Migrate x86 workloads to Arm on Google Kubernetes Engine with Axion processors
Introduction
Explore the benefits of migrating microservices to Arm on GKE
Set up your environment
Create build-ready Dockerfiles for both architectures
Build and deploy multi-architecture images on GKE
Prepare manifests and deploy on GKE
Automate builds and rollout with Cloud Build and Skaffold
Next Steps

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About this Learning Path

Skill level:  Advanced
Reading time:  1 hr 30 min
Last updated:  10 Nov 2025
Skill level:
  Advanced
Reading time:
  1 hr 30 min
Last updated:
  10 Nov 2025
Author:Rani Chowdary Mandepudi, Arm
Arm IP:Neoverse
Tags: Containers and Virtualization Linux Kubernetes GKE Skaffold Cloud Build
Author:
  • Rani Chowdary Mandepudi, Arm
Arm IP:
Neoverse
Tags:
Containers and Virtualization Linux Kubernetes GKE Skaffold Cloud Build

Who is this for?

This is an advanced topic for cloud, platform, and site reliability engineers who operate Kubernetes on Google Cloud and need to build multi-architecture images and migrate services from x86 to Arm using Google Axion processors.

What will you learn?

Upon completion of this Learning Path, you will be able to:

  • Prepare Dockerfiles for multi-architecture builds by adding arm64 support
  • Create a dual-architecture GKE standard cluster with amd64 and arm64 node pools
  • Build and publish multi-architecture images to Artifact Registry using Docker Buildx
  • Deploy a Kubernetes application on amd64, then migrate to arm64 using Kustomize overlays
  • Automate builds and rollouts with Cloud Build and Skaffold

Prerequisites

Before starting, you will need the following:

  • A Google Cloud account with billing enabled
  • A local Linux or macOS computer with Docker, Kubernetes CLI (kubectl), Google Cloud CLI (gcloud), and Git installed, or access to Google Cloud Shell
  • Basic familiarity with Docker, Kubernetes, and gcloud
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