Part 1: Provision

This is Part 1 of a multi-part, self-paced quick start exercise that will focus on provisioning an AKS cluster in Azure using the web console, RCTL CLI, or Terraform.

What Will You Do¶

In part 1, you will:

Create a new Project in your Org
Create a Cloud Credential
Provision an Azure AKS cluster
Verify cluster health
Review available dashboards

Watch a video of this exercise.

Step 1: Create Project¶

In this step, we will create a new project which will serve as a logically isolated "operating environment" (sub tenant).

Note

Creating a project requires "Org Admin" privileges.

Create a new project called "aks"

New Project

Switch context to this project by clicking on the project in the web console

Step 2: Create Cloud Credential¶

Cloud credentials provide the controller with privileges to programmatically interact with your Azure account so that it can manage the lifecycle of infrastructure associated with AKS clusters.

Follow the step-by-step instructions to setup Azure and obtain the required credentials.
Follow the step-by-step instructions to create an Azure cloud credential on the controller.
Validate the newly created cloud credential to ensure it is configured correctly.

Validate Cloud Credential

Step 3: Configure & Provision Cluster¶

In this step, you will configure and customize your Azure AKS Cluster using either the web console, the RCTL CLI with a YAML based cluster specification, or Terraform with some configuration files.

Select a method to provision and manage your AKS cluster from the tabs below.

Web ConsoleRCTL CLITerraform

Navigate to the previously created project in your Org
Select Infrastructure -> Clusters
Click "New Cluster"
Select "Create a New Cluster"
Click "Continue"

Create Cluster

Select "Public Cloud"
Select "Azure"
Select "Azure AKS"
Enter a cluster name
Click "Continue"

Create Cluster

Enter the "Resource Group" where the cluster will be created
Select the previously created "Cloud Credentials"
Select the Azure Region for the cluster
Select the K8S Version for the cluster
Select the "default-aks" blueprint
Click "Save Changes"

Create Cluster

Click "Provision"

Provisioning in Process

Provisioning will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The final step in the process is the blueprint sync for the default blueprint. This can take a few minutes to complete because this requires the download of several container images and deployment of monitoring and log aggregation components.

Save the below specification file to your computer as "aks-cluster-basic.yaml". Note, the highlighted sections in the spec will need to be updated to match your environment.

apiVersion: infra.k8smgmt.io/v3
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  # The name of the cluster
  name: aks-get-started-cluster
  # The name of the project the cluster will be created in
  project: defaultproject
spec:
  blueprintConfig:
    # The name of the blueprint the cluster will use
    name: default-aks
  # The name of the cloud credential that will be used to create the cluster    
  cloudCredentials: azure-cc
  config:
    kind: aksClusterConfig
    metadata:
      # The name of the cluster
      name: aks-get-started-cluster
    spec:
      managedCluster:
        apiVersion: "2022-07-01"
        identity:
          # The identity type the AKS cluster will use to access Azure resources
          type: SystemAssigned
        # The Azure geo-location where the resources will reside
        location: centralindia
        properties:
          apiServerAccessProfile:
            # Make network traffic between the API server and node pools on a private network
            enablePrivateCluster: true
          # DNS name prefix of the Kubernetes API server FQDN  
          dnsPrefix: aks-get-started-cluster-dns
          # The Kubernetes version that will be installed on the cluster
          kubernetesVersion: 1.29.4
          networkProfile:
            loadBalancerSku: standard
            # Network plugin used for building the Kubernetes network. Valid values are azure, kubenet, none
            networkPlugin: kubenet
        sku:
          # The name of a managed cluster SKU
          name: Basic
          # If not specified, the default is Free. See uptime SLA for more details. Valid values are Paid, Free
          tier: Free
        type: Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters
      nodePools:
      - apiVersion: "2022-07-01"
        # The Azure geo-location where the node pools will reside
        location: centralindia
        # The name of the  node pool
        name: primary
        properties:
          # The desired number of nodes that can run in the node pool
          count: 1
          # Whether to enable auto-scaler
          enableAutoScaling: true
          # The maximum number of nodes that can run in the node pool
          maxCount: 1
          # The maximum number of pods that can run on a node
          maxPods: 40
          # The minimum number of nodes that can run in the node pool
          minCount: 1
          mode: System
          # The kubernetes version that will run on the node pool
          orchestratorVersion: 1.29.4
          # The operating system type that the nodes in the node pool will run
          osType: Linux
          # Valid values are VirtualMachineScaleSets, AvailabilitySet
          type: VirtualMachineScaleSets
          # The size of the VMs that the nodes will run on
          vmSize: Standard_DS2_v2
        type: Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters/agentPools
      # The resource group where the cluster will be created
      resourceGroupName: Resource-Group
  proxyConfig: {}
  type: aks

Update the following sections of the specification file with details to match your environment

Update the name and project sections with the name of the cluster and the name of the project in your organization
```
    metadata:
      name: aks-get-started-cluster
      project: defaultproject
```
Update the cloudprovider section with the name of the cloud credential that was previously created
```
    cloudprovider: azure-cc
```
Update the name section with the name of the cluster to be created
```
    metadata:
      name: aks-get-started-cluster
```

Managed Identity¶

Update the identity type to use either a System-assigned or User-assigned managed identity

Below is the configuration needed for a System-assigned managed identity in which Azure automatically creates an identity for the AKS cluster and assigns it to the underlying Azure resources.

    type: SystemAssigned

Below is a sample configuration needed for a User-assigned managed identity. The user identity will need to be updated to match an identity in your environment. With user-assigned managed identities, you have the flexibility to create and manage identities independently from the AKS cluster. These identities can then be associated with one or more AKS clusters, enabling seamless identity reuse across multiple AKS clusters or other Azure resources.

    type: UserAssigned
    userAssignedIdentities: /subscriptions/a2252eb2-7a25-432b-a5ec-e18eba6f26b1/resourceGroups/demo/providers/Microsoft.ManagedIdentity/userAssignedIdentities/demo-mgi-cli: {}

Update the location sections with the Azure region where the cluster will be created
```
    location: centralindia
```
Update the dnsprefix section with the DNS name prefix to use with the hosted Kubernetes API server FQDN
```
    dnsPrefix: aks-get-started-cluster-dns
```
Update the resourceGroupName section with the name of the Azure Resource Group where the resources will be created
```
    resourceGroupName: Resource-Group
```
Save the updates that were made to the file
Execute the following command to provision the cluster from the specification file previously saved
```
./rctl apply -f aks-cluster-basic.yaml
```
Expected output (with a task id):

{
  "taskset_id": "w2l0q62",
  "operations": [
    {
      "operation": "ClusterCreation",
      "resource_name": "aks-get-started-cluster",
      "status": "PROVISION_TASK_STATUS_PENDING"
    },
    {
      "operation": "NodegroupCreation",
      "resource_name": "primary",
      "status": "PROVISION_TASK_STATUS_INPROGRESS"
    },
    {
      "operation": "BlueprintSync",
      "resource_name": "aks-get-started-cluster",
      "status": "PROVISION_TASK_STATUS_INPROGRESS"
    }
  ],
  "comments": "The status of the operations can be fetched using taskset_id",
  "status": "PROVISION_TASKSET_STATUS_PENDING"
}

To retrieve the status of the apply operation, enter the below command with the generated task id

./rctl status apply w2l0q62

Expected Output

{
  "taskset_id": "w2l0q62",
  "operations": [
    {
      "operation": "ClusterCreation",
      "resource_name": "aks-get-started-cluster",
      "status": "PROVISION_TASK_STATUS_INPROGRESS"
    },
    {
      "operation": "NodegroupCreation",
      "resource_name": "primary",
      "status": "PROVISION_TASK_STATUS_PENDING"
    },
    {
      "operation": "BlueprintSync",
      "resource_name": "aks-get-started-cluster",
      "status": "PROVISION_TASK_STATUS_PENDING"
    }
  ],
  "comments": "Configuration is being applied to the cluster",
  "status": "PROVISION_TASKSET_STATUS_INPROGRESS"
}

Login to the web console and view the cluster being provisioned

Create Cluster

Provisioning will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. The final step in the process is the blueprint sync for the default blueprint. This can take a few minutes to complete because this requires the download of several container images and deployment of monitoring and log aggregation components.

Once the cluster finishes provisioning, download the cluster configuration file and compare it to the specification file used to create the cluster. The two files will match.

Go to Clusters -> Infrastructure.
Click on the Settings Icon for the newly created cluster and select "Download Cluster Config"

Make sure the following are installed or available.

Terraform
Text editor (or ability to update files using a terminal)

Make sure you have the following information. You may need to create these in your Azure environment or in the console.

Azure Subscription ID
- Add a Contributor Role to the Subscription
Azure Application ID and Azure Tenant ID
- The Application ID is also known as the Client ID.
Azure Client Secret
Azure Resource Group
Console API Key and Secret

To provision a cluster using Terraform:

Download and decompress the Get Started package. Navigate to the /terraform/aks folder.
Edit the config.json file. The file location is /terraform/artifacts/credentials/config.json. For this exercise, just change the following.
- api_key - Use the console API key.
- api_secret - Use the console API secret.
- project_id - Download the CLI Config file from the console and open the file with a text editor.
Edit the terraform.tfvars file. The file location is /terraform/terraform.tfvars. For this exercise, just update the following.
- subscription_id
- tenant_id
- client_id
- client_secret
- cluster_resource_group
- cluster_location
Open the terminal or command line.
Navigate to the terraform folder.
Run terraform init.
- Initializes the directory containing the Terraform configuration files, preparing the directory for use with Terraform.
Run terraform validate.
- Validates the configuration files in the directory, without accessing any remote services.
Run terraform apply. Enter yes when prompted. -Provisions the cluster.

It can take 20 minutes to provision the cluster. Check the console for the provisioning status.

Create Cluster

Step 4: Verify Cluster¶

Once provisioning is complete, you should have a ready to use Azure AKS Cluster. We will verify the cluster by checking its health and status.

Step 4a: Cluster Status & Health¶

The Kubernetes management operator automatically deployed on the cluster by the controller will "maintain a heartbeat" with the controller and will "proactively monitor" the status of the components on the worker node required for communication with the control plane and the controller.

Cluster reachability should be not more than 1 minute
Control plane should report as Healthy

Cluster Health

Step 4b : Zero Trust Kubectl¶

Your AKS Cluster's API Server is private and secure (i.e. cloaked and not directly reachable on the Internet). The controller provides a zero trust kubectl channel for authorized users.

Click the "Kubectl" button on the cluster card.
This will launch a web based kubectl shell for you to securely interact with the API server over a zero trust channel

ZTKA to AKS

Step 5: Dashboards¶

The default cluster blueprint automatically deploys Prometheus and other components required to monitor the AKS cluster. This data is aggregated from the cluster on the controller in a central, time series database. This data is then made available to administrators in the form of detailed dashboards.

Step 5a: Cluster Dashboard¶

Click on the cluster name to view the cluster dashboard. You will be presented with time series data for the following

Cluster Health
CPU Utilization
Memory Utilization
Storage Utilization
Number of Worker Nodes
Number of workloads and their status
Number of pods and their status

AKS Cluster Dashboard

Step 5b: Node Dashboard¶

Click on the node to view the node dashboard.

AKS Node Dashboard

Now, click on "Overview". You will be presented with time series data for the following metrics:

Node Health
CPU Utilization
Memory Utilization
Storage Utilization

AKS Node Overview

Step 5c: Kubernetes Resources¶

The dashboard also comes with an integrated Kubernetes dashboard. Click on "Resources" and you will be presented with all the Kubernetes resources organized using a number of filters.

AKS k8s Resources

Recap¶

Congratulations! At this point, you have

Successfully configured and provisioned an Azure AKS cluster
Used zero trust kubectl to securely access the AKS cluster's API server
Used the integrated cluster, node and k8s dashboards to monitor and view details about the cluster