Each chapter will assume that you have a working Kubernetes cluster. It doesn't matter whether that's a single-node cluster running locally or a fully operational production-like cluster. What matters is that you have (at least) one.

We won't go into details how to create a Kubernetes cluster. I'm sure that you already know how to do that and that you have kubectl installed on your laptop. If that's not the case, you might want to read Appendix A: Installing kubectl and Creating A Cluster With minikube. While minikube is great for running a local single-node Kubernetes cluster, you'll probably want to try some of the ideas in a more production-like cluster. I hope that you already have a "real" Kubernetes cluster running in AWS, GKE, DigitalOcean, on-prem, or somewhere else. If you don't, and you don't know how to create one, please read Appendix B: Using Kubernetes Operations (kops). It'll give you just enough information you need to prepare, create, and destroy a cluster.

Even though Appendix A and Appendix B explain how to create a Kubernetes cluster locally and in AWS, you do not need to limit yourself to minikube locally and kops in AWS. I did my best to provide instructions on some of the most commonly used flavors of Kubernetes clusters.

In most cases, the same examples and commands will work in all of the tested combinations. When that is not the case, you'll see a note explaining what should be done to accomplish the same result in your favorite Kubernetes and hosting flavor. Even if you use something else, you should have no problems adapting the commands and specifications to comply with your platform.

Each chapter will contain a short list of requirements that your Kubernetes cluster will need to meet. If you are unsure about some of the requirements, I prepared a few Gists with the commands I used to create them. Since each chapter might need different cluster components and sizes, the Gists used for setting up a cluster might differ from one chapter to another. Please use them as guidelines, not necessarily as the exact commands you should execute. After all, the book assumes that you already have some Kubernetes knowledge. It would be tough to claim that you are not a Kubernetes newbie and yet you never created a Kubernetes cluster.

Long story short, the prerequisites are hands-on experience with Kubernetes and at least one Kubernetes cluster.