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Kubernetes in Action
With Kubernetes, users don't have to worry about which specific machine in their data center their application is running on. Each layer in their application is decoupled from other layers so they can scale, update, and maintain them independently.
Kubernetes in Action teaches developers how to use Kubernetes to deploy self-healing scalable distributed applications. By the end, readers will be able to build and deploy applications in a proper way to take full advantage of the Kubernetes platform.
Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.
Kubernetes in Action teaches developers how to use Kubernetes to deploy self-healing scalable distributed applications. By the end, readers will be able to build and deploy applications in a proper way to take full advantage of the Kubernetes platform.
Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF, Kindle, and ePub formats from Manning Publications.
624 pages, Paperback
Published December 31, 2017
275 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews
July 27, 2018
I can't really believe I'm really writing these words right now ... but this is currently the best (by far) book on Kubernetes & its ecosystem. It's even better than famous Kelsey's "Kubernetes. Up & Running."
It starts with the basics, but progresses very quickly. Some of the advanced concepts were significantly beyond what I've expected (e.g. extending K8s). The chapter on internals was VERY interesting, so was the best description of ConfigMaps I've ever found. Quality stuff. Chapters on stateful resources (volumes, StatefulSets) were also far beyond what I've read until now (well, it's still possible that it's just my understanding that gets better, but I have a feeling it's not only that).
Any disappointments? Maybe one, slight one - best practices section feels too brief & in fact it didn't surprise me with anything I lacked due to my limited practical experience with K8s. Anyway, it doesn't change the fact that the book is awesome - it's demanding, it doesn't make much sense to read it "dry" (w/o access to console), but it's definitely the best resource on K8s I know.
It starts with the basics, but progresses very quickly. Some of the advanced concepts were significantly beyond what I've expected (e.g. extending K8s). The chapter on internals was VERY interesting, so was the best description of ConfigMaps I've ever found. Quality stuff. Chapters on stateful resources (volumes, StatefulSets) were also far beyond what I've read until now (well, it's still possible that it's just my understanding that gets better, but I have a feeling it's not only that).
Any disappointments? Maybe one, slight one - best practices section feels too brief & in fact it didn't surprise me with anything I lacked due to my limited practical experience with K8s. Anyway, it doesn't change the fact that the book is awesome - it's demanding, it doesn't make much sense to read it "dry" (w/o access to console), but it's definitely the best resource on K8s I know.
November 3, 2018
If you're going to use Kubernetes, you need to read this book.
* It covers absolutely everything you need to know, starting with a basic intro to Docker and going deeper and deeper until you're taking a detailed look at Kubernetes internals. I was particularly happy to see all the different ways you can interact with Kubernetes, including the kubectl CLI, the REST API, local proxying, SSH, ambassador containers, and so on.
* It's nicely organized so you can skip to exactly the content you want.
* It's well written, with tons of clear examples, diagrams, and code samples.
* It does a great job of showcasing the depth and breadth of Kubernetes as a platform and just how many hard problems it solves that we all used to solve (poorly) on a one-off basis, including deployment, monitoring, config management, secrets management, service discovery, volumes, volume claims, proxying, SSH access, powerful CLI, dev environment, multi cloud support, DNS, daemon jobs, replication, one-off tasks, config file updating, authn and authz, and so much more. Kubernetes isn't an orchestration system—it's an entire cloud operating system.
Perhaps the only flaw is that it doesn't put Kubernetes in context—the book isn't very opinionated, so it doesn't talk about Kubernetes strengths and weaknesses, how mature some of the features are (many of which are labeled as "beta"), how it fits in with other DevOps tools and concerns, and so on—but the book is already over 600 pages long, so it's not reasonable to expect it to cover everything. And what it does cover—how to use Kubernetes—it does very well. I've recommended this book to everyone on my team and will recommend it to customers as well.
* It covers absolutely everything you need to know, starting with a basic intro to Docker and going deeper and deeper until you're taking a detailed look at Kubernetes internals. I was particularly happy to see all the different ways you can interact with Kubernetes, including the kubectl CLI, the REST API, local proxying, SSH, ambassador containers, and so on.
* It's nicely organized so you can skip to exactly the content you want.
* It's well written, with tons of clear examples, diagrams, and code samples.
* It does a great job of showcasing the depth and breadth of Kubernetes as a platform and just how many hard problems it solves that we all used to solve (poorly) on a one-off basis, including deployment, monitoring, config management, secrets management, service discovery, volumes, volume claims, proxying, SSH access, powerful CLI, dev environment, multi cloud support, DNS, daemon jobs, replication, one-off tasks, config file updating, authn and authz, and so much more. Kubernetes isn't an orchestration system—it's an entire cloud operating system.
Perhaps the only flaw is that it doesn't put Kubernetes in context—the book isn't very opinionated, so it doesn't talk about Kubernetes strengths and weaknesses, how mature some of the features are (many of which are labeled as "beta"), how it fits in with other DevOps tools and concerns, and so on—but the book is already over 600 pages long, so it's not reasonable to expect it to cover everything. And what it does cover—how to use Kubernetes—it does very well. I've recommended this book to everyone on my team and will recommend it to customers as well.
January 29, 2022
I thought I would change the genre and pick up an academic book.
I keep coming back to it and take many new leanings every time I read it. I would, however, point beginners towards this book more than someone who already has basic knowledge of Kubernetes.
I liked how this book was laid out. Sentiment is that, if you want to learn to drive a car, you probably don’t care how combustion works inside the engine. Once you do though, you probably want to go back and learn the technical details of how things work under the hood. This book covers both. In that order.
I keep coming back to it and take many new leanings every time I read it. I would, however, point beginners towards this book more than someone who already has basic knowledge of Kubernetes.
I liked how this book was laid out. Sentiment is that, if you want to learn to drive a car, you probably don’t care how combustion works inside the engine. Once you do though, you probably want to go back and learn the technical details of how things work under the hood. This book covers both. In that order.
December 25, 2021
I’m dipping in and out of this book - I’m not at Kubernetes app developer yet but I do need to understand it to introspect and tune currently running apps and for that the first four or five chapters are excellent, putting it in context of Docker and with a lot of good diagrams.
December 22, 2018
Very solid introduction into Kubernetes.
Could be slightly outdated, but that's my problem - I could find time to read it long after I bought the book...
Could be slightly outdated, but that's my problem - I could find time to read it long after I bought the book...
January 16, 2023
This is the best technical book I have ever read. Just as it says in the introduction it is made for intermediate software developers who have close to none experience with Kubernetes or any other deployment system for that matter. The author goes from beginning, introducing the basic resources used in a Kubernetes cluster. After covering those, he goes into the internals of Kubernetes. I have no need for knowing the internals, but the easygoing language in which the book is written made me read the whole thing.
The author provides examples for all the things covered in the book. He supplements the examples with images explaining what is created inside a cluster, and how all the resources communicate amongst each other. And the best part is: for almost all the questions that arise when you look at an example or an image, you find the answer in the paragraphs following them. It's like the author read your mind. Finally, the language used is simple and to the point. While reading the book I had the same feeling when reading fiction, like the author is leading me through an adventure :)
So for who ever is thinking of staring with Kubernetes, don't think and pick up this book.
Note: this edition was written with Kubernetes 1.8, while the latest is 1.26 (as of Jan 2023). Don't let this turn you away from reading the book. It gives good overview of basics that are still valid. The second edition should come out in 2023 though, and I'm looking forward to it.
The author provides examples for all the things covered in the book. He supplements the examples with images explaining what is created inside a cluster, and how all the resources communicate amongst each other. And the best part is: for almost all the questions that arise when you look at an example or an image, you find the answer in the paragraphs following them. It's like the author read your mind. Finally, the language used is simple and to the point. While reading the book I had the same feeling when reading fiction, like the author is leading me through an adventure :)
So for who ever is thinking of staring with Kubernetes, don't think and pick up this book.
Note: this edition was written with Kubernetes 1.8, while the latest is 1.26 (as of Jan 2023). Don't let this turn you away from reading the book. It gives good overview of basics that are still valid. The second edition should come out in 2023 though, and I'm looking forward to it.
November 1, 2020
A very well-written, in-depth book about Kubernetes. I expected it to be a little bit boring and complex. Turned out, it's super interesting. But still complex :)
It doesn't simply list Kubernetes concepts, providing usage examples + descriptions of them. It explains why they're created and _how_ they're created, so they fit nicely into a coherent picture of the Kubernetes ecosystem.
There are a lot of "a-ha!" moments. There are also a lot of "how did I live without it?!" moments. Totally recommend, if you like that feeling.
It doesn't simply list Kubernetes concepts, providing usage examples + descriptions of them. It explains why they're created and _how_ they're created, so they fit nicely into a coherent picture of the Kubernetes ecosystem.
There are a lot of "a-ha!" moments. There are also a lot of "how did I live without it?!" moments. Totally recommend, if you like that feeling.
April 20, 2022
Masterpiece.
Doesn't matter if you bought older or newer revision - if you want to revise, deepen and solidify your Kubernetes knowledge - this is your go to book (well, perhaps supplemented by few much more focused titles on topics like security etc).
Goes from what and why of containerization, through k8s building blocks to under-the-hood explanations.
Looking for Kubernetes book? Just buy this. 5/5 � .
Doesn't matter if you bought older or newer revision - if you want to revise, deepen and solidify your Kubernetes knowledge - this is your go to book (well, perhaps supplemented by few much more focused titles on topics like security etc).
Goes from what and why of containerization, through k8s building blocks to under-the-hood explanations.
Looking for Kubernetes book? Just buy this. 5/5 � .
July 2, 2024
This was an interesting read, although it's older I do prefer it over the 'Kubernetes up and running' book. Especially the first two part where some solid foundations are being laid. The 3rd part was (at least for me less hands-on) and focused on a deeper dive on some more advanced concepts. But I did appreciate the bulk of the book.
July 23, 2020
Solid introduction into Kubernetes - it covers most of the resources you need to know. This technology is changing so rapidly that the 2nd edition would be a better choice.
July 13, 2021
کتاب یه مقدار قدیمیه و یه سری چیزاش عوض شده. ولی کتاب بدی نیست.
از طرفی خیلی از مفاهیمی که این دوستمون تو ۶۰۰ صفحه خواسته بگه رو میشد تو یه ویدیو ۶ ۷ ساعته گفت... تصورم این بود جامع تر باشه.
از طرفی خیلی از مفاهیمی که این دوستمون تو ۶۰۰ صفحه خواسته بگه رو میشد تو یه ویدیو ۶ ۷ ساعته گفت... تصورم این بود جامع تر باشه.
September 12, 2018
The rise of as one of the most important tools for devops engineers and developers is out of discussion. But until I moved into my current company I never had any chance to actually use , not to speak of Kubernetes. But it became necessary for me to learn it, so �
I choose the Kubernetes book from , mostly because I have very good experience with Manning books (and actually have collected quite an amount of them), and I wasn’t disappointed.
The book explains practically everything and much more I will ever need, with lots of examples, well-designed graphics, and in great detail. It is structured into an initial part “Overview� which gives a very light intro to Kubernetes and Docker. The second part “Core Concepts� introduces in 8 well-separated chapters everything I had to use to the micro-service deployment of the application I have developed. The final part “Beyond the basics� goes into more advanced details and specifics relevant for cluster administrators.
If I miss something from the book it is Rancher: While the last chapter discusses briefly systems built on top of Kubernetes, namely , (no support, ) and , another very popular platform, , has been left out, although I had very good experiences with it.
A very recommendable book if one wants to learn about Kubernetes.
I choose the Kubernetes book from , mostly because I have very good experience with Manning books (and actually have collected quite an amount of them), and I wasn’t disappointed.
The book explains practically everything and much more I will ever need, with lots of examples, well-designed graphics, and in great detail. It is structured into an initial part “Overview� which gives a very light intro to Kubernetes and Docker. The second part “Core Concepts� introduces in 8 well-separated chapters everything I had to use to the micro-service deployment of the application I have developed. The final part “Beyond the basics� goes into more advanced details and specifics relevant for cluster administrators.
If I miss something from the book it is Rancher: While the last chapter discusses briefly systems built on top of Kubernetes, namely , (no support, ) and , another very popular platform, , has been left out, although I had very good experiences with it.
A very recommendable book if one wants to learn about Kubernetes.
November 2, 2019
For anyone wanting to dive deep into the world of Kubernetes—even in 2019—this is a must-read. Sure, Kubernetes has changed a lot since the time this book was authored but the fundamentals remain almost the same. The author even describes upcoming changes (which are the status-quo) in detail in the book so that you really don't feel like you're reading outdated content. There are definitely more up-to-date books at present but I haven't found a single one so far, that covers concepts from containers, to Docker, to Kubernetes architecture and details about how the essential resources such as namespaces, pods, deployments, service and more fit in the big picture as well as Marko describes it in this book. The extras in the end are also a worthwhile read.
I've come to understand Kubernetes in a totally new light after reading this book and it really did help me figure out how the pieces fit together unlike anything else I've come across before. It also gave me the confidence to venture into the docs and beyond to understand even more.
I'm eagerly hoping for a new edition but it's quite honestly not necessary, even to this date.
I've come to understand Kubernetes in a totally new light after reading this book and it really did help me figure out how the pieces fit together unlike anything else I've come across before. It also gave me the confidence to venture into the docs and beyond to understand even more.
I'm eagerly hoping for a new edition but it's quite honestly not necessary, even to this date.
March 11, 2019
Best book about Kubernetes on the market!
I���m not new to K8s, therefore I was sceptic about this book, another entry level info. I was tremendously wrong! This book filled holes and connected dots that I needed like nothing else. My understanding of how k8s works and how things are done is much deeper helping me become better at this technology.
It also a best-arranged book I've seen. It helps to understand each concept before it introduces a new one. I was even looking if specific words will be used when describing resources - like usage of deployment or service when we talk about just pod. And Marko did a fantastic job to not to use the word if it can be described and/or understood.
Highly recommended - read if before it will be outdated!
I���m not new to K8s, therefore I was sceptic about this book, another entry level info. I was tremendously wrong! This book filled holes and connected dots that I needed like nothing else. My understanding of how k8s works and how things are done is much deeper helping me become better at this technology.
It also a best-arranged book I've seen. It helps to understand each concept before it introduces a new one. I was even looking if specific words will be used when describing resources - like usage of deployment or service when we talk about just pod. And Marko did a fantastic job to not to use the word if it can be described and/or understood.
Highly recommended - read if before it will be outdated!
January 3, 2019
Absolutely a must-read if you care about the topic.
The book is well written, the writing actually stands out quite a bit from the crow of technical books.
Each chapter assumes no previous knowledge and explain both the why and the how of things.
I’m sure the book will be on my desk for a while as it’s so detailed it makes a great reference as well.
The book is well written, the writing actually stands out quite a bit from the crow of technical books.
Each chapter assumes no previous knowledge and explain both the why and the how of things.
I’m sure the book will be on my desk for a while as it’s so detailed it makes a great reference as well.
March 28, 2019
Nearly perfect book. A 4 1/2. a bit dry in the last chapters, but other than that it’s a great introduction to the topic.
February 18, 2022
Livro beeeeeem didático. Ele vai explicando passo a passo o que significa cada coisa sem deixar nenhuma ponta solta. Vai desde o básico sobre a diferença entre containers e máquinas virtuais, passa para docker e então vai destrinchando o Kubernetes.
Para mim que manjo pouco do assunto, foi uma boa experiência, mas não sei se seria muito bom para quem já tem bastante contato com a ferramenta.
Para mim que manjo pouco do assunto, foi uma boa experiência, mas não sei se seria muito bom para quem já tem bastante contato com a ferramenta.
January 16, 2018
A very good run through of Kubernetes from a developer's point of view. As someone just beginning to dip their toes into containerization in general I found this helpful.
May 26, 2021
If you want to learn kubernetes this book is a book you should read.
It will be good if it has more exercises.
It will be good if it has more exercises.
September 21, 2018
An excellent overview of a very complex technology like Kubernetes. A great introduction accessible for everyone.
February 14, 2022
Unfortunately quite outdated by now.
July 13, 2021
Read the book for the second time. I am yet to find a better book in Kubernetes although a 3 year old book. I only better my understanding of the platform although a second read. Undoubtedly the only book you will need to read to go from a Zero to Hero is Kubernetes.
April 22, 2022
Меня не то, чтобы так сильно интересовал Kubernetes, чтобы прочитать от корки до корки, но я возвращался и перечитывал заметки бесчестное количество раз.
Заслуженно лучшая книга по K8S.
Заслуженно лучшая книга по K8S.
May 7, 2020
This might well be the best resource for learning K8s available right now. I've only finished half the book because I don't need to learn the more advanced material right now and I'm waiting for the second edition, which should be out in July. If you've heard of Docker, I recommend this book without reservation.
Most resources for learning K8s are reference material that don't adequately explain the underlying abstractions being used, which left me struggling to understand why K8s seems so needlessly complicated.
This book is very well organized, introducing them in a natural way. It has the best explanations for numerous concepts, with lots of examples to motivate why each is needed. I particularly appreciate how the author explains how something like deploying a new version of an app is done manually first, since it illustrates what K8s does under the hood. It is also targeted at developers with some experience with Docker.
It also demonstrates how K8s solved so many hard ops problems, and the genius of Declaratively describing the desired state and having K8s work towards it.
However, the first edition uses kubernetes 1.9 which is pretty outdated, so some commands in the first few chapters won't work without modification. I found this to be a non issue in practice, as you'll be able to read the K8s documentation after this book. Or just wait a few more months for the second edition.
My rating: 5 / 5 stars
Most resources for learning K8s are reference material that don't adequately explain the underlying abstractions being used, which left me struggling to understand why K8s seems so needlessly complicated.
This book is very well organized, introducing them in a natural way. It has the best explanations for numerous concepts, with lots of examples to motivate why each is needed. I particularly appreciate how the author explains how something like deploying a new version of an app is done manually first, since it illustrates what K8s does under the hood. It is also targeted at developers with some experience with Docker.
It also demonstrates how K8s solved so many hard ops problems, and the genius of Declaratively describing the desired state and having K8s work towards it.
However, the first edition uses kubernetes 1.9 which is pretty outdated, so some commands in the first few chapters won't work without modification. I found this to be a non issue in practice, as you'll be able to read the K8s documentation after this book. Or just wait a few more months for the second edition.
My rating: 5 / 5 stars
February 4, 2022
I recently started using Kubernetes at work and I thought I would read a book to get a good understanding of the various pieces and what are the recommended ways to do things. I ended up picking up this one after reading other people's recommendations and my general positive experience from Manning books. I don't regret it one bit!
Even though I had already started using k8s for quite some time when I got to read it (and I had read various pieces from its documentation pages), I still learned so much. The structure of the book is very good creating a nice narrative for the benefits of Kubernetes and why it exists and gradually going into more advanced concepts and internals. I was reading it mostly while commuting, so I wasn't actually running the examples as I was reading, but I still had no problem following and understanding everything (maybe the fact that I had already used Kubernetes played a role). I found the book striking a right balance and it is not too dry, while at the same time spending time on explaining important technical implementations and design decisions that lead to trade-offs in terms of how users use some of the APIs/features.
Even though I had already started using k8s for quite some time when I got to read it (and I had read various pieces from its documentation pages), I still learned so much. The structure of the book is very good creating a nice narrative for the benefits of Kubernetes and why it exists and gradually going into more advanced concepts and internals. I was reading it mostly while commuting, so I wasn't actually running the examples as I was reading, but I still had no problem following and understanding everything (maybe the fact that I had already used Kubernetes played a role). I found the book striking a right balance and it is not too dry, while at the same time spending time on explaining important technical implementations and design decisions that lead to trade-offs in terms of how users use some of the APIs/features.
September 19, 2022
This is a very good book about Kubernetes that is very complete in terms of topics and goes in depth with its explanations. The author goes into the intricacies of how each part of each component exactly works and why does it work like that and presents different ways to solve different challenges.
I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Kubernetes, but:
- It was written at the end of 2017 and since Kubernetes evolves relatively quickly, parts of it are obsolete (for example most of the last chapter around extending Kubernetes). This might confuse newcomers who are unaware which parts of the book are up to date. A second edition is estimated to release in Spring 2023, so if you are not in rush I would suggest waiting for it.
- The book really covers a lot and is quite lengthy, which might be discouraging to absolute beginners. I suggest to at least get familiar with the basics of the basic resources and what is Kubernetes before rushing into this to get a better understanding by either doing a short introductory course or reading a more absolute beginner oriented book.
I would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about Kubernetes, but:
- It was written at the end of 2017 and since Kubernetes evolves relatively quickly, parts of it are obsolete (for example most of the last chapter around extending Kubernetes). This might confuse newcomers who are unaware which parts of the book are up to date. A second edition is estimated to release in Spring 2023, so if you are not in rush I would suggest waiting for it.
- The book really covers a lot and is quite lengthy, which might be discouraging to absolute beginners. I suggest to at least get familiar with the basics of the basic resources and what is Kubernetes before rushing into this to get a better understanding by either doing a short introductory course or reading a more absolute beginner oriented book.
December 29, 2018
Great book for people willing to understand Kubernetes. It is massive (600 pages) and goes into a lot of details. But the way it is explained makes the reading pleasant and interesting. The author always starts with some simple use cases and builds on it towards more complex scenarios.
This makes the reading quite understandable and it avoids the pitfall of listing out all features one by one.
This is why it is surprising for a book of this size to remain enjoyable and readable.
A piece which is maybe missing is some context on how Kubernetes in used on the market. Is it used in a raw version? Is it used mostly by using additional products on top (like Openshift).
The amount of information we have is sometimes so big that we would like to know what is the best way to start using it.
Highly recommended reading though.
This makes the reading quite understandable and it avoids the pitfall of listing out all features one by one.
This is why it is surprising for a book of this size to remain enjoyable and readable.
A piece which is maybe missing is some context on how Kubernetes in used on the market. Is it used in a raw version? Is it used mostly by using additional products on top (like Openshift).
The amount of information we have is sometimes so big that we would like to know what is the best way to start using it.
Highly recommended reading though.
June 6, 2020
Pretty good introduction to Kubernetes, covers most of the resources you need to know about with clear, sensible explanations. I was slightly disappointed by the "setting up your own cluster" chapter - it covers only basics. Naively I expected more than a description of kubeadm, but guess not many people are interested in "the hard way" anymore as they don't have on-prem clusters. On the other hand, "Extending Kubernetes" chapter was really good.
Please note that this book was published in December 2017, so it's based on Kubernetes 1.8. Make sure to catch up on the differences. Good news is that there weren't that many radical changes.
Please note that this book was published in December 2017, so it's based on Kubernetes 1.8. Make sure to catch up on the differences. Good news is that there weren't that many radical changes.
July 16, 2019
I've read Kubernetes in Action at the same time with deploying a Kubernetes Cluster. I can say that for understanding Kubernetes is a very good book, but for using Kubernetes in production with integration with tools such as Helm or an external Load Balancer like BigIP it won't help you very much. I will like to see also some Kubernetes deployment patterns, more details about how to setup a Kubernetes cluster for geographic redundancy and more things like these that are mandatory in an enterprise.
April 9, 2019
Loved reading Marko's casual style. Marko starts from the basics of containers, Kubernetes. its usage and then dive in-depth about the inner workings of Kubernetes. Both new users and advanced users can learn many things from Marko's experience working in the Kubernetes community. Especially I liked the chapters about CRD, Open Service BRoker APIs where no other books have covered in detail. Till date, this is one of the best Kubernetes books out there both for new learners and advanced users.
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