Our goal in this book is to give you working knowledge of how to build, deploy, and maintain applications running on OpenShift. We use practical examples to build core knowledge of the platform. Throughout, we explore the inner workings of containers within the Linux kernel all the way up through running a CI/CD pipeline. While OpenShift has a fast release cadence, this book is designed to be relevant for future releases by focusing on foundational concepts instead of latest-and-greatest features. We hope it gives you the fundamental tools to succeed and is a reference for you going forward.
OpenShift in Action is for any IT professional who’s investigating OpenShift specifically, or containers in general from a developer or operations perspective. Countless blog posts and documentation sites are available online, but this is the first book that takes a view of OpenShift from top to bottom. Included in that is how to use container runtimes like docker as well as information about Kubernetes. This book brings all that information together in a single source.
This book has 4 parts and 11 chapters. Part 1 explains OpenShift at a high level and explores deploying a cluster, creating your first applications, and how applications work in containers:
Part 2 focuses on working with cloud-native applications in OpenShift:
Part 3 is about using OpenShift to deploy stateful applications:
Part 4 focuses on the operational aspects of OpenShift and handling security challenges:
Part 1 will be especially helpful to you if containers are a new concept; chapter 3 is the deepest technical chapter in the section. Parts 3 and 4 cover both operations and developer topics. Part 4 is primarily focused around operations but will still appeal to developers who have a need or desire to understand the OpenShift platform more deeply.
Beginning with chapter 2, each chapter has extensive code samples and source code; these are available for download at the book’s website, www.manning.com/books/openshift-in-action, and at https://github.com/OpenShiftInAction. Because OpenShift evolves so quickly, we’ll continue to update the samples on GitHub even after the book is printed. Please join us there or at the book’s forum (https://forums.manning.com/forums/openshift-in-action) to let us know if you run into issues or have questions around the examples in the book. If you’re looking for additional resources, you can find the official OpenShift documentation repository at https://docs.openshift.com.
This book presents source code both in numbered listings and in line with normal text. In both cases, it’s formatted in a fixed-width font like this to separate it from ordinary text.
In many cases, the original source code has been reformatted; we’ve added line breaks and reworked indentation to accommodate the available page space in the book. When even this wasn’t enough, listings include line-continuation markers (). Additionally, comments in the source code have often been removed from the listings when the code is described in the text. Code annotations accompany many of the listings, highlighting important concepts.
Purchase of OpenShift in Action includes free access to a private web forum run by Manning Publications where you can make comments about the book, ask technical questions, and receive help from the authors and from other users. To access the forum, go to https://forums.manning.com/forums/openshift-in-action. You can also learn more about Manning’s forums and the rules of conduct on the forums at https://forums.manning.com/forums/about.
Manning’s commitment to our readers is to provide a venue where a meaningful dialogue between individual readers and between readers and the authors can take place. It isn’t a commitment to any specific amount of participation on the part of the authors, whose contribution to the forum remains voluntary (and unpaid). We suggest you try asking the authors some challenging questions lest their interest stray! The forum and the archives of previous discussions will be accessible from the publisher’s website as long as the book is in print.