The Nutanix Kubernetes Platform Administration (NKPA) course teaches you how to deploy, configure, and manage the Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP), a fully turnkey solution built on pure upstream Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) conformant Kubernetes.

You will learn:

• What NKP is, key terms and concepts, how to install NKP in an air-gapped and non-air-gapped environment, and how to license an NKP cluster.
• Various lifecycle management operations for a Kubernetes cluster, including configuring infrastructure; using workspaces; creating, attaching, and scaling clusters; creating projects; and upgrading NKP.
• How to configure and manage access control, by configuring identity providers, creating identity provider groups, configuring workspace and project roles, and binding roles.
• What platform applications are, the categories of platform applications that NKP provides out-of-the-box (monitoring, logging, security, and so on), and how to deploy platform applications.
• How to protect and restore NKP clusters and the applications running on those clusters.
• About the NKP logging stack, how to enable, customize, and scale the logging stack applications, how to restrict logging to specific namespaces, and how to view logs.
• About NKP’s monitoring capabilities, including which components gather metrics, which metrics are exposed, cost monitoring, visualizations using Grafana, and how to configure alert rules and alert notifications.

Prerequisites

• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) training, certification, or equivalent knowledge and/or experience

Related Courses

The following courses are also available:

• Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Exam Prep
• Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD) Exam Prep
• Securing Kubernetes (CKS)

Audience

• IT administrators and similar job roles who manage Nutanix clusters in the datacenter
• DevOps engineers, Kubernetes administrators, and similar jobs roles who manage Kubernetes clusters in their organizations
• Anyone seeking the Nutanix Certified Professional - Cloud Native (NCP-CN) certification

Related Certification

• Nutanix Certified Professional - Cloud Native (NCP-CN)

Course Outline

1: Getting Started with NKP

• Introduction to NKP
• NKP Concepts, Terms, and Components
• Installation Prerequisites
• Installing NKP in an Air-Gapped Nutanix Environment
• Licensing an NKP Cluster

Hands-on-Labs

• Validating NKP Bootstrap Host Configuration
• Adding NKP Images to a Local Registry
• Creating a Bootstrap Kubernetes-in-Docker (KIND) Cluster
• Building a Machine Image Using NIB
• Creating a Management Cluster
• Applying a License

2: Muti-cluster Lifecycle Management

• Configuring Infrastructure
• Using Workspaces
• Creating and Managing Workload Clusters with NKP
• Working with Projects
• Upgrading NKP

Hands-on Labs

• Creating a Workspace
• Creating a Workload Cluster Using the UI
• Creating a Project
• Implementing Continuous Deployment
• Creating a Workload Cluster Using the CLI
• Attaching, Detaching, and Deleting Clusters
• Scaling Clusters

3: Configuring and Managing Access Control

• Working with Identity Providers
• Using Access Control

Hands-on Labs

• Adding an Identity Provider
• Configuring Identity Provider Groups
• Creating Role Bindings
• Creating a Dedicated Login URL and Testing UI Access
• Configuring and Testing CLI Access

4: Working with Platform Applications

• Understanding Platform Applications
• Dependencies and Requirements
• Reviewing Deployed Platform Applications
• Deploying Platform Applications

Hands-on Labs

• Reviewing Deployed Platform Applications
• Using the CLI to Deploy Platform Applications
• Using the UI to Deploy Platform Applications
• Customizing Platform Application Deployments

5: Protecting Clusters and Applications

• Using Velero for Backup and Recovery
• Checking the Status of the Velero Service
• Installing the Velero CLI
• Creating a Backup Schedule
• Creating an On-Demand Backup
• Restoring a Cluster from a Backup

Hands-on Labs

• Installing the Velero CLI
• Reviewing Backups
• Creating a Backup
• Restoring from a Backup

6: Configuring and Managing Cluster Storage

• Logging in NKP
• Logging Architecture
• Enabling the Logging Stack
• Customizing the Logging Stack
• Viewing Cluster-level Log Data
• Admin-level Logs

Hands-on Labs

• Enabling Logging Stack Applications
• Viewing Logs
• Restricting Logging to Specific Namespaces
• Scaling the Logging Stack
• Creating a Support Bundle

7: Monitoring and Alerts

• Metrics
• Cost Monitoring
• Alerts

Hands-on Labs

• Viewing Metrics
• Adding a Custom Dashboard
• Configuring Alerts
• Monitoring Applications