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DEVOPS × AI SERIES

Deploy RAG API to Kubernetes with Minikube

Master container orchestration - deploy AI applications like enterprise DevOps teams

Start Building
Deploy RAG API to Kubernetes with Minikube project preview
Kubernetes
Minikube

Difficulty

Advanced

Time to complete

90 minutes

Availability

Free

BUILD

What you'll build

Deploy your containerized RAG API to a local Kubernetes cluster. Learn Deployments, Services, and self-healing systems used by 96% of enterprises.

1. Set Up Your Docker Image

Verify Docker Desktop is running, check your RAG API image, and prepare for deployment.

2. Install Kubernetes Tools

Install Minikube and kubectl, verify installations, and configure your environment.

3. Start Your Kubernetes Cluster

Start Minikube, load your Docker image into the cluster, and verify node status.

4. Create Kubernetes Deployment

Write deployment.yaml, apply it to the cluster, and watch Kubernetes manage your Pod.

5. Expose API with Service

Create a NodePort Service, access your API externally, and test Kubernetes networking.

Your portfolio builds as you work.

Every project documents itself as you go. Finish the work, and your proof is ready to share.

PROJECT

Real world application

Skills you'll learn

  • Container Orchestration

    Deploy and manage containers at scale using Kubernetes clusters

  • Kubernetes Deployments

    Create self-healing, declarative application deployments that auto-restart on failure

  • Service Networking

    Route external traffic to Pods using Kubernetes Services and NodePort

  • kubectl CLI

    Control and troubleshoot Kubernetes clusters using the command-line interface

  • Local Cluster Management

    Run production-grade Kubernetes clusters locally using Minikube for development

  • Self-Healing Systems

    Build resilient applications that automatically recover from container failures

Tech stack

  • Kubernetes logo

    Kubernetes

    Industry-standard container orchestration platform used by 96% of enterprises for deploying applications at scale.

  • Minikube logo

    Minikube

    Local Kubernetes tool that runs a single-node cluster on your laptop for development.

NextWork is the only community that has provided me with actual projects to create and learn from, and because of that I'm now interested in becoming a DevOps engineer.

Denzel

DevOps Engineering Path

OUTCOME

Where this leads.

Relevant Jobs

Roles where these skills matter:

  • DevOps Engineer
  • Site Reliability Engineer
  • Platform Engineer
  • Cloud Infrastructure Engineer

DevOps × AI Series

Continue the series. Add CI/CD automation with GitHub Actions to automatically rebuild and redeploy when your knowledge base changes.

DevOps × AI Series

Continue the Journey

FAQs

Everything you need to know

This is Part 3 of the 4-part DevOps × AI Series. We recommend completing Project 1: Build a RAG API with FastAPI and Project 2: Containerize a RAG API with Docker first. If you want to start here, the tutorial includes a 25-30 minute quick setup to build your Docker image from scratch.

Kubernetes is the second fastest-growing open-source project in history, with 96% of enterprises using it for container orchestration. It automates deployment, scaling, and recovery for containerized applications. Learning Kubernetes opens doors to DevOps Engineer, Site Reliability Engineer, and Platform Engineer roles. This NextWork project teaches you the same Kubernetes workflows used by Netflix, Spotify, and Airbnb.

No prior Kubernetes experience is required. This NextWork project explains every concept as you build, from Pods and Deployments to Services and NodePort. You will understand how container orchestration works by actually deploying your own application. The tutorial includes detailed troubleshooting for common issues like image pull errors, Pod crashes, and networking problems.

This project is completely free. Minikube runs a local Kubernetes cluster on your laptop with no cloud costs. You need Docker Desktop (free for personal use), about 10GB of disk space, and 4GB of RAM. No AWS, GCP, or Azure accounts required. The same Kubernetes concepts you learn locally apply directly to production cloud environments.

Docker packages your application into a container that runs identically anywhere. Kubernetes orchestrates those containers across multiple machines, handling deployment, scaling, and recovery automatically. Think of Docker as the shipping container and Kubernetes as the port authority managing thousands of containers. In this NextWork project, Docker provides the container image and Kubernetes manages running it as a self-healing deployment.

Project 4 adds CI/CD automation with GitHub Actions. When your knowledge base changes, GitHub Actions automatically rebuilds your Docker image and redeploys to Kubernetes. By the end of the series, you will have a complete automated pipeline from code changes to production deployment, the same workflow used by professional DevOps teams at scale.

One Project. Real Skills.

90 minutes from now, you'll have completed Deploy RAG API to Kubernetes with Minikube. No prior experience needed. Just step-by-step guidance and a real project for your portfolio.

Let's Build This

Advanced level