Linkerd 2 Developers Workshop 2023

Install docker desktop, enable kubernetes, and set up a linkerd installation with the linkerd cli on macOS and Windows, then install the linkerd control plane and clone lab yaml files.

Download Docker Desktop for macOS (including Mac M1 and Intel support) from docker.com, install by dragging to applications, then run docker run hello world to verify the engine is running.

Install Docker Desktop for Windows 10 Pro using Hyper-V, download from docker.com, and verify with a hello world test after logging out and back in.

Install docker desktop on Windows Home using WSL, download the Windows installer, complete admin-enabled installation, install the WSL2 kernel update if prompted, and test with docker run hello world.

Enable Kubernetes in Docker Desktop for macOS and Windows, navigate to preferences, select Kubernetes, enable it, apply and restart, then verify with kubectl version to support course labs.

Learn to install Linkerd on macOS with Homebrew, install CRDs, perform pre-flight checks, apply YAML to Kubernetes, install Linkerd SMI, and verify with Linkerd checks.

Install Linkerd on Windows, add the binary to your path, and install the CRDs before deploying to Kubernetes; then install Linkerd SMI and run checks.

Install viz for linkerd by piping linkerd viz install to kubectl apply in your Kubernetes environment, then run linkerd check and open viz dashboard to view it in your browser.

Clone the GitLab lab files and haystack image tar, then load the image into Docker to prepare the Kubernetes lab environment and deploy YAML resources.

Load the haystack image tar into Docker with the docker load command from the Linkerd labs directory. Verify the load by listing images and grep haystack.

Explore how the Linkerd service mesh works, learn the tools and steps for developers to add your application, and complete a hands-on lab walkthrough.

Explore how Linkerd sidecar injection adds the proxy and init containers to your pods when deploying to Kubernetes, simplifying updates without manual YAML.

Explore how Kubernetes admission controllers trigger mutating webhook configurations to inject Linkerd sidecars into resource definitions, using the Linkerd proxy injector in the control plane and its webhook endpoint.

Learn to enable the Linkerd service mesh by using Kubernetes annotations, placing linkerd.io/inject: enabled in the pod template metadata so the admission webhook injects the sidecar.

Add existing applications to the Linkerd service mesh by editing the deployment with kubectl edit and enabling the linkerd.io/inject annotation in the spec template.

Learn how to use Linkerd inject to add the correct annotation to Kubernetes deployment YAML, output the injected file, and apply it with kubectl or save for Gitops workflows.

Mesh a Kubernetes application by injecting the Linkerd sidecar and init containers, using annotations or Linkerd inject, and verify via kubectl and the dashboard for metrics.

Explore the Linkerd viz tool to monitor network traffic metrics in your data plane, diagnose Kubernetes issues, and gain hands-on practice with the Viz dashboard and command-line interactions.

Explore the viz dashboard to monitor meshed resources, deployments, and pods, view traffic, latency, and golden signals, and use tap, top, and routes for insights.

Learn to use the viz stat command to monitor deployment meshing, the success rate, RPS, and latency percentiles for debugging when the graphical dashboard is unavailable.

Learn how to use the Linkerd vs edges command to map traffic between Kubernetes resources in a namespace, showing a src-dst table with source, destination, and secured status.

Learn how to tap live traffic in a Linkerd meshed Kubernetes app using the dashboard and the tap command, with TCP requirements and sidecar injection for debugging individual requests.

Learn to monitor live traffic in your service mesh with linker d viz top, comparing dashboard data and the linker device top in the default namespace pass through deployment.

Identify the library service's 500 errors by inspecting the books endpoint with the Linkerd dashboard, top, and live traffic tap to locate the root cause.

Discover how to add retries and enhanced metrics using service profiles, a Kubernetes CRD installed with Linkerd, and learn to create and verify the resource in your application.

Learn how to define a Linkerd service profile (CRD) with a YAML example, including API version, kind, metadata name, and route configurations for each endpoint to enable retries.

Discover multiple ways to generate a Linkerd service profile, including templates, command line options, and live traffic tapping, plus support for gRPC, Swagger, and OpenAPI definitions.

Learn to generate Linkerd service profile templates with the template option using a service name and namespace, auto-populating the name metadata, and validate routes by command line or dashboard workflows.

Explore generating Linkerd service profiles from an open API specification using swagger, editor, and yaml, then build profiles with the dash open api option for the books db service.

Learn to generate Linkerd service profiles using the --tap flag, running a tap for ten seconds on a deployment to auto-populate routes and metadata in a books service profile.

Configure Linkerd retries in the service profile to boost reliability at the sidecar proxy, and understand how retries trigger on error codes and timeouts, with YAML settings like is retrievable.

Apply Linkerd service profiles to your app to add a Linkerd root, view route metrics in the dashboard, and verify retries with kubectl and the lab examples.

Learn to add retries to a Kubernetes app with Linkerd service profiles, using dashboard templates, tap-based generation, or OpenAPI swagger, to drive pet store reliability toward 100% with noted latency.

Learn how traffic splits route traffic across multiple backend services and implement blue-green and canary deployment patterns in Linkerd, with a hands-on lab to test what you learn.

Explain blue-green deployment as a type of canary deployment with two side-by-side versions, a front split service, and traffic split CRD.

Learn the yaml format for the traffic split CRD in Linkerd, extending the Kubernetes API with a two-backend routing definition. Weights determine traffic distribution, with sums and proportional scaling explained.

Set up a traffic split using the SMI spec, edit the yaml with the correct api version, and configure the service, backends, and weights for a blue-green deployment.

Implement blue-green deployments with traffic splits in Linkerd, progressively shifting weights from blue to green across four stages, validating metrics before proceeding.

Learn to perform blue-green deployments with Linkerd by shifting traffic with traffic split and kubectl edits, monitor with the dashboard, and roll back on errors.