Quickstart: Create an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Automatic cluster

• Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Get started with Azure Cloud Shell.

  

• If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

  • If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Authenticate to Azure using Azure CLI.

  • When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use and manage extensions with the Azure CLI.

  • Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

• This article requires version 2.77.0 or later of the Azure CLI. If you're using Azure Cloud Shell, the latest version is already installed there.
• If you have multiple Azure subscriptions, select the appropriate subscription ID in which the resources should be billed using the az account set command.

• To deploy a Bicep file, you need to write access on the resources you create and access to all operations on the Microsoft.Resources/deployments resource type. For example, to create a virtual machine, you need Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines/write and Microsoft.Resources/deployments/* permissions. For a list of roles and permissions, see Azure built-in roles.

Create a resource group

An Azure resource group is a logical group in which Azure resources are deployed and managed.

The following example creates a resource group named myResourceGroup in the eastus location.

Create a resource group using the az group create command.

az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus

The following sample output resembles successful creation of the resource group:

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/<guid>/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup",
  "location": "eastus",
  "managedBy": null,
  "name": "myResourceGroup",
  "properties": {
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  },
  "tags": null
}

Create an AKS Automatic cluster

To create an AKS Automatic cluster, use the az aks create command. The following example creates a cluster named myAKSAutomaticCluster with Managed Prometheus and Container Insights integration enabled.

az aks create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myAKSAutomaticCluster \
    --sku automatic

After a few minutes, the command completes and returns JSON-formatted information about the cluster.

Connect to the cluster

To manage a Kubernetes cluster, use the Kubernetes command-line client, kubectl. kubectl is already installed if you use Azure Cloud Shell. To install kubectl locally, run the az aks install-cli command. AKS Automatic clusters are configured with Microsoft Entra ID for Kubernetes role-based access control (RBAC).

Configure kubectl to connect to your Kubernetes cluster using the az aks get-credentials command. This command downloads credentials and configures the Kubernetes CLI to use them.

az aks get-credentials --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSAutomaticCluster

Verify the connection to your cluster using the kubectl get command. This command returns a list of the cluster nodes.

kubectl get nodes

The following sample output shows how you're asked to log in.

To sign in, use a web browser to open the page https://microsoft.com/devicelogin and enter the code AAAAAAAAA to authenticate.

After you log in, the following sample output shows the managed system node pools. Make sure the node status is Ready.

NAME                                STATUS   ROLES   AGE     VERSION
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000000   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000001   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000002   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5

Create Automatic Kubernetes cluster

1. To create an AKS Automatic cluster, search for Kubernetes Services, and select Automatic Kubernetes cluster from the drop-down options.

   

2. On the Basics tab, fill in all the mandatory fields (Subscription, Resource group, Kubernetes cluster name, and Region) required to get started:

   

3. On the Monitoring tab, choose your monitoring configurations from Azure Monitor, Managed Prometheus, Grafana Dashboards, and/or configure alerts. Enable Managed Grafana (optional), add tags (optional), and proceed to create the cluster.

   

4. Get started with configuring your first application from GitHub and set up an automated deployment pipeline.

   

Connect to the cluster

To manage a Kubernetes cluster, use the Kubernetes command-line client, kubectl. kubectl is already installed if you use Azure Cloud Shell. To install kubectl locally, run the az aks install-cli command. AKS Automatic clusters are configured with Microsoft Entra ID for Kubernetes role-based access control (RBAC). When you create a cluster using the Azure portal, your user is assigned built-in roles for Azure Kubernetes Service RBAC Cluster Admin.

Configure kubectl to connect to your Kubernetes cluster using the az aks get-credentials command. This command downloads credentials and configures the Kubernetes CLI to use them.

az aks get-credentials --resource-group myResourceGroup --name myAKSAutomaticCluster

Verify the connection to your cluster using the kubectl get command. This command returns a list of the cluster nodes.

kubectl get nodes

The following sample output shows how you're asked to log in.

To sign in, use a web browser to open the page https://microsoft.com/devicelogin and enter the code AAAAAAAAA to authenticate.

After you log in, the following sample output shows the managed system node pools. Make sure the node status is Ready.

NAME                                STATUS   ROLES   AGE     VERSION
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000000   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000001   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000002   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5

Create a resource group

An Azure resource group is a logical group in which Azure resources are deployed and managed. When you create a resource group, you're prompted to specify a location. This location is the storage location of your resource group metadata and where your resources run in Azure if you don't specify another region during resource creation.

The following example creates a resource group named myResourceGroup in the eastus location.

Create a resource group using the az group create command.

az group create --name myResourceGroup --location eastus

The following sample output resembles successful creation of the resource group:

{
  "id": "/subscriptions/<guid>/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup",
  "location": "eastus",
  "managedBy": null,
  "name": "myResourceGroup",
  "properties": {
    "provisioningState": "Succeeded"
  },
  "tags": null
}

Review the Bicep file

This Bicep file defines an AKS Automatic cluster. While in preview, you need to specify the system nodepool agent pool profile.

@description('The name of the managed cluster resource.')
param clusterName string = 'myAKSAutomaticCluster'

@description('The location of the managed cluster resource.')
param location string = resourceGroup().location

resource aks 'Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters@2024-03-02-preview' = {
  name: clusterName
  location: location  
  sku: {
	name: 'Automatic'
  }
  properties: {
    agentPoolProfiles: [
      {
        name: 'systempool'
        mode: 'System'
	count: 3
      }
    ]
  }
  identity: {
    type: 'SystemAssigned'
  }
}

For more information about the resource defined in the Bicep file, see the Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters reference.

Deploy the Bicep file

1. Save the Bicep file as main.bicep to your local computer.

   Important

   The Bicep file sets the clusterName param to the string myAKSAutomaticCluster. If you want to use a different cluster name, make sure to update the string to your preferred cluster name before saving the file to your computer.

2. Deploy the Bicep file using the Azure CLI.

   az deployment group create --resource-group myResourceGroup --template-file main.bicep
   

   It takes a few minutes to create the AKS cluster. Wait for the cluster to be successfully deployed before you move on to the next step.

Connect to the cluster

To manage a Kubernetes cluster, use the Kubernetes command-line client, kubectl. kubectl is already installed if you use Azure Cloud Shell. To install kubectl locally, run the az aks install-cli command. AKS Automatic clusters are configured with Microsoft Entra ID for Kubernetes role-based access control (RBAC).

Configure kubectl to connect to your Kubernetes cluster using the az aks get-credentials command. This command downloads credentials and configures the Kubernetes CLI to use them.

az aks get-credentials --resource-group myResourceGroup --name 

Verify the connection to your cluster using the kubectl get command. This command returns a list of the cluster nodes.

kubectl get nodes

The following sample output shows how you're asked to log in.

To sign in, use a web browser to open the page https://microsoft.com/devicelogin and enter the code AAAAAAAAA to authenticate.

After you log in, the following sample output shows the managed system node pools. Make sure the node status is Ready.

NAME                                STATUS   ROLES   AGE     VERSION
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000000   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000001   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5
aks-nodepool1-13213685-vmss000002   Ready    agent   2m26s   v1.28.5