🐳 Docker Compose → production Kubernetes

Translate a compose stack to deploy + ingress + prod hardening. · ~30 min

Reviewed: ·Tested on: Kubernetes 1.29, Terraform 1.8, Ubuntu 22.04

If you're on Kubernetes 1.27 or older

  • Ingress: networking.k8s.io/v1 is required — v1beta1 removed in 1.22+
  • Pod Security: PodSecurityPolicy removed in 1.25 — use Pod Security Admission (PSA) labels
  • HPA v2 autoscaling/v2 is stable — check API version in manifests

If you're on Kubernetes 1.28

  • Sidecar containers (1.29+) change init-container ordering — review sidecar docs before upgrade
  • Verify metrics-server and HPA after control plane bump

If you're on Terraform 1.7 or older

  • S3 native locking (use_lockfile) differs from DynamoDB — don't mix backends mid-migration
  • Provider version constraints: run terraform init -upgrade after bump
  • terraform test (1.6+) replaces some external test harness patterns

1. Start from compose template

Validate locally: docker compose up -d

Config →

2. Convert to K8s Deployment + Service

# kompose convert (optional)
kubectl apply -f k8s/deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f k8s/service.yaml
Config →

3. Secrets and ConfigMaps

Move env vars from compose to K8s secrets — never plain text in prod.

Config →

4. Add prod delta

Probes, limits, ingress TLS — see production checklist on config page.

Config →Guide →

5. HPA and verify

kubectl apply -f k8s/hpa.yaml
kubectl rollout status deploy/<name>
curl -I https://app.example.com
Config →