Administering Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Clusters

Integrating Cisco Container Platform with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) allows you to deploy and run containerized applications on the Azure cloud.

This chapter contains the following topics:

Prerequisites for Configuring AKS Clusters

The prerequisites for configuring AKS clusters are as follows:

Azure User Account Requirements

The following roles are necessary for your Azure user account that you want to use with Cisco Container Platform:

  • An App administrator within the directory

  • An Owner within the Azure subscription

You can contact your Azure administrator to set up these roles for your Azure account.

Creating Resource Groups

A resource group is a logical grouping of the resources that are required to deploy Cisco Container Platform on Azure. They allow you to manage your resources efficiently.

Procedure

Step 1

Log in to the Microsoft Azure portal.

Step 2

From the left navigation pane, click All services > Resource groups.

The Resource groups pane is displayed.
Step 3

Click Add to create a new resource group.

Step 4

In the Create an empty resource group pane, specify the following information:

  1. In the Resource Group name field, enter a unique name.

  2. From the Subscription drop-down list, choose a subscription type.

  3. From the Resource group location drop-down list, choose the region in which you want to create your AKS cluster.

    Note 
    Not all regions support AKS. Ensure that you select a supported region. Currently, Cisco Container Platform supports only the eastus and westus regions.
For more information on a resource group, refer to Resource Group Overview.

Creating AKS Clusters

Before you begin

Procedure

Step 1

From the left pane, click Clusters, and then click the Azure tab.

Step 2

Click NEW CLUSTER.

Step 3

In the Basic Information screen, specify the following information:

  1. From the INFRASTUCTURE PROVIDER drop-down list, choose the provider related to the appropriate Azure account.

  2. From the AZURE REGION drop-down list, choose an appropriate AKS region.

    Note 
    Not all regions support AKS. Ensure that you select a supported region. Currently, Cisco Container Platform supports only the eastus and westus regions.

  3. In the KUBERNETES CLUSTER NAME field, enter a name for your cluster.

  4. From the KUBERNETES VERSION drop-down list, choose the Kubernetes version for your cluster.

    Note 
    Not all Kubernetes versions are supported in all Azure regions. Ensure that you select an available Kubernetes version.

  5. Click NEXT.

Step 4

In the Cluster settings screen, specify the following information:

  1. In the NODE POOL NAME field, enter an alphanumeric name for the primary node pool of your cluster.

  2. From the RESOURCE GROUP drop-down list, enter the name of the resource group that you have created in your Azure account.

    See also Creating Resource Groups.

  3. To create and use a virtual network subnet for an AKS cluster, from the NETWORK PLUGIN drop-down list, choose Azure or Kubenet.

    See also Using Kubenet Networking.

  4. If you want to use Virtual Kubelet to provision pods on the Azure Container Instance in your AKS clusters, under VIRTUAL KUBELET, click the toggle button to enable virtual kubelet.

    Note 
    The provider must have an application name to enable Virtual Kubelet.

  5. Click NEXT.

Step 5

In the Node Configuration screen, specify the following information:

  1. From the WORKER INSTANCE TYPE drop-down list, choose an instance type that provides an appropriate combination of CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity for your cluster.

    See also Amazon EC2 Instance Types.

  2. In the WORKER COUNT field, enter an appropriate number of worker nodes.

  3. In the POD CIDR field, enter the desired CIDR value.

    Note 
    This is an optional field. So you can leave the field empty or leave the default as is.

  4. In the SERVICE CIDR field, enter the desired CIDR value.

    Note 
    This is an optional field. So you can leave the field empty or leave the default as is.

  5. In the VNET SUBNET ID field, enter a subnet within the virtual network where you want to deploy the Azure resources.

  6. In the DOCKER BRIDGE CIDR field, enter a valid CIDR to override the default Docker bridge.

  7. In the DNS SERVICE IP field, enter an IP address within the Kubernetes service address range that will be used by cluster service discovery (kube-dns).

    See also Configure Azure CNI Networking in AKS.
    Note 
    You must not use the first IP address in your address range, such as .1. The first address in your subnet range is used for the kubernetes.default.svc.cluster.local address.

  8. Click NEXT.

Step 6

In the Summary screen, review the cluster information, and then click FINISH.

Cluster creation can take up to 20 minutes. You can monitor cluster creation status on the Clusters screen.

Upgrading AKS Clusters

The upgrade path for an AKS cluster is allowed based on the AKS upgrade map, which is completely controlled by AKS.

For example:

If the current version of your AKS cluster is 1.12.x, you must first upgrade 1.12.x to 1.13.x, and then upgrade from 1.13.x to 1.14.x. You cannot directly upgrade from 1.12.x to 1.14.x.

See also Upgrade an AKS cluster.

Before you begin

Ensure that the AKS cluster is in the READY state.

Procedure

Step 1

From the left pane, click Clusters, and then click the Azure tab.

Step 2

From the drop-down list displayed under the ACTIONS column, choose Upgrade for the cluster that you want to upgrade.

Step 3

In the Upgrade Azure Cluster dialog box, choose a Kubernetes version for the VM, and then click Upgrade.

The cluster status changes from READY to UPGRADING to READY.

It may take a few minutes for the Kubernetes cluster upgrade to complete.

Deleting AKS Clusters

Before you begin

Ensure that the AKS cluster that you want to delete is not currently in use, as deleting a cluster removes the containers and data associated with it.

Procedure

Step 1

From the left pane, click Clusters, and then click the Azure tab.

Step 2

From the drop-down list displayed under the ACTIONS column, choose Delete for the cluster that you want to delete.

Step 3

Click DELETE in the confirmation dialog box.

Upon deleting an AKS cluster, it takes about 15 minutes for the cluster resources to be released.