Kubernetes — PODs with Imperative Way
Step-01: PODs Introduction
What is a Pod? (short intro)
A Pod is the smallest deployable object in Kubernetes. It wraps one (usually) container instance of your application and provides a shared networking and storage context for that container. When you want to run a container on Kubernetes, you create a Pod that holds it.
What is a Multi-Container Pod? (short intro)
A Multi-Container Pod contains two or more containers that must run together and share the same network namespace and storage. These are used for tightly-coupled helper patterns (sidecars) like log collectors, data pullers/pushers, or content generators that the main container consumes.
Step-02: PODs Demo (Imperative)
Step-02-01: Get Worker Nodes Status
Verify your kubeconfig is set and that worker nodes are Ready.
# Configure kubeconfig for kubectl (replace placeholders)
gcloud container clusters get-credentials <CLUSTER-NAME> --region <REGION> --project <PROJECT-NAME>
# Example
gcloud container clusters get-credentials standard-public-cluster-1 --region us-central1 --project gcp-zero-to-hero-468909
# Get Worker Node Status
kubectl get nodes
# Get Worker Node Status with wide option
kubectl get nodes -o wide
Step-02-02: Create a Pod
Create a Pod imperatively using kubectl run.
# Template
kubectl run <desired-pod-name> --image <Container-Image>
# Replace Pod Name & Container Image
kubectl run my-first-pod --image ghcr.io/stacksimplify/kubenginx:1.0.0
Step-02-03: List Pods
# List Pods
kubectl get pods
# Alias: po
kubectl get po
Step-02-04: List Pods with wide option
This shows which node each Pod is running on (and other extra info).
# List Pods with Wide Option
kubectl get pods -o wide
Step-02-05: What happened in the background when the Pod was created?
When you ran kubectl run:
Kubernetes created a Pod object in the cluster.
- The node agent (kubelet) scheduled the Pod to a worker node (or the scheduler did).
- The node pulled the Docker image from the registry (Docker Hub, GitHub Packages, etc.).
- Kubernetes created the container inside the Pod and started it.
These are the key lifecycle actions that lead to a running container inside a Pod.
Step-02-06: Describe Pod (troubleshooting)
kubectl describe is essential for debugging. Look at Events for errors, image pulls, scheduling info, readiness/liveness failures, etc.
# Get list of pod names
kubectl get pods
# Describe the Pod (replace with your pod name)
kubectl describe pod <Pod-Name>
kubectl describe pod my-first-pod
Observation:
Review the Events section closely — it usually tells you why something failed (image pull errors, crashloops, scheduling issues, etc.).
Step-02-07: Access the Application
- Right now the Pod is only reachable inside the cluster (on the node / cluster network).
- To access the app externally, create a Service (NodePort or LoadBalancer).
- Services are a key Kubernetes concept — they provide stable networking (VIP) and load-balancing in front of Pods.
Step-02-08: Delete Pod
Clean up when you’re done.
# Get list of pods
kubectl get pods
# Delete Pod
kubectl delete pod <Pod-Name>
kubectl delete pod my-first-pod
Wrap-up / Tips
- This is the imperative approach — you used kubectl commands to create and manage Pods directly.
- For production or repeatable setups, prefer the declarative approach (YAML + kubectl apply -f) so you can version-control manifests.
- Use kubectl describe and kubectl logs frequently when debugging.
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— Latchu | Senior DevOps & Cloud Engineer
☁️ AWS | GCP | ☸️ Kubernetes | 🔐 Security | ⚡ Automation
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