I set up Claude Code on this blog’s own repo - a root CLAUDE.md, a .claude/rules/ directory, skills under .claude/skills/ - and ended up cross-referencing it against the equivalent GitHub Copilot setup I’d built on a CDK project. Copilot centralises everything under .github/ and scopes by path through frontmatter. Claude Code works the opposite way: it walks the directory tree from wherever you launch it, loading any CLAUDE.md it finds along the way. ...

I sat the Kubernetes and Cloud Native Associate (KCNA) and passed. KCNA is the entry-level CNCF certification - it covers Kubernetes fundamentals and the wider cloud native landscape at a conceptual level, and it is the natural first step before the hands-on CKA, CKAD, and CKS exams. It is a multiple-choice exam, so it rewards knowing what the pieces are and how they relate, not hands-on kubectl skill. If you already work with Kubernetes, a lot of this will be familiar, so calibrate the prep to what you already know. ...

This is Chapter 2 of the Kubernetes Fundamentals series. Installing kubectl Install kubectl before a local cluster tool like minikube - minikube depends on it being present. kubectl reference kubectl Quick Reference Install kubectl - official install steps per OS Confirm kubectl can reach the cluster: kubectl cluster-info List the nodes in it: kubectl get nodes Check a node’s details - capacity, conditions, and what’s running on it: kubectl describe nodes Output formatting kubectl [command] [TYPE] [NAME] -o <format> controls how a command’s output is rendered: ...

This is Chapter 1 of the Kubernetes Fundamentals series. Nodes and clusters A node (sometimes called a minion) is a worker machine in Kubernetes - a collection of Pods runs on it. Multiple nodes together form a cluster. One node in that cluster is the master node - it watches over the worker nodes, orchestrates containers across them, and is where Kubernetes itself is installed. The five components Installing Kubernetes means installing five components. A mnemonic worth keeping: Api-server, Etcd, Kubelet, Controller, Scheduler: ...

The Kubernetes Fundamentals domain in my KCNA study notes assumes container runtime knowledge going in - Docker, in practice, since it’s still the most common way people get there. The Kubernetes Fundamentals series is the companion to this post, one level up the stack. Prerequisites WSL2 with Ubuntu on Windows, or native Linux/macOS sudo access on the machine you’re installing on A Docker Hub account if you want to push images Installing Docker On WSL2/Ubuntu, install Docker Engine directly rather than Docker Desktop - run this from your home directory in the WSL2 shell: ...