diff --git a/docs/execPluginIn30sec.md b/docs/execPluginIn30sec.md
new file mode 100644
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+# Exec plugin on linux in 30 seconds
+
+Full plugin docs [here](plugins.md).
+
+This demo writes and uses a somewhat ridiculous
+_exec_ plugin (written in bash) that generates a
+`ConfigMap`.
+
+
+## Make a place to work
+
+```
+DEMO=$(mktemp -d)
+```
+
+## Create a kustomization
+
+Make a kustomization directory to
+hold all your config:
+
+```
+MYAPP=$DEMO/myapp
+mkdir -p $MYAPP
+```
+
+Make a deployment config:
+
+```
+cat <<'EOF' >$MYAPP/deployment.yaml
+apiVersion: apps/v1
+kind: Deployment
+metadata:
+  name: the-deployment
+spec:
+  replicas: 3
+  template:
+    spec:
+      containers:
+      - name: the-container
+        image: monopole/hello:1
+        command: ["/hello",
+                  "--port=8080",
+                  "--date=$(THE_DATE)",
+                  "--enableRiskyFeature=$(ENABLE_RISKY)"]
+        ports:
+        - containerPort: 8080
+        env:
+        - name: THE_DATE
+          valueFrom:
+            configMapKeyRef:
+              name: the-map
+              key: today
+        - name: ALT_GREETING
+          valueFrom:
+            configMapKeyRef:
+              name: the-map
+              key: altGreeting
+        - name: ENABLE_RISKY
+          valueFrom:
+            configMapKeyRef:
+              name: the-map
+              key: enableRisky
+EOF
+```
+
+Make a service config:
+
+```
+cat <<EOF >$MYAPP/service.yaml
+kind: Service
+apiVersion: v1
+metadata:
+  name: the-service
+spec:
+  type: LoadBalancer
+  ports:
+  - protocol: TCP
+    port: 8666
+    targetPort: 8080
+EOF
+```
+
+Now make a config file for the plugin
+you're about to write.
+
+This config file is just another k8s resource
+object.  The values of its `apiVersion` and `kind`
+fields are used to _find_ the plugin code on your
+filesystem (more on this later).
+
+```
+cat <<'EOF' >$MYAPP/cmGenerator.yaml
+apiVersion: myDevOpsTeam
+kind: SillyConfigMapGenerator
+metadata:
+  name: whatever
+argsOneLiner: Bienvenue true
+EOF
+```
+
+Finally, make a kustomization file
+referencing all of the above:
+
+```
+cat <<EOF >$MYAPP/kustomization.yaml
+commonLabels:
+  app: hello
+resources:
+- deployment.yaml
+- service.yaml
+generators:
+- cmGenerator.yaml
+EOF
+```
+
+Review the files
+```
+ls -C1 $MYAPP
+```
+
+
+## Make a home for plugins
+
+Plugins must live in a particular place for
+kustomize to find them.
+
+This demo will use the ephemeral directory:
+
+```
+PLUGIN_ROOT=$DEMO/kustomize/plugin
+```
+
+The plugin config defined above in
+`$MYAPP/cmGenerator.yaml` specifies:
+
+> ```
+> apiVersion: myDevOpsTeam
+> kind: SillyConfigMapGenerator
+> ```
+
+This means the plugin must live in a directory
+named:
+
+```
+MY_PLUGIN_DIR=$PLUGIN_ROOT/myDevOpsTeam/sillyconfigmapgenerator
+
+mkdir -p $MY_PLUGIN_DIR
+```
+
+The directory name is the plugin config's
+_apiVersion_ followed by its lower-cased _kind_.
+
+A plugin gets its own directory to hold itself,
+its tests and any supplemental data files it
+might need.
+
+## Create the plugin
+
+There are two kinds of plugins, _exec_ and _Go_.
+
+Make an _exec_ plugin, installing it to the
+correct directory and file name.  The file name
+must match the plugin's _kind_ (in this case,
+`SillyConfigMapGenerator`):
+
+```
+cat <<'EOF' >$MY_PLUGIN_DIR/SillyConfigMapGenerator
+#!/bin/bash
+# Skip the config file name argument.
+shift
+today=`date +%F`
+echo "
+kind: ConfigMap
+apiVersion: v1
+metadata:
+  name: the-map
+data:
+  today: $today
+  altGreeting: "$1"
+  enableRisky: "$2"
+"
+EOF
+```
+
+By definition, an _exec_ plugin must be executable:
+
+```
+chmod a+x $MY_PLUGIN_DIR/SillyConfigMapGenerator
+```
+
+
+## Download kustomize 2.1.0
+
+```
+mkdir -p $DEMO/bin
+gh=https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/download
+url=$gh/v2.1.0/kustomize_2.1.0_linux_amd64
+curl -o $DEMO/bin/kustomize -L $url
+chmod u+x $DEMO/bin/kustomize
+```
+
+## Review the layout
+
+```
+tree $DEMO
+```
+
+## Build your app, using the plugin:
+
+```
+XDG_CONFIG_HOME=$DEMO $DEMO/bin/kustomize build --enable_alpha_plugins $MYAPP
+```
+
+Above, if you had set
+
+> ```
+> PLUGIN_ROOT=$HOME/.config/kustomize/plugin
+> ```
+
+there would be no need to use `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` in the
+_kustomize_ command above.
+
diff --git a/docs/plugins.md b/docs/plugins.md
index befbaa62a..f7d89569f 100644
--- a/docs/plugins.md
+++ b/docs/plugins.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # kustomize plugins
 
+See also: [linux exec plugin in 30 sec](execPluginIn30sec.md)
+
 Kustomize offers a plugin framework allowing
 people to write their own resource _generators_
 and _transformers_.