Introduction to Kubernetes

Kubernetes (also known as K8s) is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. While Docker Compose is excellent for single-node deployments, Kubernetes is the gold standard for multi-node clusters and high-availability production environments.

Why Use Kubernetes?

• High Availability: Automatically restarts failed containers, replaces them, and reschedules them when nodes die.
• Service Discovery & Load Balancing: Exposes containers using DNS names or their own IP addresses.
• Horizontal Scaling: Scale your applications up or down easily with a simple command or dashboard, or automatically based on CPU usage.
• Automated Rollouts & Rollbacks: Deploy updates without downtime and roll back if things go wrong.

Getting Started with Lightweight Kubernetes (K3s)

For selfhosting, full Kubernetes can be resource-heavy. K3s is a lightweight, fully compliant Kubernetes distribution wrapped in a single binary, perfect for home servers and edge devices.

Installing K3s

To install K3s on an Ubuntu server, run:

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

Check the node status:

sudo kubectl get nodes

Next, check out our other Containerization Platform Guides to compare alternatives.