---
title: Test your React.js deployment
linkTitle: Test your deployment
weight: 60
keywords: deploy, kubernetes, react, react.js
description: Learn how to deploy locally to test and debug your Kubernetes deployment
---
## Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure you’ve completed the following:
- Complete all the previous sections of this guide, starting with [Containerize React.js application](containerize.md).
- [Enable Kubernetes](/manuals/desktop/features/kubernetes.md#install-and-turn-on-kubernetes) in Docker Desktop.
> **New to Kubernetes?**
> Visit the [Kubernetes basics tutorial](https://kubernetes.io/docs/tutorials/kubernetes-basics/) to get familiar with how clusters, pods, deployments, and services work.
---
## Overview
This section guides you through deploying your containerized React.js application locally using [Docker Desktop’s built-in Kubernetes](/desktop/kubernetes/). Running your app in a local Kubernetes cluster allows you to closely simulate a real production environment, enabling you to test, validate, and debug your workloads with confidence before promoting them to staging or production.
---
## Create a Kubernetes YAML file
Follow these steps to define your deployment configuration:
1. In the root of your project, create a new file named: reactjs-sample-kubernetes.yaml
2. Open the file in your IDE or preferred text editor.
3. Add the following configuration, and be sure to replace `{DOCKER_USERNAME}` and `{DOCKERHUB_PROJECT_NAME}` with your actual Docker Hub username and repository name from the previous [Automate your builds with GitHub Actions](configure-github-actions.md).
```yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: reactjs-sample
namespace: default
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: reactjs-sample
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: reactjs-sample
spec:
containers:
- name: reactjs-container
image: {DOCKER_USERNAME}/{DOCKERHUB_PROJECT_NAME}:latest
imagePullPolicy: Always
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: reactjs-sample-service
namespace: default
spec:
type: NodePort
selector:
app: reactjs-sample
ports:
- port: 8080
targetPort: 8080
nodePort: 30001
```
This manifest defines two key Kubernetes resources, separated by `---`:
- Deployment
Deploys a single replica of your React.js application inside a pod. The pod uses the Docker image built and pushed by your GitHub Actions CI/CD workflow
(refer to [Automate your builds with GitHub Actions](configure-github-actions.md)).
The container listens on port `8080`, which is typically used by [Nginx](https://nginx.org/en/docs/) to serve your production React app.
- Service (NodePort)
Exposes the deployed pod to your local machine.
It forwards traffic from port `30001` on your host to port `8080` inside the container.
This lets you access the application in your browser at [http://localhost:30001](http://localhost:30001).
> [!NOTE]
> To learn more about Kubernetes objects, see the [Kubernetes documentation](https://kubernetes.io/docs/home/).
---
## Deploy and check your application
Follow these steps to deploy your containerized React.js app into a local Kubernetes cluster and verify that it’s running correctly.
### Step 1. Apply the Kubernetes configuration
In your terminal, navigate to the directory where your `reactjs-sample-kubernetes.yaml` file is located, then deploy the resources using:
```console
$ kubectl apply -f reactjs-sample-kubernetes.yaml
```
If everything is configured properly, you’ll see confirmation that both the Deployment and the Service were created:
```shell
deployment.apps/reactjs-sample created
service/reactjs-sample-service created
```
This output means that both the Deployment and the Service were successfully created and are now running inside your local cluster.
### Step 2. Check the Deployment status
Run the following command to check the status of your deployment:
```console
$ kubectl get deployments
```
You should see an output similar to:
```shell
NAME READY UP-TO-DATE AVAILABLE AGE
reactjs-sample 1/1 1 1 14s
```
This confirms that your pod is up and running with one replica available.
### Step 3. Verify the Service exposure
Check if the NodePort service is exposing your app to your local machine:
```console
$ kubectl get services
```
You should see something like:
```shell
NAME TYPE CLUSTER-IP EXTERNAL-IP PORT(S) AGE
reactjs-sample-service NodePort 10.100.244.65 <none> 8080:30001/TCP 1m
```
This output confirms that your app is available via NodePort on port 30001.
### Step 4. Access your app in the browser
Open your browser and navigate to [http://localhost:30001](http://localhost:30001).
You should see your production-ready React.js Sample application running — served by your local Kubernetes cluster.
### Step 5. Clean up Kubernetes resources
Once you're done testing, you can delete the deployment and service using:
```console
$ kubectl delete -f reactjs-sample-kubernetes.yaml
```
Expected output:
```shell
deployment.apps "reactjs-sample" deleted
service "reactjs-sample-service" deleted
```
This ensures your cluster stays clean and ready for the next deployment.
---
## Summary
In this section, you learned how to deploy your React.js application to a local Kubernetes cluster using Docker Desktop. This setup allows you to test and debug your containerized app in a production-like environment before deploying it to the cloud.
What you accomplished:
- Created a Kubernetes Deployment and NodePort Service for your React.js app
- Used `kubectl apply` to deploy the application locally
- Verified the app was running and accessible at `http://localhost:30001`
- Cleaned up your Kubernetes resources after testing
---
## Related resources
Explore official references and best practices to sharpen your Kubernetes deployment workflow:
- [Kubernetes documentation](https://kubernetes.io/docs/home/) – Learn about core concepts, workloads, services, and more.
- [Deploy on Kubernetes with Docker Desktop](/manuals/desktop/features/kubernetes.md) – Use Docker Desktop’s built-in Kubernetes support for local testing and development.
- [`kubectl` CLI reference](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/kubectl/) – Manage Kubernetes clusters from the command line.
- [Kubernetes Deployment resource](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/workloads/controllers/deployment/) – Understand how to manage and scale applications using Deployments.
- [Kubernetes Service resource](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/service/) – Learn how to expose your application to internal and external traffic.