> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://notes.kodekloud.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sprint 02 review

> This article reviews Sprint 02, focusing on setting up a GKE cluster and understanding Kubernetes fundamentals.

Welcome back! In this lesson, we recap Sprint 02, where we focused on:

| Objective              | Description                                                            |
| ---------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Create a GCP account   | Sign up for Google Cloud Platform and configure billing.               |
| Learn GKE fundamentals | Understand Kubernetes architecture and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). |
| Set up a GKE cluster   | Deploy and initialize a Kubernetes cluster on GCP.                     |

***

## What We Achieved

1. **GCP Account Setup**
   * Registered for a [Google Cloud Platform](https://cloud.google.com) account.
   * Enabled billing and configured IAM permissions.

2. **GKE Fundamentals**
   * Explored key concepts: nodes, pods, control plane, and networking.
   * Reviewed GKE-specific features like auto-scaling and regional clusters.

3. **Cluster Provisioning**
   * Created a GKE cluster using the `gcloud` CLI.
   * Retrieved credentials and verified the cluster’s health.

<Callout icon="triangle-alert" color="#FF6B6B">
  Make sure your IAM user has the **Kubernetes Engine Admin** role before creating a cluster. Insufficient permissions will cause `gcloud container clusters create` to fail.
</Callout>

***

## Essential gcloud & kubectl Commands

```bash theme={null}
# Authenticate with GCP
gcloud auth login

# Set your project ID
gcloud config set project YOUR_PROJECT_ID

# Create a GKE cluster in us-central1-a
gcloud container clusters create my-cluster \
  --zone us-central1-a \
  --machine-type e2-medium \
  --num-nodes 3

# Retrieve cluster credentials for kubectl
gcloud container clusters get-credentials my-cluster \
  --zone us-central1-a

# Verify node status
kubectl get nodes
```

<Callout icon="lightbulb" color="#1CB2FE">
  Always run `gcloud container clusters get-credentials` before executing `kubectl` commands. This ensures your CLI is pointed to the correct cluster endpoint.
</Callout>

***

## Key Takeaways

* Defining sprint tasks is just the starting point; dive into related subtasks (e.g., authentication, IAM) for a deeper understanding.
* Hands-on practice with `gcloud` and `kubectl` cements your GKE workflow.
* Validating cluster connectivity early prevents common deployment headaches.

***

## Next Steps: Sprint 03 Preview

In Sprint 03, we will:

* Deploy a sample application using a Kubernetes Deployment and Service.
* Scale workloads with the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler.
* Perform rolling updates to achieve zero-downtime releases.

***

## Links and References

* [Google Cloud Platform](https://cloud.google.com)
* [GKE Documentation](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs)
* [kubectl CLI Reference](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/)
* [Kubernetes Basics](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/what-is-kubernetes/)

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  <Card title="Watch Video" icon="video" cta="Learn more" href="https://learn.kodekloud.com/user/courses/gcp-devops-project/module/e0cc2e03-d889-468c-af73-0866856711aa/lesson/c288f12c-b0df-4db6-be57-036549e0b3c8" />
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