Kevin Morris

NetworkPolicy From Memory. No Mistakes.

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 22:08:02 -0400

Cert exam incoming. Been drilling hard — writing YAML from scratch, no peeking at docs.

Today I wrote all the NetworkPolicy patterns from memory. No mistakes. 🥹

NetworkPolicy is the one topic everyone says trips them up — the ingress/egress selector logic, podSelector scoping, default deny patterns. It clicked. Apparently all this hardcore study is sinking in way more than I thought.

That’s the difference between “I think I’m ready” and “I know I’m ready.” Sure, you can look things up on the exam — but why burn time when you already know exactly what resource you need and where every field goes?

Devops Journey

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:47:14 -0400

I spent 20 years in semiconductor engineering.

Good salary. Somewhat stable career, lol. Respected field. Learned a lot. For a long time, that was enough. At some point it stopped being enough — probably further back than I care to admit, but here I am.

It wasn’t a dramatic moment or a single bad day. Just a slow realization that I had spent a long time being good at something I really didn’t want to keep doing.

Replicasets

Fri, 06 Feb 2026 15:54:06 -0500

Replicaset Link to heading

Replicasets are a fun topic…this new object replaces the old “Replication Controller”. Replicaset (shortname “rs”) can control pods that are not created within the replicaset or other deployment by simply matching labels.

Details Link to heading

a single pod crashes then loses access to app - idea to have more than one instance of a pod
another reason - to create multiple pods to share the load and balance
spans across multiple nodes
scales when demand increases

Setup Link to heading

create YAML
use 4 top level objects - api/kind/metadata/spec
create POD template section under SPEC
to create POD template MOVE the normal fields: metadata, name, labels and spec…usually defined in POD
move thos fields under spec.template

ReplicaSet Link to heading

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: ReplicaSet
metadata:
 name: my-replicaset
 labels:
 app: myapp
 type: frontend
spec:
 template:
 metadata:
 name: myapp-pod
 labels:
 app: myapp
 type: frontend
 spec:
 containers:
 -  name: nginx-container
 image: nginx
 replicas: 3
 selector:
 matchLabels:
 type: frontend

ReplicaSet can handle other pods that haven’t been created under the yaml file
SELECTOR is the difference for the ReplicaSet
MUST use selector.matchLabels

Labels and Selectors Link to heading

use to monitor existing pods is one use case
role of replicaSet is to monitor and deploy if any fail
use same label set in “MatchLabels” and it knows which pods
spec.replicas
spec.selector.matchLabels.type

Scale Link to heading

increase REPLICAS

1st method update number of replica field in definition file then use REPLACE cmd kubectl replace -f replica-set.yaml

Cluster Upgrade

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 16:36:05 -0500

Cluster Upgrade Link to heading

Well, that was interesting! Had a few tab completions fail and made me inquisitive. Turns out - mismatch between control plane and worker nodes AND kubectl client!

Gave the cluster the once over and found BREW overriding kubectl. What the heck is brew doing on the control plane? Must have been ssh into the node when I was working on devpod as I found mise had installed all my packages from config.toml there. The brew is on me though! 🤯 Smh…

kubectl

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 09:18:32 -0500

Kubectl Link to heading

Kubernetes Command Line interface Link to heading

kubectl is essentially the command you will use most often to interface with Kubernetes. It is used to deploy and manage applications on k8s cluster. It is pronounced “cube-see-tee-ELL” and don’t let anyone tell you different! 😄

“k8s” is short for Kubernetes, where the number eight means the letters between ‘K’ and “s” in Kubernetes.

YAML in Kubernetes

Tue, 25 Nov 2025 19:58:21 -0500

A pod definition file always contains the 4 top-level fields

apiVersion
kind
metadata
spec

These are top-level or root-level fields. REQUIRED fields.

pod-definition.yml

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
 name: myapp-pod
 labels:
 app: myapp
 type: front-end 
spec:
 containers:
 -  name: nginx-container
 image: nginx

apiVersion Link to heading

version of K8S api to create object
must use correct version depending on what create

Kind	Version
POD	v1
Service	v1
ReplicaSet	apps/v1
Deployment	apps/v1

Kind Link to heading

see in kind field in table above

Metadata Link to heading

name, labels, app

Spec Link to heading

containers
name
image

kubectl create Link to heading

kubectl create -f pod-definition.yaml

Above will deploy pod based on YAML file

Pods in Kubernetes

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 23:21:32 -0400

Pod Link to heading

Kubernetes ultimate aim is to deploy apps in CONTAINERS on a set of machines configured as WORKER NODES in a CLUSTER
Kubernetes aka “k8s” does not deploy containers DIRECTLY on worker nodes
Containers are encapsulated into a Kubernetes object known as POD
A pod is a single instance of an application
A pod is the SMALLEST object you can create in Kubernetes

Pod Example Link to heading

Below is a very simple example of a YAML file. The file deploys a pod named “my-pod” with the image “nginx”.

Projects

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 21:14:59 -0400

Nothing to see at the moment!

Site under construction.

About

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 21:08:57 -0400

Kevin Morris Link to heading

Command Line Traveller ☸️ Link to heading

Hi there! My name is Kevin and I’m an engineer going full throttle DevOps — which makes me a Kubernetes disciple. Before you throw shade or break out the memes: k8s is a tool, a solution, and it is NOT for every case. Kubernetes is container orchestration and management — a self-healing system that constantly drives toward your desired state. That can be big or small, but it’s never one size fits all.

Deployments

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 22:08:02 -0400

Deployment Link to heading

higher level OBJECT encapsulate pods/containers make changes rolling updates some pods, not all, etc

CONTAINER inside POD PODS inside REPLICASET all of that contained in DEPLOYMENT

myapp-deployment.yaml Link to heading

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
 name: myapp-deployment
 labels:
 app: myapp
 type: front-end
spec:
 replicas: 3
 selector:
 matchLabels:
 type: front-end
 template:
 metadata:
 name: myapp-pod
 labels:
 app: myapp
 type: front-end
 spec:
 containers:
 - name: nginx-container
 image: nginx

Commands Link to heading

`kubectl create -f deployment.yaml

Homelab

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 09:24:54 -0400

Careus Link to heading

Careus is born! 😀

Caerus, was the Greek god of opportunity, luck, and favorable moments. He was depicted as a young, winged, and fleeting youth, with a lock of hair on his forehead that could be seized, but a bald head in the back, symbolizing that once an opportunity passes, it cannot be regained.

That’s the reason I named my homelab “Careus”. ☸️