How do I deploy containerized apps with Kubernetes?

Deploying containerized apps with Kubernetes usually looks like this:

1) Build and push your container image

First, package your app into a Docker/OCI image and push it to a registry.

docker build -t myrepo/myapp:1.0 .
docker push myrepo/myapp:1.0

Common registries:

• Docker Hub
• GitHub Container Registry
• AWS ECR / GCP Artifact Registry / Azure ACR

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2) Create Kubernetes manifests

You typically define:

• Deployment: runs and manages your app pods
• Service: exposes your app inside or outside the cluster
• Optional: Ingress, ConfigMap, Secret, HPA, etc.

Example Deployment

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: myapp
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: myapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: myapp
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: myapp
        image: myrepo/myapp:1.0
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080

Example Service

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: myapp-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: myapp
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 8080
  type: ClusterIP

Apply them:

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f service.yaml

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3) Expose the app

If you want external access, use one of these:

• ClusterIP: internal-only
• NodePort: exposes on each node’s port
• LoadBalancer: provisions a cloud load balancer
• Ingress: HTTP/HTTPS routing with a controller like NGINX or Traefik

Example LoadBalancer service:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: myapp-lb
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: myapp
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 8080

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4) Verify deployment

Check pods, services, and rollout status:

kubectl get pods
kubectl get svc
kubectl rollout status deployment/myapp

View logs:

kubectl logs deploy/myapp

Describe a pod if something is wrong:

kubectl describe pod <pod-name>

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5) Add environment config and secrets

Use ConfigMaps for non-sensitive config:

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: myapp-config
data:
  APP_ENV: production

Use Secrets for sensitive values:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
metadata:
  name: myapp-secret
type: Opaque
stringData:
  DB_PASSWORD: supersecret

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6) Use health checks

Add liveness and readiness probes so Kubernetes can restart unhealthy containers and avoid sending traffic too early:

livenessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /health
    port: 8080
  initialDelaySeconds: 10
  periodSeconds: 10

readinessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /ready
    port: 8080
  initialDelaySeconds: 5
  periodSeconds: 5

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7) Update safely

Kubernetes Deployments support rolling updates by default. Update the image and re-apply:

kubectl set image deployment/myapp myapp=myrepo/myapp:1.1

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8) Optional: use Helm or Kustomize

For real-world deployments:

• Helm: templated package manager
• Kustomize: overlay-based customization

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Typical workflow

1. Code app
2. Build container image
3. Push image to registry
4. Write Kubernetes manifests
5. kubectl apply
6. Expose with Service/Ingress
7. Monitor logs and health
8. Roll out updates

If you want, I can also give you:

• a complete end-to-end example
• a Kubernetes YAML template for a web app
• or steps to deploy on EKS/GKE/AKS/minikube