I have put together a simple cluster with several deploys that interact nicely, dns works, etc. However, as I'm using Deployments, and I have a few questions that I could not find answered in the docs.
How do I non-destructively update a deployment with a new copy of the deploy file? I've got edit and replace, but I'd really like to just pass in the file proper with it's changed fields (version, image, ports, etc.)
What's the preferred way of exposing a deployment as a service? There's a standalone file, there's an expose command... anything else I should consider? Is it possible to bundle the service into the deployment file?
How do I non-destructively update a deployment
You can use kubectl replace or kubectl apply. Replace is a full replacement. Apply tries to do a selective patch operation.
What's the preferred way of exposing a deployment as a service?
All of your suggestions are valid. Some people prefer a script, and for that kubectl expose is great. Some people want more control and versioning, so YAML files + kubectl apply or kubectl replace are appropriate. You can bundle multiple YAML "documents" into a single file, just join the blocks with "---" on a line by itself.