Start Here

A guided onboarding path through Kubernetes, ordered so you learn the foundational concepts first. Each step builds on what came before it (prerequisites were inferred from the documentation at compile time). This page is server-rendered — every concept and its learning path is in the HTML.

The path

1. CustomResourceDefinition — Custom code that defines a resource to add to your Kubernetes API server without building a complete custom server.
unlocks: LimitRange, Upstream (disambiguation), Service Catalog, PodGroup, Admission Controller, Endpoints, ConfigMap, Extensions, DeviceClass, API server, ResourceClaim, Aggregation Layer, kube-controller-manager, CRI-O, Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Condition, Application Architect, kOps (Kubernetes Operations), Network Policy, Horizontal Pod Autoscaler, Kubernetes API, Cluster Operator, Kubectl, CronJob, Quantity, FlexVolume, DaemonSet, Operator pattern, EndpointSlice, ResourceSlice, Helm Chart, QoS Class, PodTemplate, Resource (infrastructure), Kubeadm, Istio, Garbage Collection, Dynamic Volume Provisioning, cAdvisor, Object, Volume Plugin, ResourceClaimTemplate, Subject Alternative Name, Manifest, Finalizer, Deployment, Certificate, Glossary, StatefulSet, ResourceQuota, user namespace, Init Container, Gateway API, Service, Security Context, Spec, Cluster Architect, RBAC (Role-Based Access Control), Affinity, Pod Security Policy, Pod Disruption Budget, ReplicaSet, API resource, Member, Common Expression Language, ServiceAccount, Job, Group Version Resource, Ingress, Add-ons, Container Lifecycle Hooks, Mirror Pod, API Group, Container Storage Interface (CSI), Storage Class, SIG (special interest group), Persistent Volume
2. Secret — Stores sensitive information, such as passwords, OAuth tokens, and ssh keys.
unlocks: Downward API
3. Horizontal Pod Autoscaler — Object that automatically scales the number of pod replicas based on targeted resource utilization or custom metric targets.
understand first: CustomResourceDefinition
unlocks: Pod Disruption
4. Label — Tags objects with identifying attributes that are meaningful and relevant to users.
understand first: LimitRange
unlocks: Probe, Dynamic Resource Allocation, Platform Developer, Reviewer, Upstream (disambiguation), PodGroup, Persistent Volume Claim, Contributor, HostAliases, Sidecar Container, Volume, Preemption, Container, Cluster, Master, Code Contributor, Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Condition, Container Environment Variables, Downstream (disambiguation), Pod Priority, Mixed Version Proxy (MVP), Image, Shuffle-sharding, UID, kube-proxy, Pod Lifecycle, Quantity, Application Developer, Dockershim, Node, Watch, ReplicationController, PriorityClass, Developer (disambiguation), Feature gate, Drain, Name, QoS Class, Controller, Resource (infrastructure), containerd, Kubelet, Ephemeral Container, Subject Alternative Name, WG (working group), Logging, Managed Service, Static Pod, user namespace, Event, Annotation, API-initiated eviction, Minikube, Spec, Container Runtime, Affinity, ReplicaSet, Pod, Replica, Member, Cloud Controller Manager, Docker, Workload, Data Plane, Group Version Resource, Proxy, kube-scheduler, Approver, App Container, Duration, Selector, CIDR, Applications
5. Admission Controller — A piece of code that intercepts requests to the Kubernetes API server prior to persistence of the object.
understand first: CustomResourceDefinition, Cluster Operations
unlocks: Cluster Operations, Immutable Infrastructure, ConfigMap, Extensions, API server, Aggregation Layer, kube-controller-manager, Application Architect, kOps (Kubernetes Operations), Network Policy, Toleration, Operator pattern, Istio, Garbage Collection, Object, Finalizer, Init Container, Gateway API, Security Context, Cluster Architect, Job, Add-ons, Container Lifecycle Hooks, Mirror Pod, API Group, SIG (special interest group)
6. API server — Control plane component that serves the Kubernetes API.
understand first: CustomResourceDefinition, Admission Controller
unlocks: etcd
7. Cluster — A set of worker machines, called nodes, that run containerized applications. Every cluster has at least one worker node.
understand first: Label, LimitRange
unlocks: PodGroup, etcd, Volume, UID, Cluster Operator, Cluster Infrastructure, Group Version Resource
8. Cluster Operations — The work involved in managing a Kubernetes cluster.
understand first: Admission Controller, ConfigMap
unlocks: LimitRange, Service Catalog, Admission Controller, Immutable Infrastructure, ConfigMap, Extensions, DeviceClass, Aggregation Layer, kube-controller-manager, CRI-O, Application Architect, kOps (Kubernetes Operations), Toleration, Kubernetes API, Cluster Operator, Kubectl, Operator pattern, Helm Chart, Istio, Garbage Collection, Object, Finalizer, Glossary, Init Container, Gateway API, Cluster Architect, Common Expression Language, ServiceAccount, Job, Add-ons, Container Lifecycle Hooks, Mirror Pod, API Group, SIG (special interest group)
9. Container network interface (CNI) — Container network interface (CNI) plugins are a type of Network plugin that adheres to the appc/CNI specification.
understand first: CRI-O, Device Plugin
unlocks: HostAliases, Device Plugin, sysctl, cAdvisor, Cluster Infrastructure, Device, Container Runtime Interface (CRI), Container Device Interface (CDI)
10. CRI-O — A lightweight container runtime specifically for Kubernetes
understand first: CustomResourceDefinition, Cluster Operations
unlocks: Container network interface (CNI), Device Plugin, sysctl, DaemonSet, containerd, cAdvisor, Cluster Infrastructure, Device, Container Runtime Interface (CRI), Container Device Interface (CDI)
11. DeviceClass — A category of devices in the cluster. Users can claim specific devices in a DeviceClass.
understand first: CustomResourceDefinition, Cluster Operations
unlocks: Device Plugin, Device, Container Device Interface (CDI)
12. LimitRange — Provides constraints to limit resource consumption per Containers or Pods in a namespace.
understand first: CustomResourceDefinition, Cluster Operations
unlocks: Label, Probe, Reviewer, Persistent Volume Claim, Contributor, Container, Cluster, Master, Code Contributor, Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), Downstream (disambiguation), Pod Priority, Mixed Version Proxy (MVP), Image, kube-proxy, Pod Lifecycle, Quantity, Application Developer, Dockershim, Node, Watch, ReplicationController, PriorityClass, Developer (disambiguation), Drain, Name, QoS Class, Controller, Resource (infrastructure), Kubelet, Ephemeral Container, Logging, Managed Service, Static Pod, Event, API-initiated eviction, Minikube, Spec, Replica, Cloud Controller Manager, Docker, Workload, Data Plane, Proxy, kube-scheduler, Approver, App Container, Duration, Selector, Applications, Persistent Volume

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