Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Note: Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) simplifies deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications and microservices using Kubernetes on Azure.
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) provides a managed Kubernetes environment, making it easy to develop and deploy cloud-native applications. AKS handles the complexity of Kubernetes control plane management, allowing you to focus on your applications.
Key Concepts
Understanding these core Kubernetes concepts is essential when working with AKS:
- Pods: The smallest deployable units of computing that you can create and manage in Kubernetes. A pod represents a single instance of a running process in your cluster.
- Deployments: Declarative updates for Pods and ReplicaSets. You describe a desired state in a Deployment, and the Deployment Controller changes the actual state to the desired state at a controlled rate.
- Services: An abstract way to expose an application running on a set of Pods as a network service.
- Namespaces: A way to divide cluster resources between multiple users or teams.
- Ingress: Manages external access to the services in a cluster, typically HTTP.
Getting Started with AKS
Follow these steps to quickly get started with AKS:
- Create an AKS Cluster: You can create an AKS cluster using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure PowerShell.
- Connect to your Cluster: Configure your Kubernetes command-line client to connect to your cluster.
- Deploy an Application: Deploy a sample application using YAML manifests.
- Access your Application: Obtain the external IP address of your service and access it via your web browser.
az aks create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster --node-count 1 --enable-addons monitoring --generate-ssh-keysaz aks get-credentials --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: hello-world
spec:
replicas: 2
selector:
matchLabels:
app: hello-world
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: hello-world
spec:
containers:
- name: hello-world
image: mcr.microsoft.com/azuredocs/aks-helloworld-app:v1
ports:
- containerPort: 80
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
name: hello-world-service
spec:
type: LoadBalancer
ports:
- port: 80
selector:
app: hello-world
Core Features
- Managed Control Plane: Azure manages the Kubernetes control plane, reducing operational overhead.
- Hybrid Cloud Capabilities: Integrate seamlessly with on-premises environments using Azure Arc.
- Security & Compliance: Built-in security features, RBAC, network policies, and compliance certifications.
- Monitoring & Logging: Integrated with Azure Monitor for comprehensive visibility.
- Automated Updates & Upgrades: Easily manage Kubernetes version upgrades.
Tip: Explore Azure Policy for Kubernetes to enforce organizational standards and governance.