Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Introduction to AKS

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) makes it simple to deploy, manage, and scale your containerized applications using Kubernetes on Azure. AKS offers the benefits of Kubernetes without the complexity of managing the control plane or underlying infrastructure.

This tutorial will guide you through the essential steps to get your first Kubernetes cluster up and running on Azure.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following:

• An Azure subscription. If you don't have one, you can create a free account.
• The Azure CLI installed and configured. You can find installation instructions here.
• The `kubectl` command-line tool installed.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Sign in to Azure

   Open your terminal or command prompt and sign in to your Azure account:

   az login

   This command will open a browser window for you to authenticate.

2. Create a Resource Group

   A resource group is a logical container into which Azure resources are deployed and managed. You'll need to create one before creating your AKS cluster.

   Replace myResourceGroup with your desired name and eastus with your preferred Azure region.

   az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus

3. Create an AKS Cluster

   Now, create your AKS cluster. This command will deploy a basic cluster with a single node pool.

   Replace myAKSCluster with your desired cluster name.

   az aks create --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster --node-count 1 --enable-addons monitoring --generate-ssh-keys

   This process can take several minutes.

   Note: For production environments, consider configuring multiple node pools, autoscaling, and network policies for enhanced availability and security.

4. Connect to the Cluster

   Configure `kubectl` to connect to your AKS cluster. The az aks get-credentials command downloads credentials and configures the Azure CLI to use them.

   az aks get-credentials --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSCluster

   Verify that the `kubectl` connection to your cluster is successful:

   kubectl get nodes

   You should see output listing the nodes in your cluster.

5. Deploy an Application

   Let's deploy a simple sample application to your cluster. We'll use a basic Nginx deployment.

   apiVersion: apps/v1
   kind: Deployment
   metadata:
     name: nginx-deployment
   spec:
     replicas: 2
     selector:
       matchLabels:
         app: nginx
     template:
       metadata:
         labels:
           app: nginx
       spec:
         containers:
         - name: nginx
           image: nginx:latest
           ports:
           - containerPort: 80

   Save the above content as nginx-deployment.yaml and apply it using:

   kubectl apply -f nginx-deployment.yaml

6. Expose the Application

   To make your application accessible from the internet, you need to expose it using a Kubernetes Service of type LoadBalancer.

   apiVersion: v1
   kind: Service
   metadata:
     name: nginx-service
   spec:
     selector:
       app: nginx
     ports:
       - protocol: TCP
         port: 80
         targetPort: 80
     type: LoadBalancer

   Save the above content as nginx-service.yaml and apply it:

   kubectl apply -f nginx-service.yaml

   It will take a few minutes for a public IP address to be assigned to the load balancer.

7. Access Your Application

   Get the external IP address of your service:

   kubectl get service nginx-service

   Once the EXTERNAL-IP field shows an IP address, you can access your Nginx application by opening a web browser and navigating to that IP address.

   Congratulations! You have successfully deployed and exposed a containerized application on Azure Kubernetes Service.

Next Steps

• Explore more advanced deployment strategies and Kubernetes objects.
• Learn about scaling your AKS cluster and applications.
• Integrate with Azure services like Azure Monitor for logging and monitoring.
• Secure your AKS cluster with network policies and Azure Active Directory integration.

For more in-depth information, please refer to the official Azure Kubernetes Service documentation.