Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Highly available, secure, and fully managed Kubernetes service
Ship faster, operate with ease, and scale confidently
The fully managed Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) makes deploying and managing containerized applications easy. It offers serverless Kubernetes, an integrated continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) experience, and enterprise-grade security and governance. Unite your development and operations teams on a single platform to rapidly build, deliver, and scale applications with confidence.
Elastic provisioning of additional capacity without the need to manage the infrastructure. Add event-driven autoscaling and triggers through KEDA
Faster end-to-end development experience with Azure Dev Spaces including integration with Visual Studio Code Kubernetes tools, Azure DevOps, and Azure Monitor
Advanced identity and access management using Azure Active Directory, and dynamic rules enforcement across multiple clusters with Azure Policy
Orchestration of containers across 35 regions and growing, in the public cloud, in Azure Stack, or on IoT edge devices
Accelerate containerized application development
Easily define, deploy, debug, and upgrade even the most complex Kubernetes applications, and automatically containerize your applications. Develop and test microservices-based applications without mocking up dependencies using Dev Spaces.
Add a full CI/CD pipeline to your AKS clusters with automated routine tasks, and set up a Canary deployment strategy in just a few clicks. Detect failures early and optimize your pipelines with deep traceability into your deployments.
Gain visibility into your environment with control-plane telemetry, log aggregation, and container health, accessible in the Azure portal and automatically configured for AKS clusters.
Get DevOps fundamentals
Manage Kubernetes with ease
Easily provision clusters using the CLI or infrastructure-as-code tools such as Terraform. Minimize infrastructure maintenance using automated upgrades, repair, monitoring, and scaling.
Elastically provision additional compute capacity in serverless Kubernetes in seconds without worrying about managing the infrastructure.
Achieve higher availability and protect applications from datacenter failures using redundancies across availability zones.
Learn about Serverless KubernetesBuild on an enterprise-grade, more secure foundation
- Deploy only validated images to your private container registry, which comes with built-in Helm chart support, and automatically geo-replicate to data centers close to your users.
- Use virtual network and policy-driven communication paths between resources to help secure your Kubernetes workloads.
- Get fine-grained identity and access control to Kubernetes resources from cluster to containers using Azure Active Directory.
- Enforce rules defined in Azure Policy across multiple clusters. Track, validate, and reconfigure nodes, pods, and container images for compliance with agility.
- Gain unmatched security management, intelligent threat detection, and actionable recommendations for compliance, with Azure Security Center integration.
Run any workload in the cloud, at the edge, or as a hybrid
Orchestrate any type of workload running in the environment of your choice. Whether you want to move .NET applications to Windows Server containers, modernize Java applications in Linux containers, or run microservices applications in the public cloud, at the edge, or in hybrid environments, Azure has the solution for you.
Learn about the Kubernetes core concepts and apply best practices in production.
Common uses for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Use Kubernetes to migrate your existing application to the cloud, build a complex application that uses machine learning, or take advantage of the agility offered by a microservices architecture.
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Easily migrate existing application to container(s) and run within the Azure managed Kubernetes service (AKS). Control access via integration with Azure Active Directory and access SLA-backed Azure Services such as Azure Database for MySQL using OSBA (Open Service Broker for Azure) for your data needs.
- 1 User converts existing application to container(s) & publishes container image(s)to the Azure Container Registry
- 2 Using Azure Portal or command line, user deploys containers to AKS cluster
- 3 Azure Active Directory is used to control access to AKS resources
- 4 Easily access SLA-backed Azure Services such as Azure Database for MySQL using OSBA (Open Service Broker for Azure)
- 5 Optionally, AKS can be deployed with a VNET virtual network
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Use AKS to simplify the deployment and management of microservices based architecture. AKS streamlines horizontal scaling, self-healing, load balancing, secret management.
- 1 Developer uses IDE such as Visual Studio to commit changes to GitHub
- 2 GitHub triggers a new build on Azure DevOps
- 3 Azure DevOps packages microservices as containers and pushes them to the Azure Container Registry
- 4 Containers are deployed to AKS cluster
- 5 Users access services via apps and website
- 6 Azure Active Directory is used to secure access to the resources
- 7 Microservices use databases to store and retrieve information
- 8 Administrator accesses via a separate admin portal
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DevOps and Kubernetes are better together. Implementing secure DevOps together with Kubernetes on Azure, you can achieve the balance between speed and security and deliver code faster at scale. Put guardrails around the development processes using CI/CD with dynamic policy controls and accelerate feedback loop with constant monitoring. Use Azure Pipelines to deliver fast while ensuring enforcement of critical policies with Azure Policy. Azure provides you real-time observability for your build and release pipelines, and the ability to apply compliance audit and reconfigurations easily.
- 1 Developers rapidly iterate, test, and debug different parts of an application together in the same Kubernetes cluster
- 2 Code is merged into a GitHub repository, after which automated builds and tests are run by Azure Pipelines
- 3 Container image is registered in Azure Container Registry
- 4 Kubernetes clusters are provisioned using tools like Terraform; Helm charts, installed by Terraform, define the desired state of app resources and configurations
- 5 Operators enforce policies to govern deployments to the AKS cluster
- 6 Release pipeline automatically executes pre-defined deployment strategy with each code change
- 7 Policy enforcement and auditing is added to CI/CD pipeline using Azure Policy
- 8 App telemetry, container health monitoring, and real-time log analytics are obtained using Azure Monitor
- 9 Insights used to address issues and fed into next sprint plans
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Use the AKS virtual node to provision pods inside ACI that start in seconds. This enables AKS to run with just enough capacity for your average workload. As you run out of capacity in your AKS cluster, scale out additional pods in ACI without any additional servers to manage.
- 1 User registers container in Azure Container Registry
- 2 Container images are pulled from the Azure Container Registry
- 3 AKS virtual node, a Virtual Kubelet implementation, provisions pods inside ACI from AKS when traffic comes in spikes.
- 4 AKS and ACI containers write to shared data store
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IoT scenarios can potentially involve hundreds to thousands of IoT devices. AKS provides scalable compute resources on demand for IoT solutions, running in the cloud or on-premises.
- 1 User initiates AKS deployment using a Helm Chart
- 2 IoT Edge Connector virtual node deploys to Edge devices via the IoT Hub.
- 3 Deployment is updated on Edge devices
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Training of models using large datasets is a complex and resource intensive task. Use familiar tools such as TensorFlow and Kubeflow to simplify training of Machine Learning models. Your ML models will run in AKS clusters backed by GPU enabled VMs.
- 1 Package ML model into a container and publish to ACR
- 2 Azure Blob storage hosts training data sets and trained model
- 3 Use Kubeflow to deploy training job to AKS, distributed training job to AKS includes Parameter servers and Worker nodes
- 4 Serve production model using Kubeflow, promoting a consistent environment across test, control and production
- 5 AKS supports GPU enabled VM
- 6 Developer can build features querying the model running in AKS cluster
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Use AKS to easily ingest & process a real-time data stream with millions of data points collected via sensors. Perform fast analysis and computations to develop insights into complex scenarios quickly.
- 1 Sensor data is generated and streamed to Azure API Management.
- 2 AKS cluster runs microservice that are deployed as containers behind a service mesh. Containers are built using a DevOps process and stored in Azure Container Registry.
- 3 Ingest service stores data in a Azure Cosmos DB
- 4 Asynchronously, the Analysis service receives the data and streams it to Apache Kafka and Azure HDInsight.
- 5 Data scientists can analyze the large big data for use in machine learning models using Splunk.
- 6 Data is processed by the processing service which stores the result in Azure Database for PostgreSQL and caches the data in an Azure Cache for Redis.
- 7 A web app running in Azure App Service is used to visualize the results.
Use AKS and pay only for compute resources
- Pay only for the virtual machines and the associated storage and networking resources consumed
- Take advantage of no-charge cluster management
How customers are using Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Hafslund uses containerized software for utility initiatives and to improve customer service
Ståle Heitmann, Chief Technology Officer, Hafslund Nett"We wanted a platform to speed development and testing but do it safely, without losing control over security and performance. That's why Azure and AKS are the perfect fit for us."
Maersk uses the cloud to spur development of containerized solutions built on Kubernetes
Rasmus Hald, Head of Cloud Architecture, A.P. Moller - Maersk"Using Kubernetes on Azure satisfies our objectives for efficient software development. It aligns well with our digital plans and our choice of open-source solutions."
Siemens Healthineers moves more computing to the cloud to support value-based care development
Thomas Gossler, Lead Architect, Digital Ecosystem Platform, Siemens Healthineers"Using AKS puts us into a position to not only deploy our business logic in Docker containers, including the orchestration, but also … to easily manage the exposure and control."
Finastra chooses AKS for its next-generation financial technology development ecosystem
Félix Grévy, Global Head of Product Management, Finastra"AKS gives us a pure Kubernetes and Docker imaging environment that we don't have to manage ourselves. Our team has regained the resources to accelerate deployment and maximize our PaaS offering."
Bosch increases vehicle safety using map-matching algorithms and Azure Kubernetes Service
Bernhard Rode, Software Engineer, Bosch"When we started our journey on Azure, we were a really small team—just one or two developers. Our partnership with Microsoft, the support from their advisory teams, the great AKS documentation and enterprise expertise—it all helped us very much to succeed."
Get started with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Sign up for an Azure free account.
Explore the core Kubernetes infrastructure components and workload resources.
Follow the seven-part tutorial to deploy and run an application in AKS.
Training materials and resources
What is Kubernetes?
Get an overview of Kubernetes and related resources, including a Kubernetes Learning Path designed to take you on a journey to Kubernetes proficiency. Learn from the experts through e-books, videos, short tutorials, and in-depth hands-on workshops.
Documentation and quickstarts
Check out the documentation for quickstarts, tutorials, and how-to guides, and read the AKS best practices to better understand the technical details, get hands-on with AKS, and learn about the options for setting up Kubernetes in production.
Videos and webinars
Watch AKS videos and on-demand Azure webinars for demos, top features, and technical sessions.
Azure Blog and updates
Read the Azure Blog and subscribe to Azure updates for the latest news and information on Azure products.
Forums and events
Deepen your expertise by joining other AKS users on GitHub, at KubeCon, or at a Kubernetes Meetup near you.
AKS updates, blogs, and announcements
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February 24, 2020
Burst 4K encoding on Azure Kubernetes Service
Fardau van Neerden, Cloud Solution Architect
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UPDATE
Kubernetes on Azure Stack Hub in GA
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UPDATE
Azure Cloud and Direct Billing Are Now Generally Available in Kaleido's Blockchain Platform
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January 30, 2020
Hyperledger Fabric on Azure Kubernetes Service Marketplace template
Ramya Vastrad, Program Manager
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UPDATE
Azure Private Link support in AKS now in preview
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November 19, 2019
Bringing confidential computing to Kubernetes
Lachlan Evenson, Principal Program Manager - Azure Container Compute
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UPDATE
Easily test pull request changes in the context of broader applications
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UPDATE
Dev Spaces connect for Azure Kubernetes Service is now in preview
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UPDATE
Easier diagnostics and logging with Azure Kubernetes Service is now in preview
Frequently asked questions about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
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AKS is available in 35+ countries and regions worldwide, and new ones are being added regularly.
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Kubernetes is open-source software that helps deploy and manage containerized applications at scale. It orchestrates a cluster of Azure VMs, schedules containers, automatically manages service discovery, incorporates load balancing, and tracks resource allocation. It also checks the health of individual resources and heals apps with auto-restart and auto-replication.
AKS provides a managed Kubernetes service with automated provisioning, upgrading, monitoring, and on-demand scaling. To learn more, visit the Kubernetes website and the Kubernetes topic page.
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Docker and Kubernetes are complementary. Docker provides an open standard for packaging and distributing containerized applications, while Kubernetes provides for the orchestration and management of distributed, containerized applications created with Docker. In other words, Kubernetes provides the infrastructure needed to deploy and run applications built with Docker.
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