr.io/k8s-minikube/storage-provisioner:v5
🌟  Enabled addons: default-storageclass, storage-provisioner
🏄  Done! kubectl is now configured to use "minikube" cluster

Congratulations! You now have a running Kubernetes cluster.

Step 4 — Verify the Cluster

Run these commands to check your cluster status:

# Check cluster info
kubectl cluster-info

# Check nodes
kubectl get nodes

# Check all system pods
kubectl get pods -n kube-system

Expected output for kubectl get nodes:

NAME       STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
minikube   Ready    control-plane   60s   v1.30.0

Step 5 — Deploy Your First Application

Let’s deploy a simple nginx web server to your cluster:

# Create a deployment
kubectl create deployment hello-k8s --image=nginx

# Check the deployment
kubectl get deployments

# Check the pod
kubectl get pods

You should see:

NAME                         READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
hello-k8s-6d4f7b8c9-x2wlp   1/1     Running   0          30s

Now expose it as a service so you can access it:

# Expose the deployment as a service
kubectl expose deployment hello-k8s --type=NodePort --port=80

# Get the URL
minikube service hello-k8s --url

Open the URL in your browser — you should see the nginx welcome page. You just deployed your first application on Kubernetes!

Step 6 — Explore the Dashboard

Minikube comes with the Kubernetes Dashboard built-in:

minikube dashboard

This opens a web-based UI where you can visually explore your cluster — Pods, Deployments, Services, and more.

Step 7 — Clean Up

When you’re done experimenting:

# Delete the service and deployment
kubectl delete service hello-k8s
kubectl delete deployment hello-k8s

# Stop the cluster (preserves state)
minikube stop

# Delete the cluster entirely
minikube delete

Useful Minikube Commands

Command Description
minikube start Start the cluster
minikube stop Stop the cluster (preserves state)
minikube delete Delete the cluster
minikube status Check cluster status
minikube dashboard Open the K8s dashboard
minikube ssh SSH into the Minikube node
minikube addons list List available addons
minikube addons enable <name> Enable an addon (e.g., metrics-server)

Useful kubectl Commands

Command Description
kubectl get nodes List all nodes
kubectl get pods List pods in current namespace
kubectl get pods -A List pods in all namespaces
kubectl get services List services
kubectl describe pod <name> Detailed info about a pod
kubectl logs <pod-name> View pod logs
kubectl exec -it <pod> -- /bin/sh Open a shell inside a pod

Summary

In this chapter, you:

  • ✅ Installed kubectl and Minikube
  • ✅ Started your first Kubernetes cluster
  • ✅ Deployed an nginx application
  • ✅ Exposed it as a Service and accessed it in the browser
  • ✅ Explored the Kubernetes Dashboard

What’s Next?

Now that you have a working environment, it’s time to understand how Kubernetes works under the hood. In the next chapter, we’ll explore the Kubernetes Architecture — the control plane, worker nodes, and the components that make it all work.

Next: Kubernetes Architecture →

public class Car {
  public static void main(String[] args) {
    System.out.println("Hello World");
  }
}

Output:

Hello World

Updated:

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