Hello there! 👋

If you've followed this newsletter for some time, you should definitely know Márk Sági-Kazár - one of the most prolific independent authors on iximiuz Labs.

To date, Márk has published over a dozen top-notch tutorials, challenges, and playgrounds on Kubernetes, CI/CD, and secret management. Remember the Kube Mysteries: The Invisible Pod hit? That's him!

But what I admire most about Márk's work is not the quantity but the quality. Such meticulous attention to detail, combined with the clarity of explanation, is truly rare. So, I can't be more excited to announce that the very first Kubernetes course on iximiuz Labs is here, and it's authored by Márk!

​Kubernetes the (Very) Hard Way​

The course is a hands-on, step-by-step guide to assembling a Kubernetes cluster from the ground up, while deeply exploring each component's role and functionality.

Inspired by Kelsey Hightower's Kubernetes the Hard Way tutorial, the course guides you through building a Kubernetes cluster manually from scratch, following a bottom-up approach:

• Module 1: Install and configure Worker Node components
• Module 2: Set up the Control Plane
• Module3: Connect everything into a fully functional Cluster

What does the Very Hard Way mean? You won't just install each component and move on: you'll see exactly what it does and how it fits into the system as a whole.

Why is the Very Hard Way the right way? Kubernetes is a complex system with many moving parts. To feel comfortable operating a production Kubernetes cluster, you need to know not just of these moving parts, but why exactly each part is needed and how they interact. So if you want Kubernetes the easy way in production, you need to study it the hard way.

The course is hosted on iximiuz Labs, which means it includes controlled lab environments so you can focus on learning without having to set up or manage virtual machines (and a fully-featured Kubernetes cluster needs quite a few) or worry about the correctness of your steps (the automated verification tasks will have your back).

Márk has been releasing a lesson a week for almost two months now, with the plan to have the entire course available by the upcoming KubeCon EU. By the way, the last lesson of the second module, on kube-controller-manager, is coming out today.

The course is currently free, but the author's effort must be recognised and rewarded, so it'll likely eventually become the first independently priced piece of learning materials on iximiuz Labs. Luckily, Márk has generously offered free early access, so don't miss out and enroll now 👉 Kubernetes the (Very) Hard Way​

Happy learning!

Ivan