Overview

This workshop covers the path from container orchestration fundamentals to secure, production-oriented platform operations.

The workshop focuses on:

• Kubernetes architecture
• declarative resources
• workloads
• networking
• storage
• scheduling
• observability
• GitOps
• multi-tenancy
• security hardening
• incident response

The content can be used as a learning path, workshop material, reference documentation, or foundation for internal training.

Quickstart

This quickstart takes you from choosing a lab environment to starting the first exercise.

Use the Workshop Material

The material is available in the Orthevs Wiki. Practice modules can be downloaded as ZIP files from the workshop page.

Select a Lab Environment

Choose a suitable environment for your labs:

Provision the Lab Environment

Install the required base tools with the existing setup files:

• Provisioning script
• Tooling overview
• Environment troubleshooting

If a provisioning script exists, check it in dry-run mode first:

chmod +x scripts/provision_kubernetes.sh
./scripts/provision_kubernetes.sh --dry-run
sudo ./scripts/provision_kubernetes.sh

Verify the Cluster

After setup, verify that kubectl points to your Kubernetes cluster:

kubectl version --client
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes
kubectl get namespaces

If you work locally with kind, minikube, or k3d, use the existing environment and command documentation:

• Kubernetes commands
• WSL environment
• VM environment

Start the Workshop

Start with the curriculum and then continue through the workshop levels:

1. Read the curriculum
2. Start Fundamentals
3. Open exercises
4. Run examples
5. Prepare assessments

Recommended order:

docs/ -> workshops/ -> examples/ -> exercises/ -> assessments/

Audience

This workshop is intended for:

• developers
• DevOps engineers
• system engineers
• platform engineers
• SREs
• cloud engineers
• tech leads
• security engineers

The goal is to understand Kubernetes conceptually, operate it in realistic environments, and secure it properly.

Learning Path

Structure

• Docs
• Curriculum
• Fundamentals
• Intermediate
• Professional
• Advanced + Security
• Exercises
• Examples
• Assessments

Workshop Structure

All workshop repositories use the same base structure. Only the technical subject matter changes.

.
├── assessments/
├── docs/
├── examples/
├── exercises/
├── media/
│   └── pics/
├── scripts/
├── workshops/
├── LICENSE.md
└── README-EN.md

Prerequisites

You need at least:

• Linux, macOS, or WSL shell
• basic container knowledge
• basic YAML knowledge
• git
• kubectl
• access to a Kubernetes lab environment

Optional but useful:

• kind
• minikube
• k3d
• Helm
• Kustomize
• stern
• k9s
• kubectx
• kubens
• Trivy
• Kyverno

Link Convention

Internal links in this overview lead to the related workshop material. External links point to official project pages.

Examples:

[Read the curriculum](docs/curriculum-kubernetes-EN.md)
[Start Fundamentals](workshops/01-fundamentals-kubernetes-EN.md)
[Set up Ubuntu on WSL](docs/environment-wsl-kubernetes-EN.md)

Official Documentation

• Kubernetes Documentation
• Kubernetes Concepts
• kubectl Reference
• Kubernetes API Reference
• Kubernetes Blog
• Kubernetes GitHub
• CNCF Kubernetes Project
• containerd
• CRI-O
• Helm
• Kustomize
• Ingress NGINX
• Gateway API
• Prometheus Operator
• cert-manager
• ExternalDNS
• Velero
• Kyverno
• OPA Gatekeeper

Tools and Projects

• kubernetes/kubernetes
• kubernetes-sigs/kind
• kubernetes/minikube
• k3s-io/k3s
• helm/helm
• kubernetes-sigs/kustomize
• cilium/cilium
• projectcalico/calico
• prometheus-operator/kube-prometheus
• grafana/loki
• argoproj/argo-cd
• fluxcd/flux2
• kyverno/kyverno
• open-policy-agent/gatekeeper
• falcosecurity/falco
• aquasecurity/trivy

Language and Code Convention

• Markdown content is maintained in German and English, separated by language.
• The German version uses direct du wording.
• Code, commands, file names, variables, and code comments stay in English.
• Production clusters, secrets, tokens, private keys, and customer data must not be used in labs.
• Example values must be clearly recognizable as dummy values.
• Workshop files should follow consistent technical naming.

Working Mode

Create a Branch

Do not work directly on main or master. Use a descriptive branch with username and topic:

git checkout -b workshop/<username>/<topic>

Example:

git checkout -b workshop/alex/kubernetes-networking-lab

Changes should be reviewed through a pull request or merge request.

Security and Credential Notes

• Do not commit passwords.
• Do not commit tokens or API keys.
• Do not commit SSH private keys.
• Do not commit .env files with real secrets.
• Do not commit kubeconfig files with production credentials.
• Do not use customer data or production cluster dumps.
• Use dummy values in example configurations.
• Check .gitignore before adding new examples.

Run Scripts

Check provisioning in dry-run mode first:

chmod +x scripts/provision_kubernetes.sh
./scripts/provision_kubernetes.sh --dry-run

If the output is plausible, run provisioning:

sudo ./scripts/provision_kubernetes.sh

sudo is only required for package installation. Scripts must not execute destructive reset actions without explicit confirmation.

Internal Workshop Links

• Containerd Workshop
• Docker Workshop
• Ubuntu Workshop
• TLS Workshop
• DNS Workshop
• SSH Workshop
• Git Workshop

License

Unless stated otherwise, the educational material is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Commercial use is not permitted.

Important: images and visual media under media/, especially media/pics/, are excluded. These images were created by Anastasios Karasakalidis and may only be displayed as part of this workshop. Separate use, redistribution, modification, or republication is not allowed without prior written permission.

Contact: anastasios.karasakalidis@orthevs.com