Kubernetes Specialist skill

Kubernetes Specialist

When to Use This Skill

• Deploying workloads (Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs)
• Configuring networking (Services, Ingress, NetworkPolicies)
• Managing configuration (ConfigMaps, Secrets, environment variables)
• Setting up persistent storage (PV, PVC, StorageClasses)
• Creating Helm charts for application packaging
• Troubleshooting cluster and workload issues
• Implementing security best practices

Core Workflow

1. Analyze requirements — Understand workload characteristics, scaling needs, security requirements
2. Design architecture — Choose workload types, networking patterns, storage solutions
3. Implement manifests — Create declarative YAML with proper resource limits, health checks
4. Secure — Apply RBAC, NetworkPolicies, Pod Security Standards, least privilege
5. Validate — Run kubectl rollout status, kubectl get pods -w, and kubectl describe pod <name> to confirm health; roll back with kubectl rollout undo if needed

Reference Guide

Load detailed guidance based on context:

Topic	Reference	Load When
Workloads	references/workloads.md	Deployments, StatefulSets, DaemonSets, Jobs, CronJobs
Networking	references/networking.md	Services, Ingress, NetworkPolicies, DNS
Configuration	references/configuration.md	ConfigMaps, Secrets, environment variables
Storage	references/storage.md	PV, PVC, StorageClasses, CSI drivers
Helm Charts	references/helm-charts.md	Chart structure, values, templates, hooks, testing, repositories
Troubleshooting	references/troubleshooting.md	kubectl debug, logs, events, common issues
Custom Operators	references/custom-operators.md	CRD, Operator SDK, controller-runtime, reconciliation
Service Mesh	references/service-mesh.md	Istio, Linkerd, traffic management, mTLS, canary
GitOps	references/gitops.md	ArgoCD, Flux, progressive delivery, sealed secrets
Cost Optimization	references/cost-optimization.md	VPA, HPA tuning, spot instances, quotas, right-sizing
Multi-Cluster	references/multi-cluster.md	Cluster API, federation, cross-cluster networking, DR

Constraints

MUST DO

• Use declarative YAML manifests (avoid imperative kubectl commands)
• Set resource requests and limits on all containers
• Include liveness and readiness probes
• Use secrets for sensitive data (never hardcode credentials)
• Apply least privilege RBAC permissions
• Implement NetworkPolicies for network segmentation
• Use namespaces for logical isolation
• Label resources consistently for organization
• Document configuration decisions in annotations

MUST NOT DO

• Deploy to production without resource limits
• Store secrets in ConfigMaps or as plain environment variables
• Use default ServiceAccount for application pods
• Allow unrestricted network access (default allow-all)
• Run containers as root without justification
• Skip health checks (liveness/readiness probes)
• Use latest tag for production images
• Expose unnecessary ports or services

Common YAML Patterns

Deployment with resource limits, probes, and security context

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: my-app
  namespace: my-namespace
  labels:
    app: my-app
    version: "1.2.3"
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: my-app
        version: "1.2.3"
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: my-app-sa   # never use default SA
      securityContext:
        runAsNonRoot: true
        runAsUser: 1000
        fsGroup: 2000
      containers:
        - name: my-app
          image: my-registry/my-app:1.2.3   # never use latest
          ports:
            - containerPort: 8080
          resources:
            requests:
              cpu: "100m"
              memory: "128Mi"
            limits:
              cpu: "500m"
              memory: "512Mi"
          livenessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /healthz
              port: 8080
            initialDelaySeconds: 15
            periodSeconds: 20
          readinessProbe:
            httpGet:
              path: /ready
              port: 8080
            initialDelaySeconds: 5
            periodSeconds: 10
          securityContext:
            allowPrivilegeEscalation: false
            readOnlyRootFilesystem: true
            capabilities:
              drop: ["ALL"]
          envFrom:
            - secretRef:
                name: my-app-secret   # pull credentials from Secret, not ConfigMap

Minimal RBAC (least privilege)

apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: my-app-sa
  namespace: my-namespace
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: Role
metadata:
  name: my-app-role
  namespace: my-namespace
rules:
  - apiGroups: [""]
    resources: ["configmaps"]
    verbs: ["get", "list"]   # grant only what is needed
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: my-app-rolebinding
  namespace: my-namespace
subjects:
  - kind: ServiceAccount
    name: my-app-sa
    namespace: my-namespace
roleRef:
  kind: Role
  name: my-app-role
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io

NetworkPolicy (default-deny + explicit allow)

# Deny all ingress and egress by default
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: default-deny-all
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  podSelector: {}
  policyTypes: ["Ingress", "Egress"]
---
# Allow only specific traffic
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: NetworkPolicy
metadata:
  name: allow-my-app
  namespace: my-namespace
spec:
  podSelector:
    matchLabels:
      app: my-app
  policyTypes: ["Ingress"]
  ingress:
    - from:
        - podSelector:
            matchLabels:
              app: frontend
      ports:
        - protocol: TCP
          port: 8080

Validation Commands

After deploying, verify health and security posture:

# Watch rollout complete
kubectl rollout status deployment/my-app -n my-namespace

# Stream pod events to catch crash loops or image pull errors
kubectl get pods -n my-namespace -w

# Inspect a specific pod for failures
kubectl describe pod <pod-name> -n my-namespace

# Check container logs
kubectl logs <pod-name> -n my-namespace --previous   # use --previous for crashed containers

# Verify resource usage vs. limits
kubectl top pods -n my-namespace

# Audit RBAC permissions for a service account
kubectl auth can-i --list --as=system:serviceaccount:my-namespace:my-app-sa

# Roll back a failed deployment
kubectl rollout undo deployment/my-app -n my-namespace

Output Templates

When implementing Kubernetes resources, provide:

1. Complete YAML manifests with proper structure
2. RBAC configuration if needed (ServiceAccount, Role, RoleBinding)
3. NetworkPolicy for network isolation
4. Brief explanation of design decisions and security considerations

Maintained by @jeffallan, Principal Consultant at Synergetic Solutions

Documentation