Access a private Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster using the command invoke or Run command feature

Below are examples of how to use az aks command invoke to execute commands against a private AKS cluster. These examples assume you have an existing resource group and AKS cluster.

Use command invoke to run a single command

You can run a command on your cluster using the az aks command invoke --command command. The following example command runs the kubectl get pods -n kube-system command on the myPrivateCluster cluster in myResourceGroup.

First, set environment variables for your resource group and cluster name to use in subsequent commands.

export AKS_RESOURCE_GROUP="myResourceGroup"
export AKS_CLUSTER_NAME="myPrivateCluster"

The environment variables above will allow you to run AKS commands in the next sections without having to rewrite their names.

To run a single kubectl command on your AKS cluster:

az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group $AKS_RESOURCE_GROUP \
  --name $AKS_CLUSTER_NAME \
  --command "kubectl get pods -n kube-system"

Use command invoke to run multiple commands

You can also run multiple commands. The following example executes three helm commands in sequence on the cluster.

az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group $AKS_RESOURCE_GROUP \
  --name $AKS_CLUSTER_NAME \
  --command "helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami && helm repo update && helm install my-release bitnami/nginx"

Use command invoke to run commands with an attached file

When using the --file parameter with az aks command invoke, the file must exist and be accessible in your current working directory. Below, we create a minimal deployment file for demonstration.

To run a command with a file attached, first create a Kubernetes manifest file named deployment.yaml. The following example creates a small nginx deployment and applies it with command invoke:

cat <<EOF > deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-demo
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx-demo
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx-demo
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:1.21.6
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
EOF

az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group $AKS_RESOURCE_GROUP \
  --name $AKS_CLUSTER_NAME \
  --command "kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml -n default" \
  --file deployment.yaml

Use command invoke to run commands with all files in the current directory attached

Use only small, necessary files to avoid exceeding system size limits. Below, two minimal YAML files are created before attaching them.

cat <<EOF > deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-demo
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx-demo
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx-demo
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:1.21.6
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
EOF

cat <<EOF > configmap.yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: nginx-config
data:
  welcome-message: "Hello from configmap"
EOF

az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group $AKS_RESOURCE_GROUP \
  --name $AKS_CLUSTER_NAME \
  --command "kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml -f configmap.yaml -n default" \
  --file deployment.yaml \
  --file configmap.yaml

To get started with Run command, navigate to your private cluster in the Azure portal. In the service menu, under Kubernetes resources, select Run command.

Run command commands

You can use the following kubectl commands with the Run command feature:

• kubectl get nodes
• kubectl get deployments
• kubectl get pods
• kubectl describe nodes
• kubectl describe pod <pod-name>
• kubectl describe deployment <deployment-name>
• kubectl apply -f <file-name>

Use Run command to run a single command

1. In the Azure portal, navigate to your private cluster.
2. In the service menu, under Kubernetes resources, select Run command.
3. Enter the command you want to run and select Run.

Use Run command to run commands with attached files

1. In the Azure portal, navigate to your private cluster.

2. In the service menu, under Kubernetes resources, select Run command.

3. Select Attach files > Browse for files.

   

4. Select the file(s) you want to attach and then select Attach.

5. Enter the command you want to run and select Run.