hands-on lab

Create Containerized Solutions with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Intermediate
1h 30m
5,986
4.2/5
Get guided in a real environmentPractice with a step-by-step scenario in a real, provisioned environment.
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Lab description

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 the application source code and follow the steps:

  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

November 29th, 2023 - Updated to Kubernetes version 1.28.3

June 12th, 2023 - Resolved code environment issue

April 7th, 2023 - Updated to Kubernetes version 1.25.6

October 11th, 2022 - Resolved deployment issue

April 22nd, 2022 - Updated the instructions and screenshots to reflect the latest UI and updated Kubernetes version to 1.23.5

February 17th, 2022 - Updated Kubernetes version 1.20.15

February 9th, 2022 - Updated the screenshots to reflect the latest Container Registry UI

August 31st, 2021 - Updated to use Kubernetes version 1.20.9

August 02, 2021 - Updated Lab to use Cloud IDE and updated instructions to reflect the new lab experience

April 16th, 2021 - Moved validation checks to the most relevant lab step for more immediate validation feedback

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

Environment before
Environment after
About the author
Avatar
Logan Rakai
Lead Content Developer - Labs
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Logan has been involved in software development and research since 2007 and has been in the cloud since 2012. He is an AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional, AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional, Microsoft Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert, MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, Google Cloud Certified Associate Cloud Engineer, Certified Kubernetes Security Specialist (CKS), Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA), Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD), and Certified OpenStack Administrator (COA). He earned his Ph.D. studying design automation and enjoys all things tech.

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Covered topics
Lab steps
Logging in to the Microsoft Azure Portal
Logging into Azure using Azure CLI
Reviewing the Application You will Containerize on ACR
Creating an Azure Container Registry (ACR)
Building a Container Image using ACR Tasks
Inspecting the Created AKS Cluster
Deploy the Application to AKS
Monitoring Applications running in AKS