chore: add blog post for minc extension (#12260)

* chore: add blog post for minc extension

Signed-off-by: Florent Benoit <fbenoit@redhat.com>

website/blog/2025-05-15-new-minc-extension-inner-loop.md

@@ -0,0 +1,202 @@
+---
+title: 'MINC: Speed Up Local K8s Dev'
+description: Speed up your development inner loop using a local Kubernetes cluster powered by MicroShift in a container.
+slug: iterate-quickly-inner-loop-with-a-kubernetes-cluster
+authors: [benoitf]
+tags: [podman-desktop, podman, images, kubernetes, microshift]
+hide_table_of_contents: false
+image: /img/blog/iterate-quickly-inner-loop-with-a-kubernetes-cluster/iterate-quickly-inner-loop-with-a-kubernetes-cluster.png
+---
+
+Developers working locally often seek a fast inner loop for coding, building, and testing their OCI images and Kubernetes applications.
+
+For instance, when testing a new image in a Kubernetes pod, the image must be accessible either by pushing it to a private or public registry or by ensuring it's available on the Kubernetes cluster nodes. This often requires additional commands such as `kind load docker-image`, `minikube cache add <image>`, or publishing the image to a third-party registry.
+
+In this blog post, we’ll introduce a new extension called `MINC (MicroShift IN Container)`, which provides a [MicroShift](https://github.com/openshift/microshift) cluster running within an existing Podman Machine environment.
+
+![hero](/img/blog/iterate-quickly-inner-loop-with-a-kubernetes-cluster/iterate-quickly-inner-loop-with-a-kubernetes-cluster.png)
+
+<!--truncate-->
+
+---
+
+## Introduction
+
+A [previous blog post](https://podman-desktop.io/blog/sharing-podman-images-with-kubernetes-cluster) outlines various methods to improve the inner loop using Kind or Minikube. While these approaches can enhance performance, there are still gaps and certain complexities involved. Achieving a seamless workflow where an image is built with Podman and immediately available in the cluster—often requires additional steps or tricky configurations.
+
+## podman, kubernetes/cri-o and MicroShift
+
+The CRI-O project implements the CRI interface and reuses image management from [containers/image](https://github.com/containers/image) project and handles storage using [containers/storage](https://github.com/containers/storage) project.
+
+Podman uses these same libraries to read and write container images, storing them in the `/var/lib/containers` directory.
+
+The MINC extension launches a [MicroShift](https://github.com/openshift/microshift) cluster in a more efficient way for developers than previous deployments. Unlike the OpenShift Local extension, which sets up a separate virtual machine (VM), MINC (Microshift IN Container) runs a container inside your existing Podman Machine (on Windows or macOS). This avoids running two VMs, one for Kubernetes and another for Podman.
+
+A key benefit is that the MINC container shares Podman’s image storage. When you build an image with Podman, it's instantly available in the cluster, no uploading or copying required.
+
+:::note[MINC requires a rootful Podman machine]
+Make sure the machine is running in rootful mode, or create a new one using the `--rootful` option.
+:::
+
+## Creating a Local Kubernetes/MicroShift Cluster
+
+1. Create the MicroShift cluster
+
+In the Resources view, click the MINC card and select "Create new…". For now, no customization is needed—just click "Next". The cluster will start automatically.
+
+1. Verify that now you see in bottom left in the status bar `microshift` as the default Kubernetes context and if you go in the left navbar in the Kubernetes section you can see in the Nodes entry the MicroShift node.
+
+1. Verify `kubectl` setup using a CLI
+
+MINC updates your `$HOME/.kube/config` file with a new `microshift` entry. Check in the bottom left of the status bar, you should see a `microshift` entry as the default Kubernetes context.
+
+Try listing all pods:
+
+```bash
+kubectl get -A pods
+```
+
+Example output:
+
+```shell
+NAMESPACE              NAME                                      READY   STATUS
+kube-flannel           kube-flannel-ds-wjn2f                     1/1     Running
+kube-proxy             kube-proxy-jh7r8                          1/1     Running
+kube-system            csi-snapshot-controller-8d97d878f-l6q6j   1/1     Running
+openshift-dns          dns-default-zvdw9                         2/2     Running
+openshift-dns          node-resolver-84twk                       1/1     Running
+openshift-ingress      router-default-54c5757547-4jnfd           1/1     Running
+openshift-service-ca   service-ca-7977bdc4d4-ssjq2               1/1     Running
+
+```
+
+#### Create a Hello World container image
+
+Create a `Containerfile`
+
+```Dockerfile
+FROM nginx
+
+RUN echo '<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Hello</title></head><body><h1>Hello from MINC</h1></body></html>' \
+    > /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html
+```
+
+Or quickly create it with:
+
+```shell
+echo 'FROM nginx:alpine
+RUN echo "<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title>Hello</title></head><body><h1>Hello from MINC</h1></body></html>" > /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html' > Containerfile
+```
+
+Then, using Podman Desktop, build the image providing the name `minc/nginx:hello-world`.
+
+### Verify Image in the MicroShift Cluster
+
+Inside the MicroShift container, run:
+
+```bash
+crictl images | grep hello
+```
+
+You should see something like:
+
+```bash
+docker.io/minc/nginx                                                                     hello-world               e7032b219ab03       51.1MB
+```
+
+The image is now available in the MicroShift cluster.
+
+#### Create a Pod from the UI
+
+Click on the play button from the image to start a new container. Then select the container and click on "Create Pod".
+
+#### Deploy a pod from this image using the CLI
+
+Use `kubectl` to deploy a pod from the image:
+
+```shell
+kubectl run hello-world-pod --image=minc/nginx:hello-world --port=80
+```
+
+To check if the pod is running, use:
+
+```shell
+kubectl get pods
+```
+
+Expected output:
+
+```shell
+kubectl get pods
+NAME              READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
+hello-world-pod   1/1     Running   0          6s
+```
+
+# Deploy this podman Pod to Kubernetes/MINC
+
+Select the pod and click on `Deploy to Kubernetes...` in the Kebab menu.
+Your Pod is now deployed to the MINC cluster.
+
+If you want to use the CLI/manual steps :
+
+**Create a Service for the Pod using the CLI**
+
+Expose the pod with a service:
+
+```shell
+kubectl expose pod hello-world-pod --port=80 --target-port=80 --name=hello-world-service
+```
+
+**Create a Route (Requires oc CLI)**
+
+Assuming the `oc` CLI (OpenShift client) is available in your `PATH`, create a route:
+
+```shell
+oc create route edge hello-world-route --service svc/hello-world-service --port 80 --wildcard-policy=None
+```
+
+To list all routes:
+
+```
+oc get routes
+```
+
+#### Access the Nginx Container
+
+Clicking on the route in the UI will redirect you to the page.
+
+Without the UI it's also possible to get that information.
+
+Check that the nginx container is reachable using the route. Use the `-k` flag with curl to ignore the self-signed certificate warning:
+
+```shell
+curl -k "https://$(oc get route hello-world-route -ojsonpath='{.status.ingress[0].host}'):9443"
+```
+
+You can also open the URL in your browser (you’ll need to ignore the self-signed certificate warning):
+
+```shell
+open "https://$(oc get route hello-world-route -ojsonpath='{.status.ingress[0].host}'):9443"
+```
+
+You should see the message: "Hello from MINC" 🎉
+
+This confirms that your inner development loop is working. Once the image is built, it’s instantly available in the cluster.
+
+### Video walkthrough
+
+<iframe
+  width="560"
+  height="315"
+  src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BsPvfnYdRjA"
+  title="MINC extension"
+  frameBorder="0"
+  allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture"
+  allowFullScreen
+></iframe>
+
+### Conclusion
+
+Using MINC and the MINC extension significantly reduces the turnaround time between building and testing container images.
+
+Have feedback? Share it on the [MINC extension issue tracker](https://github.com/minc-org/minc-extension/issues)