Crossplane Fundamentals Training

Start your Crossplane journey with this comprehensive 2-day introduction to Kubernetes-native infrastructure management. Learn how Crossplane extends the Kubernetes API to provision and manage cloud resources declaratively, using the same tools and workflows you already know.

Training Details

Duration	2 days (16 hours)
Level	Beginner
Delivery	In-person, Live online, Hybrid
Certification	N/A

Who Is This For?

• Kubernetes users wanting to manage cloud resources declaratively
• Platform engineers building infrastructure abstractions
• DevOps engineers exploring Kubernetes-native IaC alternatives
• Cloud engineers familiar with Kubernetes wanting to extend its capabilities

Learning Outcomes

After completing this training, participants will be able to:

• Understand Crossplane architecture and how it extends Kubernetes
• Install and configure Crossplane with cloud providers
• Provision cloud resources using Managed Resources
• Create reusable infrastructure abstractions with Compositions
• Understand Claims and how teams consume infrastructure
• Troubleshoot common Crossplane issues

Detailed Agenda

Day 1: Crossplane Core Concepts

Module 1: Introduction to Crossplane

• Infrastructure as code landscape — Crossplane vs Terraform vs Pulumi
• Crossplane architecture and control plane model
• Providers, Managed Resources, and the Kubernetes API
• Hands-on: Install Crossplane on a Kubernetes cluster

Module 2: Providers and Managed Resources

• Installing and configuring cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP)
• ProviderConfig and authentication
• Creating Managed Resources — databases, networks, buckets
• Hands-on: Provision cloud resources with Managed Resources

Module 3: Resource Lifecycle Management

• Observe, create, update, delete lifecycle
• External name annotations and resource references
• Import existing cloud resources
• Hands-on: Manage resource lifecycle and handle drift

Day 2: Compositions and Claims

Module 4: Composite Resources (XRs)

• CompositeResourceDefinitions (XRDs) and schemas
• Defining custom API types for your organization
• API versioning and evolution
• Hands-on: Define custom XRDs for your infrastructure

Module 5: Compositions

• Composition structure and resource templates
• Patches — fromCompositeFieldPath, toCompositeFieldPath, combine
• Composition selection and revision
• Hands-on: Build Compositions for common infrastructure patterns

Module 6: Claims and Self-Service

• Claims vs Composite Resources
• Namespace-scoped infrastructure requests
• RBAC for infrastructure consumers
• Hands-on: Set up self-service infrastructure with Claims

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes fundamentals (Pods, Deployments, Services, kubectl)
• Basic understanding of at least one cloud platform
• Familiarity with YAML and declarative configuration

Delivery Formats

Format	Description
In-Person	On-site at your company's location, hands-on with direct interaction
Live Online	Interactive virtual sessions with screen sharing and real-time labs
Hybrid	Combination of on-site and remote sessions, flexible scheduling

All formats include hands-on labs, course materials, and post-training support.