Managing Directories Demo

Organizing and scaling your Kubernetes manifests becomes much simpler when you adopt a consistent directory structure and leverage Kustomize. In this guide, we’ll walk through:

Defining a clear directory layout
Deploying resources manually with kubectl
Introducing Kustomize for centralized and per-directory customization

Directory Layout

Under the k8s/ folder, structure your manifests by component:

k8s/
├── api/
├── cache/
└── db/

Directory	Components
k8s/api	API Deployment & Service
k8s/cache	Redis Deployment, Service & Credentials
k8s/db	MongoDB Deployment, Service & Credentials

Each subfolder contains the YAML files for its service.

Sample Manifests

Database Deployment (`db/db-depl.yaml`)

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: db-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      component: db
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        component: db
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: mongo
        image: mongo
        env:
        - name: MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_USERNAME
          valueFrom:
            configMapKeyRef:
              name: db-credentials
              key: username
        - name: MONGO_INITDB_ROOT_PASSWORD
          valueFrom:
            configMapKeyRef:
              name: db-credentials
              key: password

Redis Service (`cache/redis-service.yaml`)

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: redis-cluster-ip-service
spec:
  type: ClusterIP
  selector:
    component: redis
  ports:
  - port: 6379
    targetPort: 6379

Redis Credentials (`cache/redis-config.yaml`)

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: redis-credentials
data:
  username: "redis"
  password: "password123"

Manual Deployment

Apply each directory in sequence:

kubectl apply -f k8s/api
kubectl apply -f k8s/cache
kubectl apply -f k8s/db

Or chain them:

kubectl apply -f k8s/api -f k8s/cache -f k8s/db

Make sure your kubectl context is pointed to the correct cluster and you have permission to create resources.

Cleaning Up

kubectl delete -f k8s/api -f k8s/cache -f k8s/db

Introducing Kustomize

Kustomize lets you define and compose resources without template syntax. Start by creating a root kustomization.yaml under k8s/:

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
resources:
  - api/api-depl.yaml
  - api/api-service.yaml
  - cache/redis-config.yaml
  - cache/redis-depl.yaml
  - cache/redis-service.yaml
  - db/db-config.yaml
  - db/db-depl.yaml
  - db/db-service.yaml

Generate the merged manifest:

kustomize build k8s/

Apply directly to the cluster:

kustomize build k8s/ | kubectl apply -f -

Or use kubectl’s built-in Kustomize support:

You can apply overlays without installing the standalone Kustomize binary by running:

kubectl apply -k k8s/

See [Kubectl apply documentation].

Verify your pods:

kubectl get pods

Per-Directory Kustomization

For better modularity, place a kustomization.yaml in each subfolder.

`api/kustomization.yaml`

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
resources:
  - api-depl.yaml
  - api-service.yaml

`cache/kustomization.yaml`

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
resources:
  - redis-config.yaml
  - redis-depl.yaml
  - redis-service.yaml

`db/kustomization.yaml`

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
resources:
  - db-config.yaml
  - db-depl.yaml
  - db-service.yaml

Finally, update the root kustomization.yaml to reference directories:

apiVersion: kustomize.config.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Kustomization
resources:
  - api/
  - cache/
  - db/

Apply all components in one command:

kubectl apply -k k8s/

Confirm everything is running:

kubectl get pods

This scalable structure keeps your manifests organized and ready for production-grade overlays.

Introduction

Kustomize Basics

Secret/Config Generator

Other Commands

Kustomize Overview

Capstone Project

Managing Directories Demo

Directory Layout

Sample Manifests

Database Deployment (`db/db-depl.yaml`)

Redis Service (`cache/redis-service.yaml`)

Redis Credentials (`cache/redis-config.yaml`)

Manual Deployment

Cleaning Up

Introducing Kustomize

Per-Directory Kustomization

`api/kustomization.yaml`

`cache/kustomization.yaml`

`db/kustomization.yaml`

Links and References

Watch Video

Practice Lab

​Directory Layout

​Sample Manifests

​Database Deployment (db/db-depl.yaml)

​Redis Service (cache/redis-service.yaml)

​Redis Credentials (cache/redis-config.yaml)

​Manual Deployment

​Cleaning Up

​Introducing Kustomize

​Per-Directory Kustomization

​api/kustomization.yaml

​cache/kustomization.yaml

​db/kustomization.yaml

​Links and References

Watch Video

Practice Lab

Directory Layout

Sample Manifests

Database Deployment (`db/db-depl.yaml`)

Redis Service (`cache/redis-service.yaml`)

Redis Credentials (`cache/redis-config.yaml`)

Manual Deployment

Cleaning Up

Introducing Kustomize

Per-Directory Kustomization

`api/kustomization.yaml`

`cache/kustomization.yaml`

`db/kustomization.yaml`

Links and References