Deployments and Loadbalancing

Learning Goals

Learn how to expose a deployment using Ingress
Learn how to use deployments
Learn how to scale deployments
Learn how to use services to do loadbalance between the pods of a scaled deployment

Introduction

In this exercise, you'll learn how to deploy a pod using a deployment, how to scale it, and how to expose it using an Ingress resource with URL routing.

Deployments

Deployments are a higher level abstraction than pods, and controls the lifecycle and configuration of a "deployment" of an application. They are used to manage a set of pods, and to ensure that a specified number of pods are always running with the desired configuration. deployments are a Kubernetes kind and defined in a manifest file.

A deployment manifest file looks like this:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: # Deployment name
spec:
  replicas: # the number of pods to run
  selector: # How to select pods belonging to this deployment, must match the pod template's labels
    matchLabels: # List of labels to match pods
  template: # Pod template
    metadata:
    labels: # List of labels
    spec:
    containers: # List of containers belonging to the pod
      - name: # Name of the container
          image: # Container image

💡 An Example: Nginx deployment

An example of a deployment manifest file for nginx would look like this:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      run: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
    labels:
      run: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: nginx
          image: nginx:latest
          ports:
            - containerPort: 80

High Availability

In order to make our application stable, we want high availability. High availability means that we replicate our applications, such that we have redundant copies, which means that when an application fails, our users are not impacted, as they will simply use one of the other copies, while the failed instance recovers.

In Kubernetes this is done in practice by scaling a deployment, e.g. by adding or removing replicas. replicas are identical copies of the the same pod.

To scale a deployment, we change the number of replicas in the manifest file, and then apply the changes using kubectl apply -f <manifest-file>.

Ingress

Ingress in Kubernetes that manages external access to the services in a cluster, typically HTTP and HTTPS.

Ingress can provide load balancing, SSL termination, and name-based virtual routing.

Ingress builds on top of the service concept, and is implemented by an ingress controller.

An example Ingress manifest to be used in AWS looks like this:

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  annotations:
    #annotations are used to configure the ingress controller behavior.
    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/scheme: internet-facing
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: alb
    alb.ingress.kubernetes.io/listen-ports: '[{"HTTPS":443}]'
  name: quotes-ingress
spec:
  # rules are used to configure the routing behavior.
  rules:
    # each rule has a host and a list of paths. The host is used to match the host header of the request, normally the domain name.
    - host: quotes-1.prosa.eficode.academy
      http:
        paths:
          - pathType: Prefix
            path: "/"
            # each path has a backend, which is used to route the request to a service.
            backend:
              service:
                # This is the name of the service to route to.
                name: quotes-frontend
                port:
                  number: 80

When you apply this manifest, an A-record will be created in Route53, pointing to our ingress-controller called ALB, and the ALB will route traffic to the service.

Exercise

Overview

Add frontend Ingress and let it reconcile
Turn the backend pod manifests into a deployment manifest
Apply the backend deployment manifest
Scale the deployment by adding a replicas key
Turn frontend pod manifests into a deployment manifest
Apply the frontend deployment manifest
Test service promise of high availability

💡 If you get stuck somewhere along the way, you can check the solution in the done directory.

Step by step instructions

Step by step:

Go into the deployments-ingress/start directory.

In the directory we have the pod manifests for the backend and frontend that have created in the previous exercises. We also have two services, one for the backend (type ClusterIP) and one for the frontend (type NodePort) as well as an ingress manifest for the frontend.

Add Ingress to frontend service

As it might take a while for the ingress to work, we will start by adding the ingress to the frontend service, even though we have not applied the service yet.

Open the frontend-ingress.yaml file in your editor.
Change the hostname to quotes-<yourname>.<prefix>.eficode.academy. Just as long as it is unique.
Change the service name to match the name of the frontend service.
Apply the ingress manifest.

kubectl apply -f frontend-ingress.yaml

Expected output:

ingress.networking.k8s.io/frontend-ingress created

Check that the ingress has been created.

kubectl get ingress

Expected output:

NAME              HOSTS                                   ADDRESS   PORTS   AGE
frontend-ingress   quotes-<yourname>.<prefix>.eficode.academy             80      1m

Congratulations, you have now added an ingress to the frontend service. It will take a while for the ingress to work, so we will continue with the backend deployment.

Turn the backend pod manifests into a deployment manifest

Deploy the frontend pod as well as the two services backend-svc.yaml and frontend-svc.yaml. Use the kubectl apply -f command.
Verify that the frontend is accessible from the browser.

How do I connect to a pod through a NodePort service?

💡 In previous exercises you learned how connect to a pod exposed through a NodePort service, you need to find the nodePort using kubectl get service and the IP address of one of the nodes using kubectl get nodes -o wide Then combine the node IP address and nodePort with a colon between them, in a browser or using curl:

http://<node-ip>:<nodePort>

Turn the backend pod manifests into a deployment manifest

Open both the backend-deployment.yaml and the backend-pod.yaml files in your editor.
add the api-version and kind keys to the backend-deployment.yaml file. The api-version should be apps/v1 and the kind should be Deployment.
Give the deployment a name of backend under metadata.name key, use backend.
Add a label of run: backend under metadata.labels key.
The spec.replicas key denotes how many replicas we would like. Set it to 1 to begin with.

Before we go to the selector key, we need to add the pod template. The pod template is the same as the pod manifest we have been using.

We want to populate the deployment manifest with the information from the pod manifest.

Copy the metadata.labels (do not copy metadata.name) and spec contents of the backend-pod.yaml file into the backend-deployment.yaml file under the spec.template key.

💡 hint (solution)

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  labels:
    run: backend
  name: backend
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      run: backend
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        run: backend
    spec:
      containers:
        - image: ghcr.io/eficode-academy/quotes-flask-backend:release
          name: quotes-flask-backend

Now we want the deployment controller to manage the pods. We need to add a selector to the deployment manifest.

Add a selector key under the spec key. The selector key should have a matchLabels key. The matchLabels key should have a run: backend key-value pair.

💡 hint

The matchLabels key should look like this:

...
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      run: backend
  template:
  ...

The same as the labels key in the metadata key of the pod template.

Apply the deployment manifest

Apply the deployment manifest, the same way we have applied the pod manifests, just pointing to a different file.

kubectl apply -f backend-deployment.yaml

Expected output:

deployment.apps/backend-deployment created

Check that the deployment has been created.

kubectl get deployments

Expected output:

NAME      DESIRED   CURRENT   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
backend   1         1         1            1           1m

Check that the pod has been created.

kubectl get pods

Expected output:

NAME                      READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
backend-5f4b8b7b4-5x7xg   1/1       Running   0          1m

Access the frontend again from the browser. Now the Ingress should work and you should be able to access the frontend from the browser using the hostname you specified in the ingress manifest.

The url should look something like this:

http://quotes-<yourname>.<prefix>.eficode.academy

If it still does not work, you can check it through NodePort service instead.
You should now see the backend.
If this works, please delete the backend-pod.yaml file, as we now have upgraded to a deployment and no longer need it!

Scale the deployment by adding a replicas key

Scale the deployment by changing the replicas key in the deployment manifest. Set the replicas key to 3.
Apply the deployment manifest again.

kubectl apply -f backend-deployment.yaml

Expected output:

deployment.apps/backend-deployment configured

Check that the deployment has been scaled.

kubectl get deployments

Expected output:

NAME      READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
backend   3/3     3            3           3m29s

Check that the pods have been scaled.

kubectl get pods

Expected output:

NAME                      READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
backend-5f4b8b7b4-5x7xg   1/1       Running   0          2m
backend-5f4b8b7b4-6j6xg   1/1       Running   0          1m
backend-5f4b8b7b4-7x7xg   1/1       Running   0          1m

Access the frontend again from the browser. It should now periodically change the hostname part of the website.

Turn frontend pod manifests into a deployment manifest

You will now do the exact same thing for the frontend, we will walk you through it again, but at a higher level, if get stuck you can go back and double check how you did it for the backend.

Open both the frontend-deployment.yaml and the frontend-pod.yaml files in your editor.
add the api-version and kind keys to the frontend-deployment.yaml file.
Give the deployment a name of frontend under metadata.name key.
Add a label of run: frontend under metadata.labels key.
Set spec.replicas to 3.
Copy the metadata and spec contents of the frontend-pod.yaml file into the frontend-deployment.yaml file under the spec.template key.
Add a selector key under the spec key. The selector key should have a matchLabels key. The matchLabels key should have a run: frontend key-value pair.

Apply the frontend deployment manifest

First, delete the frontend pod.

kubectl delete pod frontend

Expected output:

pod "frontend" deleted

Apply the frontend deployment manifest.

kubectl apply -f frontend-deployment.yaml

Expected output:

deployment.apps/frontend-deployment created

Check that the deployment has been created.

kubectl get deployments

Expected output:

NAME       READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
backend    3/3     3            3           2m41s
frontend   3/3     3            3           2m41s

Check that the pod has been created.

kubectl get pods

Expected output:

NAME                       READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
backend-5f4b8b7b4-5x7xg    1/1       Running   0          3m
backend-5f4b8b7b4-6j6xg    1/1       Running   0          2m
backend-5f4b8b7b4-7x7xg    1/1       Running   0          2m
frontend-47b45fb8b-4x7xg   1/1       Running   0          1m
frontend-47b45fb8b-4j6xg   1/1       Running   0          1m
frontend-47b45fb8b-4x7xg   1/1       Running   0          1m

Access the frontend again from the browser. Note that both the frontend and backend hostname parts of the website should change periodically.
If this works, please delete the frontend-pod.yaml file, as we now have upgraded to a deployment and no longer need it!

Clean up

Delete the deployments.

kubectl delete -f frontend-deployment.yaml
kubectl delete -f backend-deployment.yaml

Delete the services

kubectl delete -f frontend-svc.yaml
kubectl delete -f backend-svc.yaml

Delete the ingress

kubectl delete -f frontend-ingress.yaml

💡 If you ever want to delete all resources from a particular directory, you can use: kubectl delete -f . which will point at all files in that directory!

Extra Exercise

Test Kubernetes promise of resiliency and high availability

An example of using a LoadBalancer service to route traffic to replicated pods

We can use the ghcr.io/eficode-academy/network-multitool image to illustrate both high availability and load balancing of services. The network-multitool pod will serve a tiny webpage that dynamically contains the pod hostname and IP address of the pod. This enables us to see which of a group of network-multitool pods that served the request.

Create the network-multitool deployment:

kubectl create deployment customnginx --image ghcr.io/eficode-academy/network-multitool --port 80 --replicas 4

We create the network-multitool deployment with the name "customnginx" and with four replicas, so we expect to have four pods.

We also create a service of type LoadBalancer:

kubectl expose deployment customnginx --port 80 --type LoadBalancer

💡 It might take a minute to provision the LoadBalancer, if you are using AWS, then kubectl get services will show you the DNS name of the provisioned LoadBalancer immediately, but it will be a moment before it is ready.

When the LoadBalancer is ready we setup a loop to keep sending requests to the pods:

while true; do  curl --connect-timeout 1 -m 1 -s <loadbalancerIP> ; sleep 0.5; done

Expected output:

Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-7fcfd947cf-zbvtd - 100.96.2.36 <BR></p>
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-7fcfd947cf-zbvtd - 100.96.1.150 <BR></p>
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-7fcfd947cf-zbvtd - 100.96.2.37 <BR></p>
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-7fcfd947cf-zbvtd - 100.96.2.37 <BR></p>
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-7fcfd947cf-zbvtd - 100.96.2.36 <BR></p>

We see that when we query the LoadBalancer IP, it is giving us result/content from all four pods. None of the curl commands time out. Now, if we kill three out of four pods, the service should still respond, without timing out. We let the loop run in a separate terminal, and kill three pods of this deployment from another terminal.

kubectl delete pod customnginx-3557040084-1z489 customnginx-3557040084-3hhlt customnginx-3557040084-c6skw

Expected output:

pod "customnginx-3557040084-1z489" deleted
pod "customnginx-3557040084-3hhlt" deleted
pod "customnginx-3557040084-c6skw" deleted

Immediately check the other terminal for any failed curl commands or timeouts.

Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-4w4gf - 10.244.0.19

Expected output:

Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-h2dbg - 10.244.0.21
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-5xbjc - 10.244.0.22
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-h2dbg - 10.244.0.21
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-4wn9c - 10.244.0.20
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-5xbjc - 10.244.0.22
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-h2dbg - 10.244.0.21
Eficode Academy Network MultiTool (with NGINX) - customnginx-59db6cff7b-5xbjc - 10.244.0.22

We notice that no curl commands failed, and actually we have started seeing new IPs. Why is that? It is because, as soon as the pods are deleted, the deployment sees that it's desired state is four pods, and there is only one running, so it immediately starts three more to reach the desired state of four pods. And, while the pods are in process of starting, one surviving pod serves all of the traffic, preventing our application from missing any requests.

kubectl get pods

Expected output:

NAME                           READY     STATUS        RESTARTS   AGE
customnginx-3557040084-0s7l8   1/1       Running       0          15s
customnginx-3557040084-1z489   1/1       Terminating   0          16m
customnginx-3557040084-3hhlt   1/1       Terminating   0          16m
customnginx-3557040084-bvtnh   1/1       Running       0          15s
customnginx-3557040084-c6skw   1/1       Terminating   0          16m
customnginx-3557040084-fw1t3   1/1       Running       0          16m
customnginx-3557040084-xqk1n   1/1       Running       0          15s

This proves, Kubernetes enables high availability, by using multiple replicas of a pod, and loadbalancing between them.

Remember to clean up the deployment afterwards with:

kubectl delete deployment customnginx

And delete the LoadBalancer service:

kubectl delete service customnginx

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deployments-ingress.md

deployments-ingress.md

Deployments and Loadbalancing

Learning Goals

Introduction

Deployments

High Availability

Ingress

Exercise

Overview

Step by step instructions

Clean up

Extra Exercise

Files

deployments-ingress.md

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deployments-ingress.md

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Deployments and Loadbalancing

Learning Goals

Introduction

Deployments

High Availability

Ingress

Exercise

Overview

Step by step instructions

Clean up

Extra Exercise