What is Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners?

Package a small web app in a container, then run and update three copies of it on a Kubernetes cluster on your own computer. You will be able to run ready-made containers, package your own app into an image, and run it on a local Kubernetes cluster with three copies, a stable address, outside settings, health checks, a safe update and a rollback. You finish with a project folder that another person can rebuild from your README.

Open the Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners course page

Beginners who are comfortable typing basic commands in a terminal: developers in training, IT support and operations staff, career changers, students and makers who keep hearing about containers and Kubernetes and want to understand them properly.

These are the prerequisites the course lists:

• You can open a terminal (PowerShell, Command Prompt, Terminal or a Linux shell) and run simple commands such as cd and ls or dir.
• You can create and edit plain text files.
• You know what a web page and a URL are.
• No programming is needed. The small app is given to you, and you only read a little of it.

These are the tools and materials the course lists:

• A 64-bit computer running Windows 10 or 11, macOS or Linux, with about 20 GB of free disk space. Docker lists 8 GB of memory for Docker Desktop on Windows, and minikube needs at least 2 GB free, so 8 GB or more is a comfortable target.
• Hardware virtualization turned on in your computer's settings, if your system needs it (many Windows PCs ship with it off).
• A container engine. Free options: Docker Engine on Linux (open source), Docker Desktop on Windows and Mac (free for personal use, education, non-commercial open source and small businesses; larger companies need a paid plan), or Rancher Desktop on any system (open source). Check the current terms before you rely on any of them.
• minikube and kubectl. Both are free and open source.
• A plain text editor (any free editor works) and a web browser.
• An internet connection to download images. Docker Hub limits how often anonymous users can pull images, so a free Docker account can help, but it is not required.
• Nothing in this course needs a paid subscription. If your employer is a large company, ask which container tool is approved, or use the open-source route.

apex-hello on a Local Kubernetes Cluster. You deliver one project folder that holds a small web app, the Dockerfile that packages it, and the Kubernetes files that run three copies of it on a local minikube cluster. A README lists the exact commands, and an evidence file holds the real output of your own runs. The test is a fresh start: after you delete the cluster, someone can follow only your README and get the app running again. This is practice work on a local cluster, and you should say so plainly if you show it to anyone. The finished deliverables are:

• app.py, requirements.txt, Dockerfile and .dockerignore, with an image built as apex-hello:1.0 that runs as a non-root user and uses the exec form of CMD.
• k8s/configmap.yaml, k8s/deployment.yaml and k8s/service.yaml: three replicas, matching selector and labels, resource requests and limits, a readiness probe and a liveness probe, and settings from a ConfigMap and a Secret.
• k8s/examples with your practice files, kept out of the folder that kubectl apply reads.
• README.md with the exact commands to start the cluster, build, load the image, create the Secret, apply, wait, test, update, roll back and clean up.
• EVIDENCE.md with pasted output: 3/3 ready, three Running Pods, three Service endpoints, a six-request test that shows at least two Pod names, a rollout to 1.1 and a rollback to 1.0, and a short reflection on three mistakes and their fixes.
• FIELD-NOTES.md with your notes from all six modules.

Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners has 24 lessons in 6 modules, a workbook of 10 items and a capstone project. It is planned at about 5 hours in total. The lesson text runs to roughly 15,900 words.

Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners has 6 modules:

• Module 1: Meet Containers. Learn what a container is, install a free container engine, run your first containers, and understand images, tags and registries. You also set up the project folder you will build on for the whole course.
• Module 2: Run and Manage Containers. Keep containers running in the background, open their ports, look inside them, give them settings, and keep their data. By the end you run the apex-hello app in a container without building anything.
• Module 3: Build Your Own Image. Turn apex-hello into your own image with a Dockerfile. Learn how layers and the build cache speed up builds, what to keep out of an image, and how to make the container run as a safe user and stop cleanly.
• Module 4: Kubernetes: Your First Cluster and Pod. Understand what Kubernetes does, start a free local cluster, read and write your first YAML manifest, and run your own apex-hello image in a Pod.
• Module 5: Deployments, Services and Scaling. Replace the lone Pod with a Deployment that keeps three copies alive, give them one stable address with a Service, scale them, size them, and feed them settings from a ConfigMap and a Secret.
• Module 6: Health, Updates, Debugging and the Capstone. Teach Kubernetes how to tell when your app is healthy, ship a new version without downtime and roll it back, learn a repeatable way to debug, then prove the whole project works from a clean start.

All 24 lesson titles, module by module:

• Module 1: Meet Containers. 1.1 What a Container Is and What You Will Build; 1.2 Install a Free Container Engine; 1.3 Run Your First Containers; 1.4 Images, Tags and Registries.
• Module 2: Run and Manage Containers. 2.1 Run a Web Server in the Background; 2.2 Look Inside a Running Container; 2.3 Give Containers Settings With Environment Variables; 2.4 Keep Data With Volumes and Bind Mounts.
• Module 3: Build Your Own Image. 3.1 Your First Dockerfile; 3.2 Layers and the Build Cache; 3.3 What Goes In the Image: Context and .dockerignore; 3.4 Run Safely and Stop Cleanly.
• Module 4: Kubernetes: Your First Cluster and Pod. 4.1 What Kubernetes Does; 4.2 Start a Free Local Cluster; 4.3 Your First Pod From a YAML File; 4.4 Run Your Own Image in the Cluster.
• Module 5: Deployments, Services and Scaling. 5.1 Deployments: Keep Copies Running; 5.2 Services: One Stable Address; 5.3 Scale Up: Copies Times Size; 5.4 Settings From a ConfigMap and a Secret.
• Module 6: Health, Updates, Debugging and the Capstone. 6.1 Health Checks: Readiness and Liveness; 6.2 Rolling Updates and Rollbacks; 6.3 A Debugging Routine You Can Repeat; 6.4 Assemble, Prove and Clean Up.

The course is listed at beginner level and planned at about 5 hours in total. It has 24 lessons, each with objectives you can check yourself against.

Lesson 1 is "What a Container Is and What You Will Build" (Module 1, Meet Containers). By the end of it the course says you will be able to:

• Explain in one sentence what a container is
• Say why teams use containers instead of installing apps by hand
• Describe the app you will ship by the end of the course

Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners defines 28 terms in plain words: Container, Image, Registry, Tag, Engine, Port, Volume, Bind mount, Environment variable, Dockerfile, Layer, Build context, Kubernetes, Desired state, Cluster, Node, Control plane, Pod, Manifest, YAML, Label and selector, Deployment, Service, ConfigMap, Secret, Probe, Rolling update and Namespace.

ContainerImageRegistryTagEnginePortVolumeBind mountEnvironment variableDockerfileLayerBuild contextKubernetesDesired stateClusterNodeControl planePodManifestYAMLLabel and selectorDeploymentServiceConfigMapSecretProbeRolling updateNamespace

Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners lists 58 official sources that were opened and checked while it was written, from 8 websites.

• docs.docker.com
• hub.docker.com
• raw.githubusercontent.com
• docs.rancherdesktop.io
• github.com
• minikube.sigs.k8s.io
• kind.sigs.k8s.io
• kubernetes.io

Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners costs $39 (USD) as The Codex, the full written course with its workbook and templates. Studio (narrated video lessons) and the Full Operator path are not on sale yet.

How much do courses cost?

Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners was prepared by Apex Flow Labs with AI assistance and checked before it was published. Every code sample, formula and command the course includes was run before it went in, the course records 16 verification checks, and it lists 58 official sources it checked. Do not take the label on trust: open the sources and run the examples yourself.

How Apex Flow Academy checks its courses

Yes for the core lessons, according to the course's own requirements list: "Nothing in this course needs a paid subscription." Tool plans and prices change, so check each tool's current terms before you sign up.

It is listed at beginner level, and it asks for this before you begin:

• You can open a terminal (PowerShell, Command Prompt, Terminal or a Linux shell) and run simple commands such as cd and ls or dir.
• You can create and edit plain text files.
• You know what a web page and a URL are.
• No programming is needed. The small app is given to you, and you only read a little of it.

No. Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners teaches and checks a skill, but it cannot promise an outcome. The course's own disclosure reads: "Created by Apex Flow Academy with AI assistance. For education only; not legal, tax, financial or medical advice. Results depend on your effort and circumstances."

Yes. Docker and Kubernetes for Beginners includes a verifiable Certificate of Completion, issued by Apex Flow Academy when you finish every lesson, resolve every quiz question with at least 50% right on the first try, and tick the capstone checklist. It has a unique ID and a public verification page. It is a completion certificate, not a degree, licence, accreditation or exam result. The Full Operator path, with a final exam and capstone review, opens later with its own separate, stronger credential.

Is there a certificate?