kind practice matrix

Use kind for Release Radar practice. Keep Killercoda for polished exam-style scenarios; do not treat hosted labs as the version matrix source of truth.

Node images

Pinned in docs/pins/kubernetes.yaml (adjust patch tags when you verify newer kindest publishes):

Minor	kind node image	Notes
1.35	kindest/node:v1.35.8	Matches current exam pin fixtures
1.36	kindest/node:v1.36.4	Middle supported minor
1.37	kindest/node:v1.37.0	Newest supported minor (Garhwal)

Create separate clusters per minor (do not skew control plane vs workers beyond the version skew policy):

kind create cluster --name kd-135 --image kindest/node:v1.35.8
kind create cluster --name kd-136 --image kindest/node:v1.36.4
kind create cluster --name kd-137 --image kindest/node:v1.37.0

Diff-only lab pattern

1. Apply a baseline manifest on 1.35.
2. Re-apply or patch on 1.36 / 1.37.
3. Record the behavioral delta (API accepted, field default changed, removal error, new status).
4. Do not re-teach “what is a Pod?”

Good first drills:

• 1.36: confirm gitRepo volumes are rejected; migrate to initContainer + git or git-sync.
• 1.36: MutatingAdmissionPolicy / OCI image volumes — exercise GA paths from the 1.36 radar page.
• 1.37: explore KYAML output (kubectl KYAML) and pod-level resource fields on a throwaway Deployment.

Cleanup

kind delete cluster --name kd-135
kind delete cluster --name kd-136
kind delete cluster --name kd-137