#Local Kubernetes Deployment with Minikube

This project demonstrates the process of building a local Kubernetes cluster using Minikube, deploying a sample Nginx application, and managing its lifecycle. The entire task was performed within a GitHub Codespaces environment.

A key part of this exercise involved diagnosing and solving a series of complex networking challenges specific to this cloud-based development environment.

#Objective 🎯

The core objective was to deploy, manage, and scale a web application in a local Kubernetes cluster to understand the fundamentals of Kubernetes deployments and services.

#Tools Used 🛠️

• GitHub Codespaces: The cloud-based development environment.
• Minikube: To create and manage a local Kubernetes cluster.
• kubectl: The command-line tool for interacting with the Kubernetes API.
• Docker: The container runtime used by Minikube.

#Process & Implementation Steps ⚙️

The deployment followed these key steps:

• Cluster Creation: Minikube and kubectl were installed in the Codespace, and a new Kubernetes cluster was launched using the minikube start command.
• Application Deployment: A deployment.yaml file was created to define the desired state for our application. It was configured to run two replicas of the nginx:1.14.2 container image.
• Exposing the Application: A service.yaml file was created to expose the Nginx deployment to network traffic. It was configured as a NodePort service, making the application accessible from outside the cluster.
• Verification and Scaling: The kubectl get pods command was used to verify that the two Nginx pods were running successfully. The application was then scaled up to 4 replicas using the kubectl scale deployment nginx-deployment --replicas=4 command.
• Log Inspection: The kubectl logs command was used to view the application's access logs.

#Challenges & Troubleshooting Journey 🕵️‍♂️ Accessing the application within the Codespaces environment proved to be a significant challenge, leading to a deep-dive troubleshooting process.

Problem 1: Connection Timeout

• Issue: Initial attempts to access the service using minikube service resulted in an ERR_CONNECTION_TIMED_OUT error.

• Reasoning: The command provides an internal cluster IP (192.168.x.x) which is not accessible from a browser outside the Codespace's virtual network.

• Solution: The correct NodePort was manually forwarded using the Codespaces "Ports" tab. Problem 2: Persistent 502 Bad Gateway Error

• Issue: Even with the correct port forwarded, the browser returned a persistent HTTP 502 Bad Gateway error. This indicated that the Codespaces proxy could not get a valid response from the application.

• Troubleshooting Steps Taken:

  • Verified Service Endpoints: Confirmed that the Service was correctly linked to the Pods (kubectl describe service).
  • Attempted minikube tunnel: Created a network route to expose the service's IP, but this did not resolve the issue.
  • Restarted Pods: Forced a recreation of all pods (kubectl delete pods -l app=nginx) to resolve any potential zombie processes.
  • Full Cluster Reset: Completely deleted (minikube delete) and rebuilt the cluster from scratch.

• Definitive Solution: After exhausting all standard methods, the issue was identified as a fundamental networking incompatibility between Minikube's service routing and the GitHub Codespaces environment. The solution was to bypass the service network entirely and establish a direct connection to a pod using the kubectl port-forward command. kubectl port-forward 8080:80

  This provided a stable, reliable connection and immediately resolved the 502 error.

#Deliverables: Screenshots 📸 Here are the key moments from the task

1. Initial Deployment Verified

This screenshot shows the output of kubectl get pods right after the initial deployment, confirming that the two Nginx pods were created and in a Running state.

2. Deployment Scaled to 4 Replicas

This screenshot shows the output of kubectl get pods after executing the kubectl scale command, verifying that the deployment was successfully scaled to four running pods.

3. Successful Log Verification

This final screenshot shows the Nginx access logs retrieved using kubectl logs. These logs were generated by refreshing the browser after a stable connection was finally established using kubectl port-forward.

Outcome & Key Learnings 🧠

This task was a successful demonstration of Kubernetes fundamentals. More importantly, it was a valuable real-world exercise in advanced troubleshooting, highlighting the necessity of understanding different network exposure strategies (NodePort vs. port-forward) when working in complex, cloud-based environments.