1. What is Knative?

Knative is an open-source platform that provides building blocks for serverless and container-based applications on Kubernetes.

2. How does Knative differ from Kubernetes?

Knative is an extension of Kubernetes, providing higher-level abstractions for deploying and managing serverless workloads.

3. What are the key components of Knative?

Knative consists of three major components: Build, Eventing, and Serving. These components help with building container images, managing events, and serving serverless applications.

4. How to install Knative on a Kubernetes cluster?

Knative can be installed on a Kubernetes cluster using its installation manifests or using Kubernetes package managers like kubectl apply.

5. What is Knative Serving, and how does it work?

Knative Serving is a component that enables the deployment and serving of serverless applications on Kubernetes. It automatically scales applications to zero when not in use.

6. What is Knative Eventing, and how does it enable event-driven architectures?

Knative Eventing is a component that enables event-driven architectures on Kubernetes. It allows services to produce and consume events, reacting to changes in the system.

7. How does Knative handle scaling to zero?

Knative Serving scales applications to zero by automatically shutting down pods when there is no incoming traffic. It scales up based on demand.

8. What is a Knative Service and how is it different from a regular Kubernetes service?

A Knative Service is a higher-level abstraction that defines a serverless application. It automatically scales, manages revisions, and routes traffic based on rules.

9. How to configure auto-scaling for Knative Services?

Auto-scaling for Knative Services can be configured by setting parameters such as concurrency, max scale, and min scale in the Service resource.

10. What is Knative Build, and how does it simplify the container image build process?

Knative Build is a component that simplifies the process of building container images from source code. It automates the steps involved in creating and pushing images.

11. Can I use custom build templates with Knative Build?

Yes, Knative Build allows users to define custom build templates, enabling flexibility in the container image build process.

12. How does Knative handle rolling updates for applications?

Knative handles rolling updates by creating new revisions of a service and gradually routing traffic to the new revision while monitoring its stability.

13. What is a Knative Revision, and how does it relate to application versions?

A Knative Revision represents a specific version of a serverless application. It is created during updates and maintains the state of the application at a particular point in time.

14. How does Knative integrate with Istio for traffic management?

Knative leverages Istio for traffic management, enabling advanced routing, canary releases, and A/B testing for serverless applications.

15. Can Knative be used for deploying microservices?

Yes, Knative can be used for deploying microservices in a serverless manner, providing automatic scaling and event-driven capabilities.

16. What are Knative Triggers, and how are they used in event-driven architectures?

Knative Triggers are used to define event sources and the actions to be taken when specific events occur. They play a key role in event-driven architectures.

17. How does Knative handle secrets and configuration management?

Knative relies on Kubernetes Secrets and ConfigMaps for managing secrets and configurations. These can be injected into containers as environment variables.

18. Can Knative be used with any programming language?

Yes, Knative is language-agnostic and can be used with applications written in any programming language as long as they run in containers.

19. What is the role of Knative Build Templates in the build process?

Knative Build Templates define reusable build configurations that can be shared across multiple builds. They help standardize the build process.

20. How does Knative simplify the developer experience for deploying applications?

Knative simplifies the developer experience by abstracting away the complexities of managing Kubernetes resources, auto-scaling, and traffic routing.

21. How to monitor Knative Services and Applications?

Knative Services and Applications can be monitored using various observability tools, including Prometheus, Grafana, and other solutions compatible with Kubernetes.

22. What are the best practices for deploying serverless applications with Knative?

Best practices include optimizing functions for short-lived containers, using appropriate concurrency settings, and leveraging Knative features for auto-scaling and event-driven architectures.

23. Can Knative be used with on-premises Kubernetes clusters?

Yes, Knative can be used with on-premises Kubernetes clusters, providing serverless capabilities in private cloud environments.

24. How does Knative handle cold starts in serverless applications?

Knative minimizes cold starts by keeping a small number of instances warm, ready to handle incoming requests. This helps reduce latency for serverless applications.

25. What is the purpose of Knative Build Tekton pipelines integration?

Knative Build integrates with Tekton pipelines to provide a flexible and extensible way to define and execute container image builds.

26. How does Knative support event sources like Apache Kafka and CloudEvents?

Knative Eventing has built-in support for event sources like Apache Kafka and CloudEvents, enabling seamless integration with these systems.

27. Can Knative be used for long-running processes, or is it primarily for short-lived functions?

While Knative is designed for short-lived functions, it can also be used for long-running processes, especially with the auto-scaling capabilities provided.

28. How does Knative handle backpressure in serverless applications?

Knative handles backpressure by automatically scaling based on the number of incoming requests, ensuring that the system can handle the load efficiently.

29. What is the role of Knative Buildpacks, and how do they simplify the build process?

Knative Buildpacks simplify the build process by automatically detecting and including dependencies required for an application without the need for manual configuration.

30. How to enable HTTPS for Knative Services?

HTTPS for Knative Services can be enabled by configuring a TLS certificate and setting up the necessary Ingress resources with appropriate TLS settings.

31. How does Knative handle automatic scaling during traffic spikes?

Knative automatically scales during traffic spikes by creating new instances of the service to handle the increased load and scaling down when the traffic decreases.

32. What is the role of Knative Build Source and how does it simplify source-to-container workflows?

Knative Build Source simplifies source-to-container workflows by defining the source location and providing a mechanism to watch for changes, triggering builds when needed.

33. Can Knative be used in a multi-cloud environment?

Yes, Knative can be used in a multi-cloud environment, providing flexibility in deploying serverless applications across different cloud providers.

34. How does Knative handle stateful applications and data persistence?

Knative itself does not handle stateful applications, but it can be used in conjunction with other tools to manage stateful workloads and data persistence on Kubernetes.

35. What is the role of the Knative Eventing Broker in event-driven architectures?

The Knative Eventing Broker is a central component for managing and routing events within a Knative cluster. It plays a key role in connecting event producers with event consumers.

36. How to handle versioning of Knative Services and Revisions?

Knative handles versioning through Revisions. Each change to a service creates a new Revision, allowing for easy rollback to previous versions if needed.

37. How to use Knative with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines?

Knative can be integrated with CI/CD pipelines by incorporating Knative Serving and Build components to automate the deployment and scaling of serverless applications.

38. Can Knative be used for running Cron jobs?

Yes, Knative can be used for running Cron jobs by defining a Service and specifying the desired schedule using cron notation.

39. What is the purpose of Knative Eventing Channels?

Knative Eventing Channels provide a way for decoupling event producers and consumers. They act as communication channels for events.

40. How does Knative handle traffic splitting and canary releases?

Knative supports traffic splitting and canary releases by using revisions. Traffic can be gradually shifted to new revisions to validate changes before full deployment.

41. How does Knative support custom domains for Services?

Knative supports custom domains by configuring Ingress resources with the desired domain and TLS settings for securing communication.

42. What is the role of Knative Eventing Subscriptions?

Knative Eventing Subscriptions define the rules for consuming events from Eventing Channels. They specify the filters and actions to be taken when events match certain criteria.

43. How to upgrade Knative to the latest version?

Knative can be upgraded to the latest version by following the upgrade instructions provided in the official Knative documentation.

44. Can Knative be used with Knative Buildpacks for polyglot applications?

Yes, Knative Buildpacks support polyglot applications, allowing developers to build and deploy applications written in different programming languages.

45. How does Knative handle resource scaling based on custom metrics?

Knative allows resource scaling based on custom metrics by defining custom autoscaler configurations and specifying metrics to trigger scaling decisions.

46. What is the role of Knative Service Annotations?

Knative Service Annotations provide additional metadata and configuration options for services. They can be used to customize various aspects of service behavior.

47. Can Knative be used for running event-driven microservices?

Yes, Knative is well-suited for running event-driven microservices by providing components like Knative Eventing to handle asynchronous communication.

48. How does Knative handle security and access control for serverless applications?

Knative leverages Kubernetes RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) for security and access control. Access permissions can be defined at the Kubernetes level.

49. What are the limitations or challenges when using Knative?

Some challenges may include understanding and configuring the various components, handling stateful applications, and adapting to the serverless paradigm.

50. How to contribute to the Knative project?

Contributions to the Knative project can be made by participating in the community, submitting issues, providing feedback, and contributing code through pull requests on the official Knative GitHub repository.