Azure Kubernetes

Azure Kubernetes

Integration Context Contract

• Canonical contract: docs/integration-context.md

• Use sovereign cloud values from the canonical contract when applicable.

Fail fast before API calls when required context is missing or malformed. Redact tenant, subscription, and object identifiers.

Command Surface

Guardrails

1. Validate context schema and minimum grants before any API call.
2. Run read-only discovery first whenever possible.
3. Require explicit confirmation for destructive actions.
4. Re-query and verify post-action state.
5. Return structured, redacted output.

Progressive Disclosure - Reference Files

Azure CLI Reference

All commands below require Azure CLI (az) with an authenticated session (az login). Replace <cluster>, <rg>, and other placeholders with actual values.

Cluster Lifecycle

# Create AKS cluster
az aks create --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --location <region> \
  --node-count 3 --node-vm-size Standard_DS2_v2 --generate-ssh-keys \
  --network-plugin azure --enable-managed-identity

# Create with advanced options (availability zones, CNI policy, monitoring)
az aks create --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> \
  --node-count 3 --node-vm-size Standard_DS3_v2 --generate-ssh-keys \
  --network-plugin azure --network-policy calico \
  --vnet-subnet-id <subnet-id> --service-cidr 10.0.0.0/16 --dns-service-ip 10.0.0.10 \
  --enable-managed-identity --enable-addons monitoring \
  --workspace-resource-id <workspace-id> --zones 1 2 3 --tier standard

# Get credentials (kubeconfig)
az aks get-credentials --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg>
az aks get-credentials --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --admin
az aks get-credentials --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --overwrite-existing

# Show / list / delete
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg>
az aks list --resource-group <rg> --output table
az aks list --output table
az aks delete --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --yes --no-wait

# Update cluster
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --enable-cluster-autoscaler --min-count 1 --max-count 10
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --attach-acr <acr-name>
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --enable-azure-rbac
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --api-server-authorized-ip-ranges "1.2.3.4/32,5.6.7.8/32"

# Install kubectl via Azure CLI
az aks install-cli

# Run command on cluster without local kubeconfig
az aks command invoke --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --command "kubectl get pods -A"
az aks command invoke --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --command "kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml" --file deployment.yaml

Node Pool Management

# Add user node pool
az aks nodepool add --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> \
  --name <pool-name> --node-count 3 --node-vm-size Standard_DS3_v2 --mode User

# Add spot node pool
az aks nodepool add --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> \
  --name spotpool --node-count 3 --node-vm-size Standard_DS3_v2 \
  --priority Spot --eviction-policy Delete --spot-max-price -1

# Add GPU node pool
az aks nodepool add --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> \
  --name gpupool --node-count 1 --node-vm-size Standard_NC6s_v3 \
  --node-taints "sku=gpu:NoSchedule" --labels gpu=true

# Add Windows node pool
az aks nodepool add --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> \
  --name winpool --node-count 2 --os-type Windows --node-vm-size Standard_D4s_v3

# Scale node pool
az aks nodepool scale --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name> --node-count 5

# Update node pool autoscaler
az aks nodepool update --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name> \
  --enable-cluster-autoscaler --min-count 1 --max-count 10

# Update labels and taints
az aks nodepool update --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name> --labels env=prod tier=backend
az aks nodepool update --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name> --node-taints "dedicated=special:NoSchedule"

# Show / list / delete
az aks nodepool show --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name>
az aks nodepool list --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --output table
az aks nodepool delete --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name> --yes

Upgrades

# Check available upgrades
az aks get-upgrades --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --output table

# Upgrade cluster control plane + node pools
az aks upgrade --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --kubernetes-version <version> --yes

# Upgrade a single node pool
az aks nodepool upgrade --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name> --kubernetes-version <version>

# Upgrade node image only (no Kubernetes version change)
az aks nodepool upgrade --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name <pool-name> --node-image-only

# Get available node image versions
az aks nodepool get-upgrades --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --nodepool-name <pool-name>

ACR Integration

# Attach ACR to AKS
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --attach-acr <acr-name>

# Detach ACR
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --detach-acr <acr-name>

# Check ACR access
az aks check-acr --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --acr <acr-name>.azurecr.io

Addons

# Enable monitoring
az aks enable-addons --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --addons monitoring --workspace-resource-id <workspace-id>

# Enable Azure Policy
az aks enable-addons --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --addons azure-policy

# Enable Azure Key Vault Secrets Provider
az aks enable-addons --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --addons azure-keyvault-secrets-provider

# Enable HTTP application routing (dev only)
az aks enable-addons --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --addons http_application_routing

# Enable KEDA
az aks enable-addons --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --addons keda

# Disable addon
az aks disable-addons --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --addons monitoring

# Show addon status
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "addonProfiles"

Identity & RBAC

# Enable managed identity
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --enable-managed-identity

# Get managed identity details
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "identity"
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "identityProfile.kubeletidentity.objectId" -o tsv

# Enable Azure RBAC for Kubernetes authorization
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --enable-azure-rbac

# Assign RBAC roles
az role assignment create --assignee <user-or-sp-id> \
  --role "Azure Kubernetes Service Cluster User Role" --scope <cluster-resource-id>
az role assignment create --assignee <user-or-sp-id> \
  --role "Azure Kubernetes Service RBAC Writer" --scope <cluster-resource-id>/namespaces/<ns>

# Enable workload identity + OIDC issuer
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --enable-oidc-issuer --enable-workload-identity

# Get OIDC issuer URL
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "oidcIssuerProfile.issuerUrl" -o tsv

Networking

# Show network profile
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "networkProfile"

# Update authorized IP ranges
az aks update --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --api-server-authorized-ip-ranges "1.2.3.4/32"

# Create private cluster
az aks create --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --enable-private-cluster \
  --node-count 3 --generate-ssh-keys

# Show FQDN
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "fqdn" -o tsv
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "privateFqdn" -o tsv

Maintenance Windows

# Add maintenance window
az aks maintenanceconfiguration add --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> \
  --name default --weekday Monday --start-hour 1

# List maintenance configurations
az aks maintenanceconfiguration list --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg>

# Delete maintenance configuration
az aks maintenanceconfiguration delete --cluster-name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --name default

Diagnostics & Monitoring

# Collect cluster diagnostics
az aks kollect --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --storage-account <sa-name>

# Container Insights - pod inventory
az monitor log-analytics query --workspace <workspace-id> --analytics-query \
  "KubePodInventory | where ClusterName == '<cluster>' | where Namespace != 'kube-system' | summarize count() by Name, PodStatus | order by count_ desc" --output table

# Pod failure logs
az monitor log-analytics query --workspace <workspace-id> --analytics-query \
  "ContainerLog | where LogEntry contains 'error' or LogEntry contains 'fatal' | where TimeGenerated > ago(1h) | project TimeGenerated, ContainerID, LogEntry | order by TimeGenerated desc | take 50" --output table

# Node diagnostics
az monitor log-analytics query --workspace <workspace-id> --analytics-query \
  "KubeNodeInventory | where ClusterName == '<cluster>' | project Computer, Status, KubeletVersion, LastTransitionTimeReady | order by Status" --output table

# Create metric alert for pod restart spikes
az monitor metrics alert create --resource-group <rg> --name "aks-pod-failures" \
  --scopes <cluster-resource-id> --condition "total restartingContainerCount > 5" \
  --window-size PT15M --evaluation-frequency PT5M --severity 2 --action <action-group-id>

# Diagnostic settings (send all logs and metrics to Log Analytics)
az monitor diagnostic-settings create --resource <cluster-resource-id> --name "aks-diag" \
  --workspace <workspace-id> \
  --logs '[{"categoryGroup":"allLogs","enabled":true}]' \
  --metrics '[{"category":"AllMetrics","enabled":true}]'

# Quick cluster health check
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> \
  --query "{PowerState:powerState.code, ProvisioningState:provisioningState, KubernetesVersion:kubernetesVersion, NodeCount:agentPoolProfiles[].count}"

Start / Stop Cluster

# Stop cluster (save costs in non-production)
az aks stop --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg>

# Start cluster
az aks start --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg>

# Check power state
az aks show --name <cluster> --resource-group <rg> --query "powerState" -o tsv