k3d VS kubernetes-the-hard-way

K3D: is a lightweight distribution of Kubernetes designed for resource-constrained environments. It is an excellent option for running Kubernetes on virtual machines or cloud servers.

k3d is a lightweight wrapper that makes running Kubernetes (specifically, the lightweight k3s distribution) in Docker straightforward and efficient. It's designed to provide developers with a quick and easy way to test Kubernetes without the overhead of setting up a full cluster.

If you customer prefers to run the standard docker engine you could use k3d

You don’t need to run Rancher from a Kubernetes cluster, the rancher/rancher image works fine with Docker (it uses k3d, aka « k3s in docker » : https://k3d.io/).

K3d and Skaffold for local development

If you are a developer and want to learn how to deploy applications to a cluster, getting a cluster up an running can be a daunting task in it's own rights. There are many ways to do it: spinning up local virtual machines and configuring from scratch or using tools like minikube, etc. You may not care for the pain of setting up and configuring a cluster, and if that is you, then the quickest way that I have found is using k3d.

As I delved into the world of Kubernetes, I opted for what seemed like the scenic route—until reality hit. With determination and a sprinkle of naivety, I plunged into crafting a Kubernetes cluster from scratch. Little did I know, I was in for a wild ride of commands, configurations, and complexities. But fear not! With the guiding light of a course based on the notorious "Kubernetes The Hard Way" GitHub repository, albeit customized for AWS instead of Google Cloud, I embarked on my journey to build my digital fortress, one step at a time.

Another resource that I found pretty helpful was "Kubernetes the Hard Way" by Kelsey Hightower despite its complexity.

https://github.com/kelseyhightower/kubernetes-the-hard-way

I recently published Kubernetes the Harder Way, a guide loosely based on Kelsey Hightower's Kubernetes the Hard Way, but lenghtier, more explanatory, broader in scope, and - most importantly - harder, by targeting a local machine instead of Google Cloud Platform.

How about this? It will setup a kubernetes cluster on GCP with 3 worker nodes?

https://github.com/kelseyhightower/kubernetes-the-hard-way

Some costs here but click on the google cloud calc as it seems to have gone up since he wrote this:

If you wanna go all in: https://github.com/kelseyhightower/kubernetes-the-hard-way

Oh, and both: "Kubernetes up and Running" and "Production Kubernetes" are great books.

Using Kubernetes The Hard Way is a great way to learn it deeply and quickly.

If you wanna learn it deeply and quickly, Kelsey Hightower's Kubernetes the hard way is fantastic!