Deploy Kubernetes to Azure Stack

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Applies to: Azure Stack integrated systems and Azure Stack Development Kit

Note

Kubernetes on Azure Stack is in preview. Azure Stack disconnected scenario is not currently supported by the preview.

You can follow the steps in this article to deploy and set up the resources for Kubernetes in a single, coordinated operation. The steps use an Azure Resource Manager solution template. You'll need to collect the required information about your Azure Stack installation, generate the template, and then deploy to your cloud. The Azure Stack template doesn't use the same managed AKS service offered in global Azure.

Kubernetes and containers

You can install Kubernetes using Azure Resource Manager templates generated by the ACS-Engine on Azure Stack. Kubernetes is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and managing of applications in containers. A container is in an image. The container image is similar to a VM, however, unlike a VM, the container just includes the resources it needs to run an application, such as the code, runtime to execute the code, specific libraries, and settings.

You can use Kubernetes to:

  • Develop massively scalable, upgradable, applications that can be deployed in seconds.
  • Simplify the design of your application and improve its reliability by different Helm applications. Helm is an open-source packaging tool that helps you install and manage the lifecycle of Kubernetes applications.
  • Easily monitor and diagnose the health of your applications with scale and upgrade functionality.

You'll only be charged for the compute usage required by the nodes supporting your cluster. For more information, see Usage and billing in Azure Stack.

Deploy Kubernetes

The steps to deploy a Kubernetes cluster on Azure Stack will depend on your identity management service. Verify the identity management solution used by your installation of Azure Stack. Contact your Azure Stack administrator to verify your identity management service.

Connect to your cluster

You're now ready to connect to your cluster. The master can be found in your cluster resource group, and is named k8s-master-<sequence-of-numbers>. Use an SSH client to connect to the master. On the master, you can use kubectl, the Kubernetes command-line client to manage your cluster. For instructions, see Kubernetes.io.

You may also find the Helm package manager useful for installing and deploying apps to your cluster. For instructions on installing and using Helm with your cluster, see helm.sh.

Next steps

Add a Kubernetes to the Marketplace (for the Azure Stack operator)

Deploy Kubernetes to Azure Stack using Azure Active Directory (Azure AD)

Deploy Kubernetes to Azure Stack using Active Directory Federated Services (AD FS)

Kubernetes on Azure