Kubernetes Production Deployment Strategies: Zero-Downtime and Advanced Patterns
Learn advanced Kubernetes deployment strategies including blue-green deployments, canary releases, and GitOps workflows to achieve zero-downtime deployments in production environments.
Amr S.
Author & Developer
Kubernetes Production Deployment Strategies: Zero-Downtime and Advanced Patterns
Deploying applications to production requires sophisticated strategies that minimize risk and ensure zero downtime. This complete guide explores advanced Kubernetes deployment patterns that enable reliable, automated deployments at scale.
Blue-Green Deployment Strategy
Blue-green deployment maintains two identical production environments, allowing instant rollbacks and zero-downtime deployments by switching traffic between environments.
# Blue-Green Deployment Configuration
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
name: deployment-config
namespace: production
data:
ACTIVE_SLOT: "blue"
INACTIVE_SLOT: "green"
---
# Blue Environment Deployment
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: app-blue
namespace: production
labels:
app: myapp
slot: blue
version: v1.2.3
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: myapp
slot: blue
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: myapp
slot: blue
version: v1.2.3
spec:
containers:
- name: app
image: myapp:v1.2.3
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
env:
- name: SLOT
value: "blue"
resources:
requests:
memory: "512Mi"
cpu: "250m"
limits:
memory: "1Gi"
cpu: "500m"
livenessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /health
port: 8080
initialDelaySeconds: 30
periodSeconds: 10
readinessProbe:
httpGet:
path: /ready
port: 8080
initialDelaySeconds: 5
periodSeconds: 5
---
# Green Environment Deployment
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: app-green
namespace: production
labels:
app: myapp
slot: green
version: v1.2.2
spec:
replicas: 3
selector:
matchLabels:
app: myapp
slot: green
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: myapp
slot: green
version: v1.2.2
spec:
containers:
- name: app
image: myapp:v1.2.2
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
env:
- name: SLOT
value: "green"
resources:
requests:
memory: "512Mi"
cpu: "250m"
limits:
memory: "1Gi"
cpu: "500m"
---
# Service pointing to active slot
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: app-service
namespace: production
spec:
selector:
app: myapp
slot: blue # Switch between blue/green
ports:
- port: 80
targetPort: 8080
type: ClusterIP
---
# Ingress for external traffic
apiVersion: networking.k8s.io/v1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
name: app-ingress
namespace: production
annotations:
kubernetes.io/ingress.class: nginx
cert-manager.io/cluster-issuer: letsencrypt-prod
nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/ssl-redirect: "true"
spec:
tls:
- hosts:
- api.myapp.com
secretName: app-tls
rules:
- host: api.myapp.com
http:
paths:
- path: /
pathType: Prefix
backend:
service:
name: app-service
port:
number: 80
📝 Blue-green deployments provide instant rollbacks, zero downtime, and the ability to test the new version in production before switching traffic. However, they require double the resources.
Canary Deployment with Istio
Canary deployments gradually shift traffic to the new version, allowing you to monitor metrics and roll back if issues are detected. Istio provides advanced traffic management for canary deployments.
# Canary Deployment with Istio
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: Rollout
metadata:
name: app-rollout
namespace: production
spec:
replicas: 10
strategy:
canary:
canaryService: app-canary
stableService: app-stable
trafficRouting:
istio:
virtualService:
name: app-vs
routes:
- primary
steps:
- setWeight: 10
- pause: {duration: 2m}
- setWeight: 20
- pause: {duration: 2m}
- setWeight: 50
- pause: {duration: 5m}
- setWeight: 80
- pause: {duration: 2m}
analysis:
templates:
- templateName: success-rate
args:
- name: service-name
value: app-canary
selector:
matchLabels:
app: myapp
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: myapp
spec:
containers:
- name: app
image: myapp:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
---
# Virtual Service for traffic splitting
apiVersion: networking.istio.io/v1beta1
kind: VirtualService
metadata:
name: app-vs
namespace: production
spec:
hosts:
- api.myapp.com
http:
- name: primary
match:
- headers:
canary:
exact: "true"
route:
- destination:
host: app-canary
port:
number: 80
weight: 100
- route:
- destination:
host: app-stable
port:
number: 80
weight: 90
- destination:
host: app-canary
port:
number: 80
weight: 10
---
# Analysis Template for automated validation
apiVersion: argoproj.io/v1alpha1
kind: AnalysisTemplate
metadata:
name: success-rate
namespace: production
spec:
args:
- name: service-name
metrics:
- name: success-rate
interval: 2m
count: 3
successCondition: result[0] >= 0.95
failureLimit: 2
provider:
prometheus:
address: http://prometheus.monitoring:9090
query: |
sum(irate(
istio_requests_total{
destination_service_name="{{args.service-name}}",
response_code!~"5.*"
}[2m]
)) /
sum(irate(
istio_requests_total{
destination_service_name="{{args.service-name}}"
}[2m]
))
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About Amr S.
Passionate about web development and sharing knowledge with the community. Writing about modern web technologies, best practices, and developer experiences.
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