Platform Engineering on Kubernetes

Empower your team with platforms built on top of Kubernetes using open source tools.

Adopting Kubernetes is complex—especially when you’re working in an organization with multiple teams, deploying to multiple cloud providers, and working with different stacks. Platform Engineering on Kubernetes shows you how to solve these common cloud native problems with open-source tools and emerging best practices from the Kubernetes community.

In Platform Engineering on Kubernetes you will learn about:

The principles behind platform engineering and how these apply to Kubernetes
Evaluating and adopting open-source projects to build domain specific platforms
Creating Platform APIs to enable teams to release more software more efficiently
Reducing the cognitive load of a platform for your teams
Measuring your platform initiatives using established software delivery metrics
Package, version, distribute, and deploy with Helm, Tekton, Dagger and Argo CD
Implement a multi-cloud infrastructure strategy using Crossplane
Progressive upgrades with Knative Serving and Argo Rollouts
Enable development teams with standard application-level APIs with Dapr


A platform helps your team stay focused on delivering amazing software. But building a reliable platform on top of Kubernetes demands real expertise. Platform Engineering on Kubernetes reveals how to combine multiple popular open-source projects into a custom platform that works for your applications and your teams. It’s the perfect guide for your organization’s journey to Kubernetes, simplifying cloud native development for your dev teams and helping them deliver software faster.

Foreword by Jared Watts.

Purchase of the print book includes a free eBook in PDF and ePub formats from Manning Publications.

About the technology

Kubernetes is an amazing orchestration tool, but it’s just the start of your journey to the cloud. To efficiently deliver cloud-native software, your team needs a solid build pipeline, an efficient package manager and distribution mechanism, and APIs that reduce your team’s cognitive load. This book will show you how to build custom platforms on top of Kubernetes—all with open-source tools such as Dapr, Knative, Argo CD and Rollouts, and Tekton.

About the book

Platform Engineering on Kubernetes starts by clearly defining the elements of a great Kubernetes-based platform. Then, it systematically introduces the tools you’ll need to build a platform that exactly matches your organization’s requirements. Hands-on examples and detailed code guide you through each step. By the end, you’ll be able to create a complete platform to efficiently deliver cloud-native software without being tied to a specific cloud provider or vendor.

What's inside

Package, version, distribute, and deploy with Helm, Tekton, Dagger and Argo CD
Implement a multi-cloud infrastructure strategy using Crossplane
Progressive upgrades with Knative Serving and Argo Rollouts
Enable development teams with standard application-level APIs with Dapr



About the reader

For developers and software architects familiar with the basics of containers and Kubernetes.

About the author

Mauricio Salatino is currently a Dapr OSS Contributor, a Knative Steering Committee member, and co-lead of the Knative Functions working group.

Table of Contents

1 (The rise of) platforms on top of Kubernetes
2 Cloud-native application challenges
3 Service pipelines: Building cloud-native applications
4 Environment pipelines: Deploying cloud-native applications
5 Multi-cloud (app) infrastructure
6 Let’s build a platform on top of Kubernetes
7 Platform capabilities I: Shared application concerns
8 Platform capabilities II: Enabling teams to experiment
9 Measuring your platforms