Azure Resource Manager templates – Deploy an AKS cluster with multiple node pools

This week the multiple node pool feature for Azure Kubernetes Service went GA. -> https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/support-for-multiple-node-pools-in-azure-kubernetes-service-is-now-available/ Today we walk through the steps to deploy multiple AKS node pools with Azure Resource Manager templates. Looking at the ARM template reference for AKS, node pools get defined in the managedClusters Read more [...]

Speaking at Azure Saturday Cologne

After a break of nearly five months from public speaking I am back on stage since October. The last public speaking engagement was in May at the European Collaboration Summit in Wiesbaden. Then in October I presented the topic “Terraform on Azure” at the Azure Meetup Bonn hosted by LeanIX. The next event I am presenting at is the Azure Saturday Cologne on December 7th where I talk about Read more [...]

Terraform – Deploy an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster with multiple node pools

The multiple node pool feature for AKS is currently in preview. -> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/use-multiple-node-pools Multiple node pools enable us to define a different amount of worker nodes, a different VM size or even that the nodes in the node pool should run across different AZs (Availability Zones) in an Azure region per node pool. Today we walk through the steps Read more [...]

Pin Terraform version in Azure Cloud Shell

When you cannot always work with the latest Terraform version for you Infrastructure as Code deployments and need to stick to a specific one like 0.12.10 for instance, then you should continue reading. The Azure Cloud Shell is Microsoft’s CLI as a Service offering in Azure and provides you with a browser-based interface that is accessible from everywhere and comes with a rich tool set. -> Read more [...]

Disable the Kubernetes dashboard on Azure Kubernetes Service

A recently introduced change enables the capability to disable the Kubernetes dashboard on an AKS cluster. This is achieved by providing the Kubernetes dashboard as an AKS add-on like the Azure Monitor for containers integration, AKS virtual nodes or the HTTP application routing. I stumbled over that capability in the Terraform Azure provider documentation for Azure Kubernetes Service. -> Read more [...]

Custom naming support for AKS node resource group available

When you deploy an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster in Azure a second resource group gets created for the worker nodes. Per default the resource group has the following naming schema MC_resourcegroupname_clustername_location. In most cases this naming schema collides with a naming convention already in place for the company’s Azure environment. A common question since AKS hit the market is, Read more [...]

Optimize build performance on Jenkins Azure worker nodes

Today we focus on some performance optimizations for the Jenkins worker nodes on Azure instead of security as in the last blog post. -> https://www.danielstechblog.io/secure-jenkins-worker-nodes-on-azure/ As you might know already each Azure VM gets an additional SSD-based temporary drive beside the OS disk drive. Per default the swap file is stored on this temporary drive, because it is ephemeral. So, Read more [...]

AKS VMSS base image update script – multiple node pool support

At the beginning of September, I have published a blog post about how to update the base image of a VMSS-based AKS cluster. -> https://www.danielstechblog.io/updating-the-base-image-of-a-vmss-based-aks-cluster/ On LinkedIn I had a good discussion with one of the AKS PMs about that and I want to highlight two things first. The shell script I have written directly interacts with the VMSS Read more [...]

Secure Jenkins worker nodes on Azure

Jenkins has two nifty plugins available to leverage the power of the Azure platform for on-demand worker nodes. -> Azure Container Instances -> Azure Virtual Machines In this blog post I want to quickly highlight to secure the access to Jenkins worker nodes running on Azure. The assumption is that your Jenkins CI master is running outside of Azure e.g. on-premises. When you are using Read more [...]

Updating the base image of a VMSS-based AKS cluster

Earlier this year I had written a blog post about updating the VMSS base image of an aks-engine cluster. -> https://www.danielstechblog.io/updating-the-base-image-of-an-vmss-aks-engine-cluster/ Today, we focus on Azure Kubernetes Service running with VMSS. Microsoft releases updates regularly to the AKS service and refreshes also the base image for the AKS worker nodes. -> https://github.com/azure/aks/releases This Read more [...]