Getting Started with Kubent: How to Simplify Kubernetes Cluster Operations and Application Deployments

Kubent is an open source Kubernetes management platform that provides a simplified way to deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters and workloads. Kubent makes it easy for developers, DevOps engineers, and platform teams to provision, secure, connect, and monitor Kubernetes infrastructure and applications.

Key Features of Kubent

• Simplified Kubernetes cluster deployment: Kubent provides preconfigured templates and workflows to easily deploy production-grade Kubernetes clusters across public clouds, private datacenters, and edge locations.
• Unified control plane: Kubent offers a unified control plane to consistently manage and operate Kubernetes clusters across diverse infrastructures from a single pane of glass.?
• Role-based access control: Kubent has built-in RBAC support to provide granular access control across teams and enable self-service capabilities.
• Automatic secure connectivity: Kubent sets up secure VPN tunnels and PKI infrastructure to connect and authenticate clusters.
• Integrated monitoring and logging: Kubent comes with Prometheus, Grafana, and Loki integrated to monitor infrastructure, cluster health, and application logs.
• GitOps based configuration: Kubent uses GitOps principles for declarative cluster management and application deployments. Infrastructure and apps can be version controlled.
• Integration with CI/CD systems: Kubent provides integration with popular CI/CD platforms like GitHub Actions, GitLab, Jenkins etc. to automate application deployments.
• Broad platform support: Kubent can be deployed across major public clouds (AWS, GCP, Azure), private clouds (VMware, OpenStack), bare metal, and edge.

Deploying Kubernetes Clusters with Kubent

Kubent provides multiple options to deploy Kubernetes clusters across various infrastructure:

Using Preconfigured Templates

Kubent comes with a library of preconfigured cluster templates optimized for different use cases like development, production, GPU workloads etc.

To use these:

1. Browse the "Templates" section and select a template that matches your needs. You can see details like the Kubernetes version, node counts and machine types.

2. Customize any parameters like node counts, instance types, Kubernetes version etc if needed.

3. Select the cloud or infrastructure provider. Kubent supports major public clouds like AWS, GCP, Azure, and private cloud platforms like VMware, OpenStack, Nutanix etc.

4. Provide infrastructure credentials and location details.

5. Finally click deploy. Kubent will automatically provision the infrastructure and deploy a production-grade and hardened Kubernetes cluster.

Using Terraform Infrastructure Code

For more customization, Kubent allows declaring infrastructure through Terraform code.

1. Create a Terraform module for your desired infrastructure in your Git repo.

2. In the Kubent control plane, provide the Git repo details.

3. Kubent will detect the Terraform module and execute it to provision the infrastructure.

4. Finally it will deploy Kubernetes on top of it and make the cluster available in Kubent.

This enables full customization of infrastructure as code while still getting integrated cluster management capabilities.

Using Existing Infrastructure

You can also import existing Kubernetes clusters deployed outside of Kubent into the control plane. Just select the "Existing Cluster" option during cluster creation and point Kubent to the kubeconfig file.

Kubent will take care of securely connecting the cluster and managing it going forward. This allows you to bring together Kubernetes clusters from multiple environments under a single pane of glass.

Deploying Applications on Kubent

Kubent leverages GitOps patterns to deploy and manage applications declaratively. Some key ways to deploy applications include:

Using Kubernetes Manifests

You can directly deploy applications using Kubernetes YAML/JSON manifests:

1. Add your application manifests (deployments, services etc) to your Git repository.

2. Set up a sync between this repository and your Kubent cluster under "App Management".

3. Whenever you push changes, Kubent will automatically deploy the applications to your cluster.

4. Use Kubernetes native constructs like deployments, services, ingress etc to declare the desired state of your applications.

5. Kubent will monitor and reconcile the actual state to the desired state.

Using Helm Charts

To deploy more complex and production-grade applications, you can leverage Helm charts:

1. Add your application Helm chart to the Git repository.

2. Configure the values.yaml file with deployment parameters.

3. Kubent will deploy the Helm chart with the configured values on every git change.

4. Set up automated CI/CD pipelines to build images and trigger deployments.

Using Kubent App Platform (Beta)

Kubent also includes an App Platform (currently in Beta) with additional abstractions. This allows deploying applications using:

• Components - demand-aware auto-scaling policies
• Routes - automated ingress creation
• Services - auto-generated load balancers

The App Platform provides a higher level abstraction on top of Kubernetes for simplified application management.

Integration with CI/CD

Additionally, Kubent provides deep integration with CI/CD pipelines like GitHub Actions, GitLab, CircleCI etc. This enables fully automating builds, tests, image creation, and deployments to Kubernetes on each code commit.

The GitOps workflows and CI/CD integrations make application deployments easy and automated end-to-end.

Common Use Cases and Scenarios

Accelerated Kubernetes Adoption

• Quickly setup production-grade Kubernetes clusters across on-prem and multi-cloud environments.
• Standardize Kubernetes tooling and practices across teams with builtin best practices.
• Shorten the learning curve for developers and engineers new to Kubernetes.

GitOps Enablement

• Implement GitOps workflows to manage infrastructure and applications.
• Enable developers to use familiar git tools for Kubernetes deployments.
• Automate application deployments through CI/CD integration.

Multi-Cluster Management

• Manage multiple Kubernetes clusters across hybrid or multi-cloud environments from a unified control plane.
• Simplify observability, access control and networking across clusters.
• Burst clusters to clouds to handle usage spikes.

Cluster Operations

• Reduce Kubernetes maintenance and operation overhead for Platform/SRE teams.
• Standardize Kubernetes configurations and validate with policies.
• Automate cluster and node lifecycle operations like upgrades, autoscaling etc.

Regulatory Compliance

• Continuously validate Kubernetes configuration against security and compliance benchmarks.
• Generate audit trails for change tracking and anomaly detection.
• Integrate with security tools like Falco, Sysdig, Twistlock etc.

Conclusion

Kubent provides a powerful control plane to simplify Kubernetes operations for both infrastructure owners and application teams.

With its unified management capabilities, secure connectivity, GitOps integrations, and automated lifecycle management, Kubent helps you run Kubernetes clusters efficiently at scale.

The preconfigured templates, one-click deployments, integrated monitoring, and GitOps based application management help accelerate Kubernetes adoption across organizations.

Whether you are starting with Kubernetes or managing complex multi-cluster environments, Kubent helps you get the most out of Kubernetes and unlocks developer velocity.

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