1. Step 1: Write a Simple Go App

// main.go
package main

import (
    "fmt"
    "net/http"
)

func handler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
    fmt.Fprintln(w, "Hello from Go on Kubernetes!")
}

func main() {
    http.HandleFunc("/", handler)
    http.ListenAndServe(":8080", nil)
}

2. Step 2: Multi-stage Dockerfile

Make sure you have a Go mode file. Build and push the Docker image to Docker Hub.

FROM golang:1.24 AS builder
#maximum version supported by tidy (should match with go.mod file or less)

WORKDIR /app
COPY go.mod ./
RUN go mod tidy
COPY . .
RUN CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=linux go build -o server .

# Final image
FROM alpine:latest
WORKDIR /root/
COPY --from=builder /app/server /
EXPOSE 8080

CMD ["/server"]

3. Step 3: Kubernetes YAML files

Use the same name as the Docker repo name in Container/image.

deployment.yaml:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: go-hello-app
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: go-hello
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: go-hello
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: go-app
        image: <Username>/<repo-name>:<tag>
        imagePullPolicy: Always
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080

service.yaml:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: go-service
spec:
  selector:
    app: go-app
  ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 80
      targetPort: 8080
  type: ClusterIP

4. Step 4: Apply the YAML files

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
kubectl apply -f service.yaml
kubectl get pods
kubectl get svc

Then, port-forward the service:

kubectl port-forward service/go-service 8080:80

Access your app at: http://localhost:8080

Conclusion

This is just the beginning — my goal is to keep iterating weekly and explore AWS EKS, ConfigMaps, Secrets, scaling, Helm, and more.

If you're starting, too, follow along and feel free to share your tips!

Follow me on LinkedIn for weekly updates and technical breakdowns.
More posts coming soon! 🚀