Example: Deploying PHP Guestbook application with Redis

This tutorial shows you how to build and deploy a simple (not production ready), multi-tier web application using Kubernetes and

• A single-instance
• Multiple web frontend instances

You need to have a Kubernetes cluster, and the kubectl command-line tool must be configured to communicate with your cluster. It is recommended to run this tutorial on a cluster with at least two nodes that are not acting as control plane hosts. If you do not already have a cluster, you can create one by using minikube or you can use one of these Kubernetes playgrounds:

application/guestbook/redis-leader-deployment.yaml

# SOURCE: https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/tutorials/guestbook
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: redis-leader
  labels:
    app: redis
    role: leader
    tier: backend
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: redis
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: redis
        role: leader
        tier: backend
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: leader
        image: "docker.io/redis:6.0.5"
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 100m
            memory: 100Mi
        ports:
        - containerPort: 6379

1. Launch a terminal window in the directory you downloaded the manifest files.

2. Apply the Redis Deployment from the redis-leader-deployment.yaml file:

   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/guestbook/redis-leader-deployment.yaml
   

3. Query the list of Pods to verify that the Redis Pod is running:

   kubectl get pods
   

   The response should be similar to this:

   NAME                           READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   redis-leader-fb76b4755-xjr2n   1/1     Running   0          13s
   

4. Run the following command to view the logs from the Redis leader Pod:

   kubectl logs -f deployment/redis-leader
   

Creating the Redis leader Service

The guestbook application needs to communicate to the Redis to write its data. You need to apply a Service to proxy the traffic to the Redis Pod. A Service defines a policy to access the Pods.

application/guestbook/redis-leader-service.yaml

# SOURCE: https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/tutorials/guestbook
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: redis-leader
  labels:
    app: redis
    role: leader
    tier: backend
spec:
  ports:
  - port: 6379
    targetPort: 6379
  selector:
    app: redis
    role: leader
    tier: backend

1. Apply the Redis Service from the following redis-leader-service.yaml file:

   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/guestbook/redis-leader-service.yaml
   

2. Query the list of Services to verify that the Redis Service is running:

   kubectl get service
   

   The response should be similar to this:

   NAME           TYPE        CLUSTER-IP   EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
   kubernetes     ClusterIP   10.0.0.1     <none>        443/TCP    1m
   redis-leader   ClusterIP   10.103.78.24 <none>        6379/TCP   16s
   

Set up Redis followers

Although the Redis leader is a single Pod, you can make it highly available and meet traffic demands by adding a few Redis followers, or replicas.

application/guestbook/redis-follower-deployment.yaml

# SOURCE: https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/tutorials/guestbook
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: redis-follower
  labels:
    app: redis
    role: follower
    tier: backend
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: redis
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: redis
        role: follower
        tier: backend
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: follower
        image: gcr.io/google_samples/gb-redis-follower:v2
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 100m
            memory: 100Mi
        ports:
        - containerPort: 6379

1. Apply the Redis Deployment from the following redis-follower-deployment.yaml file:

   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/guestbook/redis-follower-deployment.yaml
   

2. Verify that the two Redis follower replicas are running by querying the list of Pods:

   kubectl get pods
   

   The response should be similar to this:

   NAME                             READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   redis-follower-dddfbdcc9-82sfr   1/1     Running   0          37s
   redis-follower-dddfbdcc9-qrt5k   1/1     Running   0          38s
   redis-leader-fb76b4755-xjr2n     1/1     Running   0          11m
   

Creating the Redis follower service

The guestbook application needs to communicate with the Redis followers to read data. To make the Redis followers discoverable, you must set up another Service.

application/guestbook/redis-follower-service.yaml

# SOURCE: https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/tutorials/guestbook
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: redis-follower
  labels:
    app: redis
    role: follower
    tier: backend
spec:
  ports:
    # the port that this service should serve on
  - port: 6379
  selector:
    app: redis
    role: follower
    tier: backend

1. Apply the Redis Service from the following redis-follower-service.yaml file:

   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/guestbook/redis-follower-service.yaml
   

2. Query the list of Services to verify that the Redis Service is running:

   kubectl get service
   

   The response should be similar to this:

   NAME             TYPE        CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
   kubernetes       ClusterIP   10.96.0.1       <none>        443/TCP    3d19h
   redis-follower   ClusterIP   10.110.162.42   <none>        6379/TCP   9s
   redis-leader     ClusterIP   10.103.78.24    <none>        6379/TCP   6m10s
   

Set up and Expose the Guestbook Frontend

Now that you have the Redis storage of your guestbook up and running, start the guestbook web servers. Like the Redis followers, the frontend is deployed using a Kubernetes Deployment.

The guestbook app uses a PHP frontend. It is configured to communicate with either the Redis follower or leader Services, depending on whether the request is a read or a write. The frontend exposes a JSON interface, and serves a jQuery-Ajax-based UX.

Creating the Guestbook Frontend Deployment

application/guestbook/frontend-deployment.yaml

# SOURCE: https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/tutorials/guestbook
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: frontend
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
        app: guestbook
        tier: frontend
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: guestbook
        tier: frontend
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: php-redis
        image: gcr.io/google_samples/gb-frontend:v5
        env:
        - name: GET_HOSTS_FROM
          value: "dns"
        resources:
          requests:
            cpu: 100m
            memory: 100Mi
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

1. Apply the frontend Deployment from the frontend-deployment.yaml file:

   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/guestbook/frontend-deployment.yaml
   

2. Query the list of Pods to verify that the three frontend replicas are running:

   kubectl get pods -l app=guestbook -l tier=frontend
   

   The response should be similar to this:

   NAME                        READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   frontend-85595f5bf9-5tqhb   1/1     Running   0          47s
   frontend-85595f5bf9-qbzwm   1/1     Running   0          47s
   frontend-85595f5bf9-zchwc   1/1     Running   0          47s
   

Creating the Frontend Service

The Redis Services you applied is only accessible within the Kubernetes cluster because the default type for a Service is ClusterIP. ClusterIP provides a single IP address for the set of Pods the Service is pointing to. This IP address is accessible only within the cluster.

If you want guests to be able to access your guestbook, you must configure the frontend Service to be externally visible, so a client can request the Service from outside the Kubernetes cluster. However a Kubernetes user can use kubectl port-forward to access the service even though it uses a ClusterIP.

application/guestbook/frontend-service.yaml

# SOURCE: https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/tutorials/guestbook
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: frontend
  labels:
    app: guestbook
    tier: frontend
spec:
  # if your cluster supports it, uncomment the following to automatically create
  # an external load-balanced IP for the frontend service.
  # type: LoadBalancer
  #type: LoadBalancer
  ports:
    # the port that this service should serve on
  - port: 80
  selector:
    app: guestbook
    tier: frontend

1. Apply the frontend Service from the frontend-service.yaml file:

   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/guestbook/frontend-service.yaml
   

2. Query the list of Services to verify that the frontend Service is running:

   kubectl get services
   

   The response should be similar to this:

   NAME             TYPE        CLUSTER-IP      EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
   frontend         ClusterIP   10.97.28.230    <none>        80/TCP     19s
   kubernetes       ClusterIP   10.96.0.1       <none>        443/TCP    3d19h
   redis-follower   ClusterIP   10.110.162.42   <none>        6379/TCP   5m48s
   redis-leader     ClusterIP   10.103.78.24    <none>        6379/TCP   11m
   

Viewing the Frontend Service via kubectl port-forward

1. Run the following command to forward port 8080 on your local machine to port 80 on the service.

   kubectl port-forward svc/frontend 8080:80
   

   The response should be similar to this:

   Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:8080 -> 80
   Forwarding from [::1]:8080 -> 80
   

2. load the page

• Complete the Kubernetes Basics Interactive Tutorials
• Use Kubernetes to create a blog using Persistent Volumes for MySQL and Wordpress
• Read more about connecting applications
• Read more about Managing Resources