🚀 Deploying NGINX on Minikube with Rolling Updates — A Hands-on DevOps Project
By Raees Qazi | DevOps Engineer | Learner | Mentor | Creator
In today’s hands-on session, we’ll deploy an NGINX server using Minikube and understand how Kubernetes Deployments help maintain the desired state of our Pods. We’ll also perform a Rolling Update to upgrade the NGINX version without any downtime.
📂 Project Hierarchy:
Minikube → Namespace → Deployment/Pods → Service → Rolling Update📎 Project GitHub Repository:
👉 https://github.com/LondheShubham153/aws-eks-devops-best-practices
Just clone it, follow along, and practice!
🧠 Before We Start — Some Key Concepts
1. 🔁 Reverse Proxy
A reverse proxy sits in front of your web servers and handles client requests. Instead of showing an error when a backend server fails, a reverse proxy can display a friendly message or redirect traffic elsewhere.
Example:
When you visit an Instagram profile that doesn’t exist, you see: “Sorry, this page isn’t available.”
That’s a reverse proxy handling your request gracefully.
2. 📦 ReplicaSet vs Deployment
Both ReplicaSet and Deployment manage Pods, but:
- ReplicaSet: Maintains the number of Pods but doesn’t support rolling updates.
- Deployment: Provides all ReplicaSet features plus the ability to do rolling updates — a powerful way to update applications with zero downtime.
Rolling Update Workflow:
If you have 3 running Pods and update the Deployment, Kubernetes will replace them one-by-one, ensuring your app remains available throughout the update.
🔧 Let’s Start the Project Step-by-Step
1️⃣ Create Project Directory and Clone Repo
mkdir k8s-practice
cd k8s-practice
git clone https://github.com/LondheShubham153/aws-eks-devops-best-practices
cd aws-eks-devops-best-practices/01-deplyment2️⃣ Create Namespace and Deploy NGINX
kubectl create namespace eks-sample-app
kubectl apply -f 01-deployment.yaml
kubectl get pods -n eks-sample-app3️⃣ Configure the Service
First, open the service file:
vim 02-service.yamlChange this line:
type: LoadBalancerto:
type: ClusterIPThis is ideal when running a single-node cluster like Minikube.
On Minikube, use NodePort.
On AWS/cloud, you’d typically use LoadBalancer for exposing services to external traffic.
Apply the service:
kubectl apply -f 02-service.yaml
kubectl get all -n eks-sample-app4️⃣ Access the App via Minikube
minikube ssh # Enter Minikube shell
docker ps # List running containers inside Minikubekubectl get svc -n eks-sample-app
minikube service --url eks-sample-service -n eks-sample-appTo expose it manually via port-forwarding:
kubectl port-forward svc/eks-sample-service -n eks-sample-app 8081:80 --address 0.0.0.0 &8081: Your host port80: Service port0.0.0.0: Makes it publicly accessible&: Runs in the background
🛡️ On AWS, update the Security Group to allow port 8081 from Anywhere (0.0.0.0/0).
Then open: http://<your-host-ip>:8081 — You’ll see the NGINX welcome page! ✅
🔄 Perform a Rolling Update — Upgrade NGINX
Currently, NGINX is running with version 1.22. Let’s upgrade it to 1.23.
Check existing Deployment:
kubectl get deployment -n eks-sample-app
kubectl describe deployment eks-sample-deplyment -n eks-sample-appMonitor live pod changes:
watch kubectl get pods -n eks-sample-appApply the updated Deployment:
kubectl apply -f 03-deployment.yamlWatch how pods are replaced one at a time — this is rolling update in action.
Re-expose the service if needed:
kubectl port-forward svc/eks-sample-service -n eks-sample-app 8081:80 --address 0.0.0.0 &(Optional) Set the namespace as default to avoid typing -n eks-sample-app every time:
kubectl config set-context --current --namespace=eks-sample-app✅ Summary
In this project, we:
- Deployed NGINX on Minikube
- Created Namespaces, Deployments, and Services
- Performed a Rolling Update from NGINX
1.22to1.23 - Practiced real-world Kubernetes concepts hands-on
If you found this helpful, please share it, and most importantly — practice it.
You’ll understand Kubernetes much better by actually doing it.
Happy Learning! 🚀
— Raees Qazi
Comments
Post a Comment