This course introduces you to container security, Azure Container Registry authentication, Kubernetes clusters, and Microsoft Defender for Containers.
Learning Objectives
- A solid understanding of what options are available for securing your containerized applications in Azure and how to protect them from emerging threats
Intended Audience
- Developers, IT professionals, and security experts who are looking to understand the different ways to secure their containerized applications in Azure
Prerequisites
- Basic understanding of Containerized computing in Azure
Welcome to Integrating AKS Authentication with Azure AD.
Azure AD, which is a multi-tenant, cloud-based directory and identity management service, provides a single source for account management and security. It combines directory services, access management, and identity protection. Using Azure AD, you can integrate on-prem identities into AKS clusters in order provide a single source for account management and security, which enhances the security of the AKS cluster.
Azure AD integration is a feature that allows cluster administrators to configure Kubernetes role-based access control (RBAC) based on a user's identity or directory group membership in an Azure AD-integrated AKS cluster. This allows for more granular access control to Kubernetes resources within a namespace and even across the entire cluster.
When integrated with Azure AD authentication, AKS clusters utilize OpenID Connect, which is an identity layer that's built on top of the OAuth 2.0 protocol. OAuth 2.0 enables user authentication and authorization through the use of tokens.
During authentication, Webhook Token Authentication is used inside the Kubernetes cluster to verify the authentication tokens. This is configured and managed as part of the AKS cluster. To leverage Azure AD integration, you must have Azure CLI version 2.29.0 or later, kubectl with a minimum version of 1.18.1, or kubelogin, and if using helm, a minimum version of helm 3.3.
It's important to note that once AKS-managed Azure AD integration is enabled, it cannot be disabled. Additionally, changing an AKS-managed Azure AD integrated cluster to legacy Azure AD is not supported. Furthermore, clusters without Kubernetes RBAC enabled aren't supported with AKS-managed Azure AD integration. This is because AKS-managed Azure AD integration requires Kubernetes RBAC to be enabled to function correctly.
The key takeaway here is that Azure AD integration is a feature that allows for secure access control to Kubernetes resources in AKS clusters by using user identities or directory group membership. Using Azure AD, you can integrate on-prem identities into AKS clusters in order to provide a single source for account management and security and enhance the security of the AKS cluster.
Tom is a 25+ year veteran of the IT industry, having worked in environments as large as 40k seats and as small as 50 seats. Throughout the course of a long an interesting career, he has built an in-depth skillset that spans numerous IT disciplines. Tom has designed and architected small, large, and global IT solutions.
In addition to the Cloud Platform and Infrastructure MCSE certification, Tom also carries several other Microsoft certifications. His ability to see things from a strategic perspective allows Tom to architect solutions that closely align with business needs.
In his spare time, Tom enjoys camping, fishing, and playing poker.