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☸️ Production-Ready Kubernetes YAML Templates (Ingress, PV, CronJobs) — From Basics to Advanced

Kubernetes is powerful. But without properly crafted YAML manifests, your deployments can be unstable, insecure, or unscalable in production.

In this blog, we’ll walk through battle-tested YAML templates for 3 production-critical resources:

• 🔗 Ingress (for routing HTTP traffic)
• 💾 Persistent Volume Claims (for data persistence)
• ⏰ CronJobs (for scheduled automation)

Each section includes:

• 🔍 Beginner-to-pro-level explanations
• ✅ Templates that follow best practices
• 🧠 Tips to avoid common misconfigurations

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🔗 1. Ingress — Route Traffic Like a Pro

✅ What is Ingress?

Ingress manages external HTTP(S) access to services within your cluster. It’s like a traffic cop for your microservices.

Instead of exposing each service separately, you:

• Define a single domain (e.g., app.example.com)
• Route to the correct service based on path/hostname

📌 Requires an Ingress Controller like NGINX, Traefik, or AWS ALB.

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🧾 Basic Ingress YAML

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: web-ingress
  annotations:
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target: /
spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  rules:
  - host: app.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: web-service
            port:
              number: 80

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🔐 Production-Ready Ingress Features

• ✅ TLS with HTTPS
• ✅ Host/path routing
• ✅ Annotations for rate limiting, rewrites, auth
• ✅ IngressClass for controller targeting

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🧾 Advanced Ingress with TLS and Multiple Routes

apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: secure-ingress
  annotations:
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
    nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target: /
spec:
  ingressClassName: nginx
  tls:
  - hosts:
      - app.example.com
    secretName: tls-cert-secret
  rules:
  - host: app.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /api
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: api-service
            port:
              number: 80
      - path: /web
        pathType: Prefix
        backend:
          service:
            name: frontend-service
            port:
              number: 80

📘 Pro Tip: Always use TLS (HTTPS) in production, and use a tool like cert-manager to auto-renew certificates via Let’s Encrypt.

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💾 2. Persistent Volumes (PV & PVC) — Store App Data Safely

✅ Why Persistence Matters

In Kubernetes, Pods are ephemeral — they vanish when recreated. For apps like databases, caches, file stores — you need persistent volumes.

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🧾 Production-Grade PVC Template

apiVersion: v1
kind: PersistentVolumeClaim
metadata:
  name: data-pvc
spec:
  accessModes:
    - ReadWriteOnce
  resources:
    requests:
      storage: 10Gi
  storageClassName: gp2  # Replace with your cloud provider class

🧠 Attach this to a Pod or Deployment using volumeMounts.

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🧾 Sample Deployment Using a PVC

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: redis
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: redis
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: redis
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: redis
        image: redis:7
        volumeMounts:
        - mountPath: /data
          name: redis-storage
      volumes:
      - name: redis-storage
        persistentVolumeClaim:
          claimName: data-pvc

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🔐 Storage Tips for Production

Need	Recommendation
SSD-backed storage	Use storageClassName: gp2, premium-rwo, etc.
Shared read/write	Use ReadWriteMany (e.g., NFS, EFS, Azure Files)
Encryption at rest	Use cloud-native encrypted disks
Backup	Automate volume snapshotting (Velero, native cloud tools)

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⏰ 3. CronJobs — Automate Everything

✅ What is a CronJob?

CronJobs in K8s allow you to run scheduled tasks (like a Linux cron). Perfect for:

• Database backups
• Sending emails
• Periodic health checks

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🧾 Basic CronJob Example

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: daily-job
spec:
  schedule: "0 2 * * *"  # Daily at 2 AM
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: hello
            image: busybox
            args:
            - /bin/sh
            - -c
            - echo "Hello from Kubernetes"
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

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🧾 Advanced CronJob With Resource Limits & Logs

apiVersion: batch/v1
kind: CronJob
metadata:
  name: db-backup
spec:
  schedule: "0 */6 * * *"  # Every 6 hours
  successfulJobsHistoryLimit: 3
  failedJobsHistoryLimit: 1
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
  jobTemplate:
    spec:
      template:
        spec:
          containers:
          - name: backup
            image: postgres:15
            resources:
              requests:
                memory: "128Mi"
                cpu: "100m"
              limits:
                memory: "256Mi"
                cpu: "200m"
            env:
              - name: PGUSER
                valueFrom:
                  secretKeyRef:
                    name: pg-secrets
                    key: username
            command: ["pg_dumpall"]
          restartPolicy: OnFailure

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✅ CronJob Best Practices

Practice	Why
Use concurrencyPolicy: Forbid	Avoid overlapping jobs
Limit history retention	Prevent clutter & resource waste
Use restartPolicy: OnFailure	Avoid retry loops
Attach CPU/memory limits	Prevent runaway pods

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🧠 Final Pro Tips

YAML Best Practice	Description
Use resource limits	Prevent noisy neighbor problems
Use liveness/readiness probes	Ensure health before traffic
Split files per resource	Easier debugging and rollbacks
Use Helm or Kustomize	Parameterize for multiple environments
Validate YAML	Use kubectl apply --dry-run=client -f file.yaml before applying

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🏁 Final Thoughts

These YAML templates aren’t just “hello world” — they’re designed for production:

✅ HTTPS Ingress with multiple services
✅ Persistent Volumes with storage classes
✅ CronJobs with retries, logging, concurrency controls

Treat your YAML like code. Reusable, version-controlled, and audited.

Whether you’re deploying a blog, managing backups, or scaling microservices — mastering these templates gives you superpowers in Kubernetes.

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