Operator SDK basics in Kubernetes - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Operator SDK basics

📖 Scenario: You are starting to build a Kubernetes Operator using the Operator SDK. Operators help automate tasks in Kubernetes clusters by managing custom resources.In this project, you will create a new Operator project, configure it, add a simple API, and then display the project structure.

🎯 Goal: Build a basic Operator SDK project with a simple API and show its structure.

📋 What You'll Learn

Use Operator SDK CLI commands to create and configure the project

Create an API with specific group, version, and kind

Display the project directory structure

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Operators automate complex application management tasks in Kubernetes, such as deploying, scaling, and healing applications automatically.

💼 Career

Knowing how to use the Operator SDK is valuable for DevOps engineers and Kubernetes administrators who want to extend Kubernetes capabilities with custom automation.

1

Create a new Operator SDK project

Run the command operator-sdk init --domain=example.com --repo=github.com/example/memcached-operator to create a new Operator SDK project with domain example.com and repository github.com/example/memcached-operator.

Kubernetes

# Run the operator-sdk init command to create the project
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This command initializes a new Operator project with the specified domain and repository path.

2

Create a new API for the Operator

Run the command operator-sdk create api --group cache --version v1 --kind Memcached --resource --controller to add a new API group cache, version v1, and kind Memcached with resource and controller.

Kubernetes

operator-sdk init --domain=example.com --repo=github.com/example/memcached-operator
# Run the operator-sdk create api command to add the Memcached API
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This command creates the API and controller files for the Memcached kind in the cache group.

3

Build the Operator project

Run the command make build to compile the Operator project into a binary.

Kubernetes

operator-sdk init --domain=example.com --repo=github.com/example/memcached-operator
operator-sdk create api --group cache --version v1 --kind Memcached --resource --controller
# Run make build to compile the operator
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This command compiles the operator code into an executable binary.

4

Show the project directory structure

Run the command tree -L 2 to display the directory structure of the Operator project up to two levels deep.

Kubernetes

operator-sdk init --domain=example.com --repo=github.com/example/memcached-operator
operator-sdk create api --group cache --version v1 --kind Memcached --resource --controller
make build
# Run tree -L 2 to show the project structure
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This command shows the folder and file layout of your Operator project.