Getting started with Kubernetes in Azure

This page discusses getting a Kubernetes (K8s) cluster online Azure. First, get a Microsoft account and login to Azure. This guide is tailored for Linux. If you’re on Windows, read the documentation provided by Microsoft for this scenario.

Installing PowerShell

I’m on Kali Linux, so installing PowerShell is as easy as invoking:

sudo apt-get install powershell --yes

It’s probably the same on Ubuntu or any other Debian Linux distribution. Once you have PowerShell installed, invoke it with pwsh.

Install Az

The Az PowerShell module is the PowerShell module to interact with Azure. To install it, invoke the following in a PowerShell session:

Install-Module -Name Az -Repository PSGallery -Force

Connecting to Azure

Connect your PowerShell session to Azure by invoking the following:

Import-Module Az.Accounts
Connect-AzAccount

This will open your system’s default browser and prompt you to login. After successfully logging into Azure, make sure you’ve selected your desired Azure Subscription by invoking:

Get-AzContext

Creating a Kubernetes cluster

Invoke the following in order to create a new Azure Resource Group and Kubernetes cluster:

New-AzResourceGroup -Name $ResourceGroupName -Location westus
 
New-AzAksCluster `
	-ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName `
	-Name $ClusterName `
	-GenerateSshKey

The above commands will create a new Azure Resource Group and Azure Kubernetes Services cluster in your subscription. To connect to and interact with the cluster, invoke the following:

Install-AzAksCliTool
 
Import-AzAksCredential `
	-ResourceGroupName $ResourceGroupName `
	-Name $ClusterName

The kubectl binary will be saved to your disk in the current directory with the path .azure-kubectl. Add this path to your environment’s PATH and mark the kubectl binary in this directory as executable.

Once you’ve done the above, invoke kubectl and get the status of your cluster with the following:

kubectl get nodes