az-aks

Manage Azure Kubernetes Service clusters

TLDR

Create a Kubernetes cluster

$ az aks create -g [resource-group] -n [cluster-name] --generate-ssh-keys

Get credentials for kubectl

$ az aks get-credentials -g [resource-group] -n [cluster-name]

List all clusters in a resource group

$ az aks list -g [resource-group] -o table

Show cluster details

$ az aks show -g [resource-group] -n [cluster-name]

Scale a node pool

$ az aks nodepool scale -g [resource-group] --cluster-name [cluster-name] --name [nodepool1] --node-count [5]

Upgrade a cluster to a newer Kubernetes version

$ az aks upgrade -g [resource-group] -n [cluster-name] --kubernetes-version [1.28.0]

Stop a running cluster to save costs

$ az aks stop -g [resource-group] -n [cluster-name]

Start a stopped cluster

$ az aks start -g [resource-group] -n [cluster-name]

az aks manages Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters, providing a managed Kubernetes environment that reduces the complexity of cluster deployment and management.AKS handles critical tasks like health monitoring, maintenance, and upgrades. Azure manages the Kubernetes control plane, while you manage and pay only for the agent nodes.

PARAMETERS

-g, --resource-group VALUE

Name of the resource group.

-n, --name VALUE

Name of the managed cluster.

--kubernetes-version VALUE

Kubernetes version for the cluster.

--node-count VALUE

Number of nodes in the default node pool.

--node-vm-size VALUE

Size of virtual machines to create as Kubernetes nodes.

--generate-ssh-keys

Generate SSH key files if not present.

--network-plugin VALUE

Kubernetes network plugin (azure, kubenet, none).

--admin

Get cluster admin credentials instead of user credentials.

--overwrite-existing

Overwrite any existing cluster entry in kubeconfig.

-o, --output FORMAT

Output format (json, jsonc, table, tsv, yaml, yamlc, none).

SUBCOMMANDS

Cluster Management

create, delete, show, list, update, start, stop, upgrade, rotate-certs

Credentials

get-credentials, get-versions, get-upgrades, install-cli

Node Pools

nodepool add, nodepool delete, nodepool scale, nodepool upgrade, nodepool list, nodepool show

Networking

check-network, check-acr, approuting enable, approuting disable

Addons

addon enable, addon disable, addon list, addon show, addon update

Advanced

mesh enable, mesh disable, pod-identity add, command invoke

CAVEATS

Stopping a cluster deallocates compute resources but retains cluster configuration; you are not charged for compute during this time. Upgrading Kubernetes version is a one-way operation. get-credentials overwrites existing kubeconfig entries by default; use --overwrite-existing or --file to control this. The command invoke subcommand can run commands on private clusters.

HISTORY

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) reached general availability in June 2018. It evolved from Azure Container Service (ACS) which supported multiple orchestrators. AKS focuses exclusively on Kubernetes with deep Azure integration.