1---2name: azure-container-instances3description: Expert knowledge for Azure Container Instances development including troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and deployment. Use when configuring ACI networking/VNet IPs, standby pools, GitHub Actions deploys, TLS/ACR auth, or logs/events, and other Azure Container Instances related development tasks. Not for Azure Container Apps (use azure-container-apps), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) (use azure-kubernetes-service), Azure Virtual Machines (use azure-virtual-machines), Azure Batch (use azure-batch).4---5# Azure Container Instances Skill67This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Container Instances. Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.89## How to Use This Skill1011> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: Use the **Category Index** below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., `L35-L120`), use `read_file` with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., `[security.md](security.md)`), use `read_file` on the linked reference file1213This skill requires **network access** to fetch documentation content:14- **Preferred**: Use `mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch`. Returns Markdown.15- **Fallback**: Use `WebFetch`. Returns Markdown.1617## Category Index1819| Category | Lines | Description |20|----------|-------|-------------|21| Troubleshooting | L32-L38 | Diagnosing ACI issues by viewing logs/events, understanding provisioning/runtime states, and troubleshooting common deployment, startup, and container runtime failures. |22| Best Practices | L39-L43 | Guidance on designing and running ACI workloads reliably: resource sizing, networking, storage, security, scaling, image management, and operational best practices. |23| Decision Making | L44-L49 | Guidance on cost-optimizing ACI with Spot containers and using prediction-based sizing to configure and right-size Azure Container Instances standby pools. |24| Architecture & Design Patterns | L50-L56 | Design patterns for giving ACI containers static inbound/outbound IPs using Application Gateway, firewalls, and NAT Gateway for controlled, predictable network egress/ingress. |25| Limits & Quotas | L57-L65 | ACI limits on CPU/memory, quotas by region, standby pool constraints, behavior FAQs, and networking/VNet considerations that affect container capacity and availability |26| Security | L66-L80 | Securing Azure Container Instances: TLS/HTTPS setup, image and secret protection, managed identities, RBAC, DNS safety, ACR auth, CMK encryption, and Azure Policy enforcement. |27| Configuration | L81-L113 | Configuring ACI container groups: YAML, env vars, DNS, volumes, probes, GPUs, restart/entrypoint, standby pools, networking, lifecycle, logging, and monitoring. |28| Deployment | L114-L117 | Using GitHub Actions to build, push, and automatically deploy container images to Azure Container Instances, including workflow YAML setup and authentication configuration. |2930### Troubleshooting31| Topic | URL |32|-------|-----|33| Retrieve Azure Container Instances logs and events for troubleshooting | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-get-logs |34| Troubleshoot common deployment and runtime issues in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-troubleshooting |35| Interpret Azure Container Instances provisioning and runtime states | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-state |3637### Best Practices38| Topic | URL |39|-------|-----|40| Apply Azure Container Instances workload best practices | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-best-practices-and-considerations |4142### Decision Making43| Topic | URL |44|-------|-----|45| Decide when to use ACI Spot containers for cost savings | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-spot-containers-overview |46| Use prediction results to right-size Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-prediction-results |4748### Architecture & Design Patterns49| Topic | URL |50|-------|-----|51| Expose Azure Container Instances via Application Gateway static IP | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-application-gateway |52| Configure static outbound IP for Azure Container Instances with firewall | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-egress-ip-address |53| Configure Azure Container Instances egress via NAT Gateway | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-nat-gateway |5455### Limits & Quotas56| Topic | URL |57|-------|-----|58| Use Big Containers with ACI vCPU and memory limits | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/big-containers |59| Azure Container Instances FAQs on limits and behavior | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-faq |60| Check ACI resource availability and quota limits by region | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-resource-and-quota-limits |61| FAQ and limits for Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-faq |62| Use Azure Container Instances with virtual networks | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-virtual-network-concepts |6364### Security65| Topic | URL |66|-------|-----|67| Configure automatic HTTPS for Azure Container Instances using Caddy | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-container-group-automatic-ssl |68| Enable TLS for Azure Container Instances with Nginx sidecar | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-container-group-ssl |69| Encrypt Azure Container Instances deployment data with customer-managed keys | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-encrypt-data |70| Secure images and secrets for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-image-security |71| Enable and use managed identities in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-managed-identity |72| Configure RBAC permissions for Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-configure-permissions |73| Configure ACI to pull images from ACR using service principals | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-using-azure-container-registry |74| Mount secret volumes in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-secret |75| Set ACI DNS name reuse policy to prevent subdomain takeover | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/how-to-reuse-dns-names |76| Use built-in Azure Policy definitions for Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/policy-reference |77| Use managed identities for ACI image pulls from private ACR | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/using-azure-container-registry-mi |7879### Configuration80| Topic | URL |81|-------|-----|82| Use config maps to manage settings in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-config-map |83| Configure custom DNS for Azure Container Instances container groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-custom-dns |84| Configure environment variables for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-environment-variables |85| Execute commands in running Azure Container Instances containers | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-exec |86| Deploy GPU-enabled workloads on Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-gpu |87| Configure init containers in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-init-container |88| Configure liveness probes for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-liveness-probe |89| Send Azure Container Instances resource logs to Azure Monitor | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-log-analytics |90| Configure readiness probes for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-readiness-probe |91| YAML configuration reference for Azure Container Instances container groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-reference-yaml |92| Configure ACI restart policies for run-once container tasks | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-restart-policy |93| Create standby pools for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-create |94| Retrieve details of Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-get-details |95| Understand and query health state of Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-health-state |96| Use standby pools to reduce Azure Container Instances scale-out latency | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-overview |97| Request container groups from Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-request-container |98| Update or delete Azure Container Instances standby pools | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pool-update-delete |99| Monitor Azure Container Instances standby pool events with Log Analytics | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-standby-pools-monitor-pool-events |100| Override container entrypoint command in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-start-command |101| Manually stop and start Azure Container Instances container groups | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-stop-start |102| Update running container groups in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-update |103| Configure ACI container groups in Azure virtual networks via CLI | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-vnet |104| Mount Azure Files volumes in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-azure-files |105| Use emptyDir volumes to share data in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-emptydir |106| Mount gitRepo volumes in Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-volume-gitrepo |107| Configure monitoring and alerts for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/monitor-azure-container-instances |108| Configure monitoring and alerts for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/monitor-azure-container-instances |109| Monitoring data reference for Azure Container Instances | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/monitor-azure-container-instances-reference |110| View Azure Container Instances logs in Log Analytics via portal | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/viewing-logs-in-portal |111112### Deployment113| Topic | URL |114|-------|-----|115| Automate ACI deployments with GitHub Actions workflow configuration | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-github-action |
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