Azure Kubernetes Service
Run production Kubernetes on Azure — AKS clusters, networking, RBAC, monitoring, autoscaling, and GitOps with Flux v2.
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About This Course
Course Curriculum
14 Lessons
AKS Cluster Creation and Management
Create and configure AKS clusters using the Azure CLI and portal. Learn node pools, cluster upgrades, and essential management operations.
AKS Cluster Creation and Management - Lab Exercises
az aks create with key parameters, node pools (system vs user/VM sizes/count), az aks get-credentials and kubectl get nodes, ACR integration with az aks update --attach-acr, cluster upgrades and maintenance windows, AKS pricing
AKS Networking
Configure AKS networking with kubenet and Azure CNI. Learn load balancers, internal networking, network policies, and DNS integration.
AKS Networking - Lab Exercises
Azure CNI vs kubenet, VNet integration and subnet requirements, internal vs public load balancers, network policies with Azure NPM or Calico, Azure Private DNS, Application Gateway Ingress Controller vs nginx
Azure AD Integration and RBAC
Integrate Azure Active Directory with AKS for authentication. Configure Kubernetes RBAC roles and bindings for fine-grained access control.
Azure AD Integration and RBAC - Lab Exercises
AKS-managed Azure AD integration, Kubernetes RBAC (Roles/ClusterRoles/RoleBindings), Azure RBAC for AKS, workload identity (pod-level Azure AD), accessing Azure services from pods (Key Vault/Storage), kubelogin
Monitoring with Container Insights
Enable and use Azure Monitor Container Insights for AKS. Learn metrics collection, log analytics queries, alerts, and cluster health monitoring.
Monitoring with Container Insights - Lab Exercises
Enable Container Insights (az aks enable-addons), Log Analytics workspace, Prometheus metrics with Azure Monitor, Grafana dashboards, alerts (node CPU/pod restarts/OOMKilled), live container logs
Autoscaling and Node Management
Configure horizontal pod autoscaling, cluster autoscaler, and node pool management. Learn scaling strategies, spot nodes, and resource optimization.
Autoscaling and Node Management - Lab Exercises
HPA (CPU/memory/custom metrics), KEDA on AKS, cluster autoscaler, node pool management (add/remove/spot instances), taints and tolerations, Pod Disruption Budgets, resource quotas and LimitRanges
GitOps with Flux v2
Implement GitOps workflows on AKS using Flux v2. Learn Git repository configuration, Kustomizations, Helm releases, and automated cluster reconciliation.
GitOps with Flux v2 - Lab Exercises
What GitOps is (Git as truth for cluster state), Flux v2 on AKS (az k8s-configuration flux create), source controllers (GitRepository/HelmRepository), Kustomization, Helm releases, image automation (watch ACR for new tags), multi-environment GitOps
Capstone Briefing Production AKS Platform
Capstone briefing for building a production AKS platform. Review the cluster architecture, security requirements, and operational goals for the hands-on challenge.
Capstone Production AKS Platform
Capstone: production AKS platform for PackShip - cluster with Azure CNI and 2 node pools, ACR with managed identity, Helm chart deployment, Azure AD RBAC (dev namespace-scoped/ops cluster-scoped), workload identity for Key Vault, Container Insights + Prometheus + alerts, HPA + cluster autoscaler, Flux GitOps, network policy, Pod Disruption Budgets
This course includes:
- 24/7 AI Instructor Support
- Live Lab Environments
- 7 Hands-on Lessons
- 6 Months Access
- Completion Badge
- Certificate of Completion
Earn Your Badge
Complete all lessons to unlock the Azure Kubernetes Service achievement badge.
Azure Kubernetes Service
Demonstrates proficiency in Azure Kubernetes Service — cluster management, networking, RBAC, monitoring, autoscaling, and GitOps with Flux v2.
Skills You'll Earn
Complete all lessons in this course to earn this badge