Max Katz

If you are planning to run containerized applications on the IBM Cloud, here are the steps to upgrade your account and create a cluster:

1. Please register for an IBM Cloud account (it’s free!). You can also login if you have an existing account
2. Once you register, click on Catalog (top right menu)
3. Remove the label:lite filter (the X top right on the ribbon above the menu)
4. From the left-hand side menu, click on Containers
5. Click on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
6. In order to create a cluster click Upgrade and enter your billing information. Here is why you need to upgrade your account:
   1. Entering a credit card will activate a Lite (free) tier for Containers
   2. Your credit card will not be charged
   3. A credit card is needed to prevent fraud (such as using the cluster to do cryptocurrency mining)
   4. You will also get 512 Mb of memory
   5. $200 credit toward any paid services
   6. Continued access to the Lite plan
7. Once your account is upgraded, select Free (Cluster type) and click Create Cluster
8. The last step is to test your Docker installation
   1. Download or update Docker
   2. Run the following command to test the installation:

      $docker run ubuntu echo Hello World

   3. You should see Hello World text displayed in the terminal (after some initial downloads of Ubuntu images)
9. Have fun 😎

If you want to learn how to build and deploy containerized applications in face-to-face hands-on sessions, you should come to one of our events.