Azure Container Service and Management

Azure Container Service provides a managed environment for running Docker containers, with support for popular orchestration tools like Kubernetes and DC/OS.

You can manage your containerized applications using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, or Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates.

Azure Container Service supports multiple orchestrators, including Kubernetes and DC/OS, allowing you to choose the one that best fits your application's needs.

With Azure Container Service, you can scale your containerized applications quickly and easily, without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

Azure Container Features offer significant benefits for developers. Containers can start in seconds, without the need to provision and manage virtual machines.

Azure Container Instances caches several common base OS images, helping speed deployment of custom application images. This feature is especially useful when you need to quickly spin up new containers.

Azure Container Instances also supports standby pools for even faster startup times. This means you can have a pool of containers ready to go, reducing the time it takes to deploy new applications.

Azure Container Service, or AKS, is a managed Kubernetes service that takes the hassle out of installing, configuring, and maintaining a Kubernetes cluster. You only pay for the nodes where your containers will be deployed, not for the Kubernetes masters.

Azure Kubernetes Service, or AKS, provides a fully managed Kubernetes option in Azure, supporting direct access to the Kubernetes API and running any Kubernetes workload.

AKS is ideal for teams looking for a fully managed version of Kubernetes in Azure, with the cluster configurations and operations within your control and responsibility.

You can try out AKS without using huge virtual machines, making it a great option for testing and development.

As of now, AKS is still in preview, so the instructions might change in time.

Fast startup times are a significant advantage of using Azure Container Instances. Containers can start in seconds, without the need to provision and manage virtual machines.

Azure Container Instances can start containers in Azure in seconds, which is much faster than traditional virtual machines. This is because ACI caches several common base OS images.

Bring your own Linux or Windows container images from Docker Hub, a private Azure container registry, or another cloud-based Docker registry. This makes it easy to get started with Azure Container Instances.

For even faster startup times, ACI supports standby pools, which allows for quicker deployment of your custom application images.

Here's a list of Azure Container features you should know about:

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a managed container orchestration service that simplifies the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications.

You can use AKS to deploy and manage containerized applications on Azure, with features like self-healing and automated rollouts.

Azure Container Instances (ACI) is a serverless container service that allows you to run containers without managing the underlying infrastructure.

ACI provides fast and lightweight container deployment, with support for Docker containers and Azure Blob Storage.

Azure App Service provides a fully managed platform for building, deploying, and scaling containerized web applications.

Azure Container Registry (ACR) is a managed container registry service that allows you to store, manage, and distribute container images.

ACR supports Docker container images and provides features like image scanning and vulnerability assessment.

Persistent storage is a game-changer for Azure Container Instances, allowing you to retrieve and persist state with ease.

With Azure Container Instances, you can directly mount Azure Files shares backed by Azure Storage, giving you a reliable way to store and manage your container data.

This feature is particularly useful for applications that require persistent data, such as databases or file systems.

Azure Container Instances supports zonal container group deployments, which means the instance is pinned to a specific, self-selected availability zone.

You can specify the availability zone per container group, giving you more control over your container's placement.

This allows you to ensure your container is running in a specific region, which is particularly useful for applications that require low-latency and high-availability.

Azure Functions is a serverless solution optimized for event-driven applications. It's perfect for teams looking to trigger functions on events and bind to other data sources.

Azure Functions shares many characteristics with Azure Container Apps around scale and integration with events. This means you can expect similar performance and flexibility.

The Azure Functions programming model provides productivity benefits by allowing you to reuse code as environment requirements change. This is thanks to its availability as a base container image.

If you plan to build FaaS-style functions, Azure Functions is the ideal option. It's portable to other container-based compute platforms, making it a versatile choice.

Azure Container Deployment offers several deployment options to suit different needs. You can deploy containers in a trusted execution environment (TEE) that provides hardware-based confidentiality and integrity protections for your container workloads.

ACI Spot containers allow customers to run interruptible, containerized workloads on unused Azure capacity at discounted prices of up to 70% compared to regular-priority ACI containers.

You can create an AKS/Azure Container Service cluster using the Azure Portal or the command line. The Azure Portal method is a great way to visually understand how to create the cluster, while the command line method can be used to automate the process or integrate with tools like Terraform.

Here's a summary of the required parameters when creating an AKS cluster using the command line:

To start deploying Azure containers, you'll need to get a few things in order. First and foremost, you'll need an Azure account with a subscription, which requires a credit card, but don't worry, you'll get initial free credits when you start a subscription.

Having an MSDN subscription or signing up for the Dev Essentials program can also get you some free credits. If you know more ways to get free credits, let me know in the comments.

To work with Azure, you'll need to install and configure the Azure CLI, as well as the Kubernetes command-line tool kubectl.

Lastly, make sure the Azure subscription you use has the required resources: Storage, Compute, Networking, and ContainerService. If you're not sure how to register resources in the subscription, you can read on for more information.

Here are the prerequisites summarized in a list:

Creating an AKS Cluster is a straightforward process that can be done through the Azure Portal or the command line. You can use the Azure Portal to create a Kubernetes-managed cluster in Azure, which will take around 20 minutes to complete.

To create a cluster using the Azure Portal, go to the Azure Portal and click on the "Create a resource" link. Then, select "Containers" and click on the "Kubernetes Service" link. This will take you to the Kubernetes Service page where you can create a new cluster.

Alternatively, you can use the command line to create a cluster. This method is useful for automating the process or using tools like Terraform. Before creating the cluster, make sure you have all the prerequisites and delete any existing clusters or change their names to avoid conflicts.

To create a cluster using the command line, run the following command: `az container create`. This command will create a container group, but you'll need to specify the cluster parameters, such as the resource group, cluster name, node count, node VM size, and SSH key generation.

Here are the key parameters you'll need to specify when creating a cluster using the command line:

By specifying these parameters, Azure will use the default values for other settings, such as networking and monitoring. Creating the cluster will take around 20 minutes, and once it's complete, you can verify that the cluster is working correctly.

It's worth noting that Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) provides a fully managed Kubernetes option in Azure, which supports direct access to the Kubernetes API and runs any Kubernetes workload. This option is ideal for teams looking for a fully managed version of Kubernetes in Azure.

Restarting your containers is a breeze with Azure. You can restart all containers in a container group with a single command: az container restart.

This command will restart all containers in the group, and if there are any updates to the container image, Azure will download the new image.

Restarts are done in place, so you don't have to worry about losing your container's configuration.

With Azure, you can easily manage your containers and get them back up and running in no time.

Show is a crucial step in Azure Container Deployment, allowing you to retrieve the details of a container group with the az container show command.

This command is straightforward and easy to use, providing you with the necessary information to manage and troubleshoot your container groups.

You can use az container show to get the details of a container group, which includes its configuration, status, and other relevant information.

This command is particularly useful when you need to verify the configuration of a container group or troubleshoot issues that may be affecting its performance.

Stopping your containers is a straightforward process. You can stop all containers in a container group using the command "az container stop".

This command will deallocate compute resources and stop billing. You'll need to use the Azure CLI to execute this command.

By stopping your containers, you can conserve resources and reduce costs.

Azure App Service is a fully managed hosting option for web applications.

It's optimized for web applications and can be used to deploy websites and web APIs.

You can deploy web applications using code or containers with Azure App Service.

Azure App Service is integrated with other Azure services, including Azure Container Apps and Azure Functions.

This integration makes it an ideal option for building web apps.

With Azure Container Management, you can let the cloud handle the Kubernetes cluster for you, paying only for the nodes you use.

You don't have to worry about administering the master nodes, as Kubernetes is just an orchestrator.

If something goes wrong and the master nodes are down, you won't be able to do deployments, scale out, or down the application.

AKS will give you metrics about the performance of the cluster by default.

These metrics are extremely useful when you integrate APM into your application, allowing you to get performance metrics for containers.

To get an idea of what your monitoring results might look like, you can take a look at this document.

You can also get logs to troubleshoot, which is essential for identifying and resolving issues.

To examine the logs for a container in a container group, use the az container logs command.

The container name is required, and if omitted, the first container in the group will be chosen.

By configuring monitoring, you can gain valuable insights into your application's performance and behavior.

Access to your container groups is a breeze with Azure Container Instances. You can expose your containers directly to the internet with an IP address and a fully qualified domain name (FQDN).

To make your application reachable, you can specify a custom DNS name label when creating a container instance, allowing it to be accessed at customlabel.azureregion.azurecontainer.io. This feature is a game-changer for developers who want to test and deploy their apps quickly.

Azure Container Instances requires all secure connections from servers and applications to use TLS 1.2, and support for TLS 1.0 and 1.1 has been retired. This ensures that your connections are secure and up-to-date.

You can also access your container groups using managed identity, which enables your container group to authenticate to any service that supports Microsoft Entra authentication without managing credentials in your container code. This is a huge time-saver and reduces the risk of security breaches.

Azure Container Instances also provides an interactive shell to help with application development and troubleshooting, allowing you to execute a command in a running container. Access to this shell takes place over HTTPS, using TLS to secure client connections.

Deleting Azure Container Instances is a straightforward process. You can stop a container instance at any time to free up resources.

To delete a container instance, go to the Azure portal and navigate to the Container Instances page. From there, select the instance you want to delete and click the "Delete" button.