KLE: uma ferramenta para criação de ambientes de aprendizado para o Kubernetes

Abstract

Currently, a significant number of companies use containers in their application development and deployment platforms. With the exponential growth in the adoption of these technologies, the implementation of specialized management systems has become essential—a scenario where Kubernetes has emerged as the leading market solution, widely adopted by global organizations. This demand for expertise in the technology highlights the need for professional training, particularly in academic settings. However, the heterogeneity and obsolescence of physical infrastructure in educational institutions hinder hands-on teaching practices, limiting access to adequate resources for practical studies. Faced with this challenge, cloud computing emerges as a viable alternative, offering standardized and scalable infrastructure. However, the manual configuration of Kubernetes clusters in these environments involves complex and repetitive processes, requiring technical knowledge that steepens the learning curve. To address this gap, a command-line interface (CLI) tool was proposed to automate the creation of Kubernetes clusters across multiple public clouds, reducing costs and simplifying the provisioning of educational environments. The solution was implemented using technologies such as Terraform (for resource provisioning), Ansible (configuration automation), and kubeadm (cluster initialization), integrated with cloud providers like AWS and Azure through educational programs (AWS Academy and Azure for Students), which provide free access to resources. For validation, an online experiment was conducted where participants were first recruited via a questionnaire (Google Forms) to test the tool alongside a practical study scenario. Results, collected through a follow-up questionnaire, indicated high satisfaction among test participants. As a final outcome, a functional tool was developed and made available in a public GitHub repository, enabling rapid creation of Kubernetes clusters in educational environments while eliminating costs and technical barriers. The solution proves to be a valuable resource for academic institutions, aligning with the growing demand for practical training in emerging technologies.