Crossplane Platform Engineering Training

Build a production-ready internal developer platform with this 3-day advanced course. Learn to use Crossplane as the infrastructure engine for your platform — designing self-service APIs, implementing golden paths, integrating with Backstage, and building guardrails that enable developer productivity.

Training Details

Duration	3 days (24 hours)
Level	Advanced
Delivery	In-person, Live online, Hybrid
Certification	N/A

Who Is This For?

• Platform engineers building internal developer platforms
• DevOps leads designing self-service infrastructure
• Engineering managers planning platform strategy
• Teams adopting platform engineering with Kubernetes

Learning Outcomes

After completing this training, participants will be able to:

• Design self-service infrastructure APIs with Crossplane
• Build golden paths for common application deployment patterns
• Integrate Crossplane with Backstage and service catalogs
• Implement policy guardrails with OPA and Kyverno
• Build complete application environments on demand
• Operate and maintain a Crossplane-based platform

Detailed Agenda

Day 1: Platform API Design

Module 1: Platform Engineering with Crossplane

• Platform engineering principles and Crossplane's role
• API-first infrastructure design
• Team topology and platform boundaries
• Hands-on: Map your organization's infrastructure needs to APIs

Module 2: Self-Service API Design

• Designing XRDs for developer experience
• Abstraction levels — simple vs expert modes
• Defaults, validation, and guardrails in schemas
• Hands-on: Build developer-friendly infrastructure APIs

Module 3: Golden Paths

• Environment Compositions (dev, staging, production)
• Application stack templates (web app, API service, data pipeline)
• Standardized networking and security patterns
• Hands-on: Create golden path Compositions for common workloads

Day 2: Platform Integration

Module 4: Backstage Integration

• Backstage scaffolder and Crossplane
• Software templates that create Claims
• Catalog integration for deployed resources
• Hands-on: Build Backstage templates backed by Crossplane

Module 5: Policy and Guardrails

• OPA Gatekeeper for Crossplane resources
• Kyverno policies for Claims and Compositions
• Cost controls and resource quotas
• Hands-on: Implement policy guardrails for your platform

Module 6: GitOps for Platform Resources

• ArgoCD and Flux with Crossplane
• Environment promotion workflows
• Drift detection and reconciliation
• Hands-on: Set up GitOps-driven infrastructure delivery

Day 3: Production Platform Operations

Module 7: Complete Environment Provisioning

• Composing infrastructure + Kubernetes + applications
• Helm and application deployment through Compositions
• Database provisioning with connection secret injection
• Hands-on: Build a one-click complete application environment

Module 8: Platform Observability

• Platform metrics and SLOs
• Resource provisioning dashboards
• Alerting on failed provisioning
• Hands-on: Build a platform operations dashboard

Module 9: Day-2 Operations

• Upgrading Crossplane and providers in production
• Managing Composition updates without downtime
• Disaster recovery for platform components
• Hands-on: Perform rolling upgrades and handle failure scenarios

Prerequisites

• Crossplane Fundamentals or equivalent experience
• Kubernetes administration experience (CKA-level)
• Familiarity with GitOps concepts (ArgoCD or Flux)
• Understanding of platform engineering principles

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.