Mastering K8 Commands: Section 6

Configurations and Secrets in Kubernetes

Efficiently managing configurations and secrets is crucial in Kubernetes to ensure sensitive data is securely handled and applications are correctly configured. This section covers the essential kubectl commands for creating, managing, and using ConfigMaps and Secrets, crucial for configuring applications and managing sensitive information.

Creating and Using ConfigMaps

ConfigMaps allow you to decouple configuration artifacts from image content to keep containerized applications portable.

Create a ConfigMap:

kubectl create configmap my-config --from-literal=key1=value1 --from-literal=key2=value2

What It Does: Creates a new ConfigMap named my-config with the specified key-value pairs.
Use Case: Useful for storing non-confidential data like application configuration settings.

Listing and Inspecting ConfigMaps

Understanding how to view and examine your ConfigMaps is important for configuration management.

List ConfigMaps:

kubectl get configmaps

What It Does: Displays all ConfigMaps in the current namespace.

Describe a ConfigMap:

kubectl describe configmap my-config

What It Does: Provides detailed information about the specified ConfigMap.

Managing Secrets

Secrets in Kubernetes are used to store and manage sensitive information, such as passwords, OAuth tokens, and SSH keys.

Create a Secret:

kubectl create secret generic my-secret --from-literal=password=my-password

What It Does: Creates a new secret named my-secret that stores the given sensitive data.
Security Best Practice: Always use secrets for sensitive data rather than plain ConfigMaps, and limit access to these secrets using Kubernetes RBAC.