Building a Kubernetes Deployment Pipeline: From Code Push to Production#

A deployment pipeline connects a code commit to a running container in your cluster. This operational sequence walks through building one end-to-end, with decision points at each phase and verification steps to confirm the pipeline works before moving on.

Phase 1 – Source Control and CI#

Step 1: Repository Structure#

Every deployable service needs three things alongside its application code: a Dockerfile, deployment manifests, and a CI pipeline definition.

Kubernetes Deployment Strategies#

Every deployment strategy answers the same question: how do you replace running pods with new ones without breaking things for users? The answer depends on your tolerance for downtime, risk appetite, and infrastructure complexity.

Rolling Update (Default)#

Rolling updates replace pods incrementally. Kubernetes creates new pods before killing old ones, keeping the service available throughout. This is the default strategy for Deployments.

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: web-api
spec:
  replicas: 4
  strategy:
    type: RollingUpdate
    rollingUpdate:
      maxSurge: 1
      maxUnavailable: 1
  minReadySeconds: 10
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: web-api
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: web-api
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: web-api
        image: web-api:2.1.0
        readinessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /healthz
            port: 8080
          initialDelaySeconds: 5
          periodSeconds: 5

Key parameters:

Release Management Patterns#

Releasing software is more than merging to main and deploying. A disciplined release process ensures that every version is identifiable, every change is documented, every deployment is reversible, and failures are contained before they reach all users. This operational sequence walks through each phase of a production release workflow.

Phase 1 – Semantic Versioning#

Step 1: Adopt Semantic Versioning#

Semantic versioning (semver) communicates the impact of changes through the version number itself: MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

Gateway API: The Modern Replacement for Ingress#

The Ingress resource has been the standard way to expose HTTP services in Kubernetes since the early days. It works, but it has fundamental limitations: it only supports HTTP, its routing capabilities are minimal (host and path matching only), and every controller extends it through non-standard annotations that are not portable. Gateway API is the official successor – a set of purpose-built resources that provide richer routing, protocol support beyond HTTP, and a role-oriented design that cleanly separates infrastructure concerns from application concerns.