Top Mistakes Developers Make When Using Kubernetes
Kubernetes has become the go-to platform for container orchestration, but it's not without its challenges. For many developers, especially those transitioning from traditional infrastructure, Kubernetes can feel complex, powerful, and sometimes unforgiving.
Here are the top mistakes developers make when using Kubernetes—and how to avoid them.
1. Not Understanding the Kubernetes Architecture
Jumping in without grasping the basics of how Kubernetes works (nodes, pods, services, deployments, etc.) is a recipe for trouble. It’s not just Docker on steroids—Kubernetes is a full orchestration platform with its own logic.
Tip: Learn the control plane components (like kube-scheduler and kube-apiserver) and how the networking model works
2. Overusing Privileged Containers
Running containers in privileged mode or as the root user is dangerous. It creates major security risks and can give attackers access to the host system.
Tip: Use PodSecurityPolicies, and always run containers with the least privilege necessary.
3. Ignoring Resource Requests and Limits
If you don’t set resource requests and limits on your pods, Kubernetes can’t properly manage your cluster's CPU and memory. This can lead to unstable apps or node crashes.
Tip: Define sensible resource limits to ensure stability and fairness across workloads.
4. Hardcoding Configuration and Secrets
Hardcoding environment variables, database credentials, or API keys directly into your YAML files or code is risky and unscalable.
Tip: Use ConfigMaps for configuration and Secrets for sensitive data. Mount them as volumes or inject via environment variables.
5. Skipping Health Checks
Failing to define liveness and readiness probes means Kubernetes can’t tell when your app is unhealthy or ready to receive traffic.
Tip: Always define meaningful probes so Kubernetes can gracefully handle failures and restarts.
6. Neglecting Logging and Monitoring
Without proper logging and monitoring, diagnosing issues in a Kubernetes environment is nearly impossible.
Tip: Integrate tools like Prometheus, Grafana, Fluentd, and ELK Stack to gain visibility into your cluster and workloads.
7. Using the Default Namespace for Everything
By default, Kubernetes runs in the default namespace, but dumping all your apps and services there leads to confusion and poor organization.
Tip: Create namespaces for different environments (dev, staging, prod) or teams.
8. Improper Use of Ingress and Services
Misconfiguring services (ClusterIP, NodePort, LoadBalancer) or Ingress rules can lead to downtime, insecure access, or misrouted traffic.
Tip: Understand the different service types and use Ingress Controllers (e.g., NGINX or Traefik) correctly with TLS.
9. Not Using Helm or Kustomize
Manually writing massive YAML files for every deployment gets messy quickly.
Tip: Use Helm or Kustomize for templating and managing Kubernetes resources efficiently and consistently.
10. Forgetting About Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
Leaving RBAC wide open or misconfigured can lead to unauthorized access or break important services.
Tip: Set up fine-grained RBAC policies and restrict access to sensitive APIs or namespaces.
Final Thoughts
Kubernetes is a powerful platform, but it requires a new mindset. Avoiding these common mistakes can help you build more secure, scalable, and maintainable applications.
Take the time to learn Kubernetes concepts thoroughly, follow best practices, and use the right tools. Your future self—and your DevOps team—will thank you.
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