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In this guide, you’ll deploy a stateless Nginx web server to your Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) cluster. We’ll use the official nginx:latest Docker image, scale it to two replicas, and expose it externally via a LoadBalancer service.

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Prerequisites

  • An active LKE cluster with at least one node
  • kubectl configured to target your LKE cluster
  • Basic familiarity with Kubernetes concepts

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1. Define Your Deployment and Service

Create a manifest file named nginx.yaml: 
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx-deployment
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx-deployment
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginxservice
spec:
  selector:
    app: nginx-deployment
  ports:
  - protocol: TCP
    port: 80
    targetPort: 80
  type: LoadBalancer
The LoadBalancer service type on LKE provisions a cloud load balancer and assigns it an external IP automatically.

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2. Verify Your Context and Apply the Manifest

  1. Confirm you’re connected to the correct cluster: 
    kubectl config current-context
  2. List your nodes to ensure they’re Ready: 
    kubectl get nodes

    NAME                           STATUS   ROLES    AGE    VERSION
lke61875-96182-628e15174c4b   Ready    <none>   15m    v1.23.6
  3. Deploy the Nginx resources: 
    kubectl apply -f nginx.yaml

    deployment.apps/nginx-deployment created
service/nginxservice created

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3. Monitor Your Deployment

Use these commands to check the status of your pods, deployments, and service:
CommandDescription
kubectl get podsList all pods and their status
kubectl get deploymentsShow deployment rollout status
kubectl get svcDisplay service endpoints
Example output: 
kubectl get pods
NAME                                    READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
nginx-deployment-588c8d7b4b2jvf6        1/1     Running   0          30s
nginx-deployment-588c8d7b4b4975w        1/1     Running   0          30s

kubectl get deployments
NAME               READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
nginx-deployment   2/2     2            2           45s

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4. Retrieve the External IP

kubectl get svc nginxservice
You should see output similar to: 
NAME           TYPE           CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP       PORT(S)        AGE
nginxservice   LoadBalancer   10.128.88.229   104.200.23.238    80:31279/TCP   17s
It can take a minute or two for the EXTERNAL-IP to provision. If <pending> appears, wait a bit and run the command again.

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5. Access Nginx in Your Browser

Open your web browser and navigate to: 
http://104.200.23.238
You should see the default Nginx welcome page, confirming your application is live behind a cloud load balancer.

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6. Inspect via the Kubernetes Dashboard

You can also verify the deployment and service in the Kubernetes Dashboard.
The image shows a Kubernetes dashboard displaying workloads, including deployments and pods, with details about an Nginx deployment. The interface lists various Kubernetes resources like Cron Jobs, Daemon Sets, and Replica Sets.
Here you’ll find the nginx-deployment with two Pods and a ReplicaSet.
The image shows a Kubernetes dashboard displaying details of a service named "nginxservice," including its type as a LoadBalancer, cluster IP, and endpoints. The interface also lists various Kubernetes resources like Workloads, Services, and Config Maps.
Inspect the nginxservice object to confirm it’s of type LoadBalancer with the correct cluster IP and external endpoints.
The image shows a Kubernetes dashboard displaying services, including "nginxservice" and "kubernetes," with details like type and IP addresses. The sidebar lists various Kubernetes resources such as Workloads and Config Maps.

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