Deploying & Exposing NGINX on Local Kubernetes (Minikube Lab)

This document provides a structured, step-by-step guide to deploy an NGINX application on a local Kubernetes cluster using Minikube and expose it through a Kubernetes Service.

Ensure the following tools are installed and running:

• ✅ Docker Desktop (running in background)
• ✅ Minikube
• ✅ kubectl
• ✅ Stable Internet connection
• ✅ Basic understanding of Kubernetes YAML files

Verify installations:

minikube version
kubectl version --client
docker --version

Start your local Kubernetes cluster:

minikube start
minikube status

Verify cluster node:

kubectl get nodes

Expected Output:

NAME       STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
minikube   Ready    control-plane   ...

List available addons:

minikube addons list

Enable Metrics Server (for monitoring):

minikube addons enable metrics-server

Open Kubernetes Dashboard:

minikube dashboard

mkdir minikube-nginx
cd minikube-nginx

Create file:

touch deployment.yaml

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: access-app-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx-container
        image: nginx:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Verify:

kubectl get deployments
kubectl get pods

Create file:

touch service.yaml

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: access-app-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: nginx
  ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 80
      targetPort: 80
  type: NodePort

kubectl apply -f service.yaml

Verify:

kubectl get services

minikube service access-app-service

This will automatically open the NGINX application in your browser.

For LoadBalancer support in Minikube:

minikube tunnel

Keep this running in a separate terminal.

Update replicas in deployment.yaml:

replicas: 5

Apply changes:

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Verify:

kubectl get pods

You should now see 5 running pods.

After enabling metrics-server:

kubectl top nodes
kubectl top pods

kubectl get all
kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
kubectl logs <pod-name>
kubectl delete -f deployment.yaml
kubectl delete -f service.yaml

On AKS, expose deployment using LoadBalancer:

kubectl expose deployment access-app-deployment \
  --name=access-app-service \
  --type=LoadBalancer \
  --port=80 \
  --target-port=80

Then check external IP:

kubectl get services

✔ Minikube started ✔ Deployment created ✔ Pods running ✔ Service exposed ✔ Application accessible in browser ✔ Scaling verified ✔ Monitoring enabled

This lab demonstrated:

• Kubernetes Deployment creation
• Replica management
• Service exposure (NodePort / LoadBalancer)
• Local cluster management with Minikube
• Basic monitoring using metrics-server