Hands-on Lab·Certified Kubernetes Administrator
Kustomize Basics
One base, one overlay per environment, no templating language. The feature that earns its keep is the generated ConfigMap name hash, which makes a config change roll your Pods instead of leaving them on stale values.
Cluster Architecture and Configuration Guide 19 of 103 Intermediate
- Kubernetes1.36.4
- kustomize (in kubectl)v5.8.1
- Cluster4 nodes
- TimeAbout 35 min
- Reviewed21 August 2026
Written against the versions above. Kustomize is built into kubectl, and the embedded version lags the standalone binary. Some field names changed across versions, `commonLabels` to `labels` and `patchesStrategicMerge` to `patches` among them.
| Server Name | IP Address | OS | Roles | CPU | RAM | HDD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CKA1001 | 192.168.0.175 | Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | Control Plane Node | 2 Core | 4 GB | 50 GB |
| CKA1001-NODE01 | 192.168.0.176 | Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | Worker Node | 2 Core | 4 GB | 50 GB |
| CKA1001-NODE02 | 192.168.0.177 | Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | Worker Node | 2 Core | 4 GB | 50 GB |
| CKA1001-NODE03 | 192.168.0.178 | Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | Worker Node | 2 Core | 4 GB | 50 GB |
Before you start
- The Deployments and ConfigMaps and Secrets guides.
kubectl1.14 or later, which has kustomize built in. Nothing to install.
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Nothing to install, and a version worth knowing
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The base, rendered
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The overlay, and the six transformers worth knowing
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Generator behaviour, and applying it
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The hash is the feature: a config change rolls the Pods