This lab explores several key services that allow you to create containerized solutions in Azure. One of the main services explored in this lab is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). AKS allows you to run fully managed Kubernetes clusters in Azure. You will also use Azure Container Registry (ACR) for building and publishing Docker container images. The AKS monitoring facilities provided by Azure Monitor Insights and Log Analytics are also highlighted.

You will begin the lab with application source code and follow the steps of:

1. Testing the application locally in Azure Cloud Shell
2. Building and pushing a Docker container image using ACR quick tasks
3. Deploying the application to AKS using the image stored in ACR
4. Monitoring the application and cluster using AKS monitoring facilities

Lab Objectives

Upon completion of this lab you will be able to:

• Create an Azure Managed Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster
• Create container images for solutions
• Publish an image to the Azure Container Registry
• Run containers by using AKS

Lab Prerequisites

You should be familiar with:

• Basic understanding of Azure concepts including Virtual Networks, VMs, Availability Sets, and Load Balancers
• Experience with Kubernetes and the kubectl command line tool

You can fulfill the prerequisites by completing the 3 Pillars of Azure Cloud Learning Path and the Introduction to Kubernetes Course.

Updates

January 18th, 2021 - Updated Kubernetes version to 1.18.14 after Azure dropped support of 1.18.8 cause lab startup failures

July 29th, 2020 - Updated the cluster exploration lab step to reflect the latest Portal experience

April 13th, 2020 - Updated the AKS service principal role assignment to include the newest Azure subscriptions resolving an issue that caused the load balancer service to fail to get an external IP in some cases

Sept. 9th, 2019 - Updated to the latest version of Kubernetes in AKS and updated instructions and screenshots to reflect the latest Portal experience

August 12th, 2019 - Updated Kubernetes version