GKE App Onboarding Skill

This skill provides workflows for preparing applications that are not yet running on Kubernetes and deploying them to GKE for the first time.

Workflow

1. App Assessment

Before containerizing, assess the application's requirements:

• Language & Framework: Identify the tech stack.
• Dependencies: List required libraries and services.
• Configuration: Determine how the app is configured (e.g., environment variables, config files).
• Statefulness: Identify if the app needs persistent storage (databases, file storage).
• Networking: Determine port mapping and protocol (HTTP, TCP, etc.).

2. Containerization

Create a container image suitable for the application:

• Dockerfile: Create a Dockerfile in the project root.
• Multi-stage Builds: Recommend multi-stage builds to keep the production image small and secure.
• Logging: Ensure the application logs to stdout and stderr for proper log collection.
• Alternatives: Consider using Cloud Native Buildpacks or Skaffold for automated containerization and development workflows without writing Dockerfiles.

3. Image Management

Build and store the container image:

• Build: Build the image locally or using a CI/CD pipeline.
• Repository: Push the image to Google Artifact Registry.
• Vulnerability Scanning: Enable automatic vulnerability scanning in Artifact Registry to detect security issues in base images and dependencies.

4. Manifest Generation

Generate Kubernetes manifests for the application:

• Namespace: Create a dedicated Namespace for the application to isolate resources.
  • Security: Label the namespace to enforce Pod Security Standards (e.g., pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce: restricted and pod-security.kubernetes.io/enforce-version: latest).
• ServiceAccount: Create a dedicated ServiceAccount for the application. Avoid using the default ServiceAccount to follow the principle of least privilege.
• Deployment: Create a Deployment manifest.
  • Include resource requests and limits.
  • Configure liveness and readiness probes.
  • Reference the dedicated ServiceAccount using the serviceAccountName field.
• Service: Create a Service manifest (e.g., ClusterIP for internal apps, LoadBalancer for external access). For advanced L7 routing, consider using the Gateway API.

5. Initial Deployment

Apply the manifests and verify the deployment:

• Apply: Use kubectl apply -f <manifest-file>.
• Verify: Check pod status with kubectl get pods and ensure the service is accessible.

Next Steps

Once the application is running, use the gke-productionize skill to assess its readiness for production.