Kubernetes (K8s) is an open-source container orchestration platform that automates the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes that helps define, install, and upgrade applications efficiently.
In this guide, we will:
✅ Install Kubernetes and Helm on a local cluster
✅ Deploy .NET Core APIs using Helm charts
✅ Monitor services with K9s and Prometheus
1. Installing Kubernetes and Helm on a Local Cluster
1.1 Prerequisites
Ensure you have the following installed on your system:
- Docker (for running containers)
- Minikube or Kind (for local Kubernetes cluster setup)
- Kubectl (command-line tool for Kubernetes)
- Helm (package manager for Kubernetes)
1.2 Setting Up Kubernetes Locally with Minikube
To install Minikube:
curl -LO https://storage.googleapis.com/minikube/releases/latest/minikube-linux-amd64
sudo install minikube-linux-amd64 /usr/local/bin/minikube
Start a Minikube cluster:
minikube start --cpus 2 --memory 4096
Verify the installation:
kubectl cluster-info
1.3 Installing Helm
Download and install Helm:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash
Verify Helm installation:
helm version
2. Deploying .NET Core APIs Using Helm Charts
2.1 Creating a Sample .NET Core API
Create a new .NET Web API project:
dotnet new webapi -n SampleApi
cd SampleApi
Build the Docker image:
docker build -t sample-api .
Push the image to a local registry or Docker Hub:
docker tag sample-api localhost:5000/sample-api
2.2 Writing a Helm Chart for Deployment
Create a new Helm chart:
helm create sample-chart
cd sample-chart
Modify values.yaml to configure the container image:
image:
repository: localhost:5000/sample-api
tag: latest
service:
type: ClusterIP
port: 80
Deploy the API using Helm:
helm install sample-api ./sample-chart
Check the deployment:
kubectl get pods
3. Monitoring Services with K9s and Prometheus
3.1 Installing K9s
K9s is a terminal-based UI for managing Kubernetes clusters:
curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/k9s | bash
Run K9s:
k9s
3.2 Installing Prometheus for Monitoring
Add the Prometheus Helm repository:
helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
Install Prometheus:
helm install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack
Access Prometheus:
kubectl port-forward svc/prometheus-kube-prometheus-stack-prometheus 9090
Conclusion
In this guide, we covered:
✅ Setting up Kubernetes and Helm locally
✅ Deploying a .NET Core API using Helm charts
✅ Monitoring services with K9s and Prometheus
Using Kubernetes and Helm, developers can easily deploy and manage .NET Core APIs locally before moving them to production environments. 🚀