---
title: Run a Stateless Application Using a Deployment
min-kubernetes-server-version: v1.9
content_type: tutorial
weight: 10
---

<!-- overview -->

This page shows how to run an application using a Kubernetes Deployment object.

## {{% heading "objectives" %}}

- Create an nginx deployment.
- Use kubectl to list information about the deployment.
- Update the deployment.

## {{% heading "prerequisites" %}}

{{< include "task-tutorial-prereqs.md" >}} {{< version-check >}}

<!-- lessoncontent -->

## Creating and exploring an nginx deployment

You can run an application by creating a Kubernetes Deployment object, and you
can describe a Deployment in a YAML file. For example, this YAML file describes
a Deployment that runs the nginx:1.14.2 Docker image:

{{% code_sample file="application/deployment.yaml" %}}

1. Create a Deployment based on the YAML file:

   ```shell
   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/deployment.yaml
   ```

1. Display information about the Deployment:

   ```shell
   kubectl describe deployment nginx-deployment
   ```

   The output is similar to this:

   ```
   Name:     nginx-deployment
   Namespace:    default
   CreationTimestamp:  Tue, 30 Aug 2016 18:11:37 -0700
   Labels:     app=nginx
   Annotations:    deployment.kubernetes.io/revision=1
   Selector:   app=nginx
   Replicas:   2 desired | 2 updated | 2 total | 2 available | 0 unavailable
   StrategyType:   RollingUpdate
   MinReadySeconds:  0
   RollingUpdateStrategy:  1 max unavailable, 1 max surge
   Pod Template:
     Labels:       app=nginx
     Containers:
       nginx:
       Image:              nginx:1.14.2
       Port:               80/TCP
       Environment:        <none>
       Mounts:             <none>
     Volumes:              <none>
   Conditions:
     Type          Status  Reason
     ----          ------  ------
     Available     True    MinimumReplicasAvailable
     Progressing   True    NewReplicaSetAvailable
   OldReplicaSets:   <none>
   NewReplicaSet:    nginx-deployment-1771418926 (2/2 replicas created)
   No events.
   ```

1. List the Pods created by the deployment:

   ```shell
   kubectl get pods -l app=nginx
   ```

   The output is similar to this:

   ```
   NAME                                READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   nginx-deployment-1771418926-7o5ns   1/1       Running   0          16h
   nginx-deployment-1771418926-r18az   1/1       Running   0          16h
   ```

1. Display information about a Pod:

   ```shell
   kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
   ```

   where `<pod-name>` is the name of one of your Pods.

## Updating the deployment

You can update the deployment by applying a new YAML file. This YAML file
specifies that the deployment should be updated to use nginx 1.16.1.

{{% code_sample file="application/deployment-update.yaml" %}}

1. Apply the new YAML file:

   ```shell
   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/deployment-update.yaml
   ```

1. Watch the deployment create pods with new names and delete the old pods:

   ```shell
   kubectl get pods -l app=nginx
   ```

## Scaling the application by increasing the replica count

You can increase the number of Pods in your Deployment by applying a new YAML
file. This YAML file sets `replicas` to 4, which specifies that the Deployment
should have four Pods:

{{% code_sample file="application/deployment-scale.yaml" %}}

1. Apply the new YAML file:

   ```shell
   kubectl apply -f https://k8s.io/examples/application/deployment-scale.yaml
   ```

1. Verify that the Deployment has four Pods:

   ```shell
   kubectl get pods -l app=nginx
   ```

   The output is similar to this:

   ```
   NAME                               READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
   nginx-deployment-148880595-4zdqq   1/1       Running   0          25s
   nginx-deployment-148880595-6zgi1   1/1       Running   0          25s
   nginx-deployment-148880595-fxcez   1/1       Running   0          2m
   nginx-deployment-148880595-rwovn   1/1       Running   0          2m
   ```

For detailed scaling procedures including scaling down and scaling to zero, see
[Scale a Deployment Manually](/docs/tasks/run-application/scale-deployment/).

## Deleting a deployment

Delete the deployment by name:

```shell
kubectl delete deployment nginx-deployment
```

## ReplicationControllers -- the Old Way

The preferred way to create a replicated application is to use a Deployment,
which in turn uses a ReplicaSet. Before the Deployment and ReplicaSet were
added to Kubernetes, replicated applications were configured using a
[ReplicationController](/docs/concepts/workloads/controllers/replicationcontroller/).

## {{% heading "whatsnext" %}}

- Learn more about [Deployment objects](/docs/concepts/workloads/controllers/deployment/).
- Learn how to [update a Deployment without downtime](/docs/tasks/run-application/update-deployment-rolling/).