Guest on The Women in Linux Youtube Channel

Recently I was a guest on The Women in Linux Youtube channel. It was great to reconnect with Tameika Reed, Dionne Parler, and their team! Here is their website: www.womeninlinux.org. It has been many years since I was on their podcast. They have a weekly show named “How we Linux”. I highly recommend you check it out. I was on episode #14. We talked about many things from authoring tech books, the job market in tech, being a Microsoft MVP, the future of tech and even stocks! Check it out here:

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Set Idle timeout and TCP Reset on Azure Load Balancer via a Service in AKS

Short post here. On a recent project, we had been deploying a workload on AKS that included a load balancer service type. This app has some long-running processes and we needed to stop the Azure load balancer from timing out so fast.

In order to better handle the long-running processes, I needed to enable the TCP reset and change the idle timeout (minutes) in the load balancing rule on the Azure Load Balancer. This is shown in the following screenshot:

So you can configure these settings by adding annotations to your Kubernetes manifest file. The full list of load balancer annotations can be found here: https://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/cloud-provider-azure/topics/loadbalancer/#loadbalancer-annotations The ones I needed specifically are:

  annotations:

    service.beta.kubernetes.io/azure-load-balancer-disable-tcp-reset: true

    service.beta.kubernetes.io/azure-load-balancer-tcp-idle-timeout: 30

This was great however it was not clear if the TCP Reset annotation was deprecated or not (see the following screenshot).

I tried it anyway and it worked. It looks like it will be removed at some point. This meets the need for now but is something to keep an eye on.

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Speaking at the Jamaica Azure User Group on Intro to GitOps and AKS

On September 30th I will be speaking at the Jamaica Azure User Group giving an intro to GitOps and AKS!

Here is a breakdown of what I will be covering in this session:

CI/CD with Kubernetes on top of management of Kubernetes configuration management can be complex and intimidating. Application definitions, configurations, management, and continuous delivery for Kubernetes can be simplified, automated, and declarative. This can be achieved via GitOps.

Microsoft simplifies running Kubernetes with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) but it can still be complex when it comes to the management you are responsible for and application deployment.

In this session we will take a look at:

-An intro into AKS
-An intro into GitOps
-How you can utilize GitOps and git-based techniques with AKS to drive easier application deployment
-How to use GitOps for configuration management of Kubernetes from your source control system

More Info:

https://www.linkedin.com/events/jamaicaazureusergroup-introtogi6842930876523851776/

Register here:

https://events.jamazure.com/

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Speaking at DevOpsDays Minneapolis 2021

I have been attended DevOpsDays Minneapolis for 4 years. Its always a great event with rockstar speakers and great content. I also always meet some great folks in the DevOps space.

This year I will be speaking at DevOpsDays Minneapolis! This is a huge honor for me as I have a lot of respect for the event organizers and its always world-class event! I will be speaking about Kubernetes and GitOps. My session can be found here: https://devopsdays.org/events/2021-minneapolis/speakers/steve-buchanan

The event is July 20th-21st. It will be a hybrid event (in-person & virtual). I will be speaking in person on the 20th.

Here is my session info:

GitOps and Kubernetes: a Winning Combo

GitOps is an emerging pattern for cloud-native applications. This operating model simplifies Kubernetes ops while simultaneously improving the developer experience. GitOps enables continuous delivery of configuration updates and application deployments to Kubernetes.

Through the lens of GitHub, Argo CD, and Azure Kubernetes Service, we’ll explore use cases and benefits, principles and practices, architecture and tooling, and what GitOps changes in our day-to-day.

Check out the full program for the event here: https://devopsdays.org/events/2021-minneapolis/program

For those that won’t be attending in person you can Live stream it on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_L5NW8kmClZyYz-HFgKsKA

———-Update 7/21/21———-

Today I delivered my session on GitOps and Kubernetes: a Winning Combo. This was my first in-person event since the pandemic in the US started. I went on stage right after Ian Coldwater gave the keynote. Ian had an amazing keynote talking about community, how the pandemic and the murder of George Floyd impacted Minneapolis last year along with how the community came together. I presented to a crowd of a few hundred as well as another couple hundred online.

The online reach of this event was amazing. I even received a message that my session was watched by some folks in Japan!

In my session, we went on a journey through how companies should focus on being software businesses moving to digital, how the pandemic accelerated companies and consumers going digital as well as companies using Kubernetes and GitOps as a way to help power digital transformation.

The conference organizers did a great job pulling off another excellent event while ensuring everyone followed safety guidelines.

Here is the stream recording of my session:

NOTE: If you are interested in learning more about GitOps check out my Pluralsight course titled “GitOps: The Big Picture” here: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/gitops-the-big-picture

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Guest on Azure Arc Jumpstart Lightning

I was recently a guest on Microsoft’s Azure Arc Jumpstart Lighting show. In the episode of Jumpstart Lightning, I shared with Lior my thoughts around Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes, industry trends, GitOps, and my new Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes Getting Started course on Pluralsight.

Check it out here:

Here is the link to my Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes course on Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/azure-arc-enabled-kubernetes-getting-started

Here is the link to the full Azure Arc path on Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/skills/managing-environments-with-azure-arc

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10th Year as a Microsoft MVP!

Happy to be a Microsoft MVP for the 10th year even though this is not like the other years. As always I never take this award for granted. It is not guaranteed. Every year when July 1 rolls around I never truly know if I will be back in the MVP program or not.

This is my third year as an Azure focused MVP. Again I am honored to be among the ranks of taltented Azure folks. I am looking forward to the 2021-2022 MVP award year full of exciting community stuff. I plan to do more speaking, podcasts, books, and of course Pluralsight courses. I also plan to pick up blogging again and getting a little more active posting blogs on here.

As always I am honored to remain a part of MVP program. I will continue to do all that I can in the Azure, Azure Arc, AKS, and GitOps/DevOps communities this year.

My Microsoft MVP Profile: http://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/mvp/Steve%20Buchanan-4039736

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Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes: Getting Started – Pluralsight Course

Today Pluralsight published 1 of 2 Azure Arc courses I am building. This marks my 10th course on Pluralsight! This first course is Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes: Getting Started. Azure Arc is a key service in the Azure story extending Azure to the on-premises data center and or multiple clouds outside of Azure.

This course is just under 2 hours and packed full of information & demos to help you get started with the topic. I go into a deeper understanding of the multi-cloud market, Kubernetes in the enterprise, and Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes architecture. Setting up and using Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes. And using GitOps with Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes.

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I am excited about releasing this course for several reasons: #1 Azure Arc is a newer technology from Microsoft and I am happy to share my knowledge about it, #2 This one is a combination of Azure Arc, Kubernetes, & GitOps all technologies I have been working with regularly, #3 Azure is growing, Kubernetes is growing, and multi-cloud is growing all in the enterprise and this course covers all three of these.

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Here is the description of the course:

Managing Kubernetes clusters across on-premises and multiple clouds can be disjointed and overly complicated. In this course, Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes: Getting Started, you’ll learn to how to manage external Kubernetes clusters with Azure Arc. First, you’ll explore what Azure Arc k8s is and how to use it. Next, you’ll discover the features of Azure Arc K8s and how to use them. Finally, you’ll learn how to how to use Azure Arc K8s and GitOps to deploy applications. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge of Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes needed to manage Kubernetes clusters across on-premises and multiple clouds.

Here are the areas and topics of the course:

Understanding Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes                

Intro and Topics                

Understanding Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes                

Understanding Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes Use Cases                

Understanding Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes Architecture                

Summary

 

Working with Kubernetes Clusters Using Azure Arc                

Intro and Topics                

Connecting Kubernetes Clusters to Azure Arc                

Demo: Connecting a Kubernetes Cluster to Azure Arc                

Monitoring projected Kubernetes Clusters with Azure Monitor and Azure Arc                

Demo: Setup Azure Monitor of Projected Kubernetes Cluster in Azure Arc                

Defining Authorization on Azure Arc Projected Kubernetes with Azure RBAC                

Protecting Azure Arc Projected Kubernetes Clusters with the Azure Defender                

Administering Projected Kubernetes Clusters with Azure Policy and Azure Arc                

Summary

 

Deploying Applications to Projected Kubernetes Clusters Using Azure Arc and GitOps                

Intro and Topics                

Understanding How GitOps Works with Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes                

Deploying Applications and Configurations to Projected Kubernetes Clusters with Azure Arc and GitOps                

Demo: Deployment of an Application to a Projected Kubernetes Cluster via GitOps and Azure Arc K8s                

Deploying Helm Charts to Projected Kubernetes Clusters with Azure Arc and GitOps                

Deploying IoT Workloads with Azure Arc and GitOps                

Understanding the Future of Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes                

Summary               

Here is a preview of the Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes course:

Here is a link to the full Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes course on Pluralsight: https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/azure-arc-enabled-kubernetes-getting-started

This course is also a part of the all new Azure Arc path titled “Managing Environments with Azure Arc” on Pluralsight. There are other courses in the path already such as Azure Arc: The Big Picture, Azure Arc-enabled Data Services: The Big Picture, and Azure Arc and Azure Lighthouse: First Look and many more Azure Arc courses on the way.

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Here is a link to check out the new Azure Arc path: https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/skills/managing-environments-with-azure-arc

I hope you find value in this new Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes: Getting Started course. Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release new courses including my second Azure Arc related course! 

Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow mehttps://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/steve-buchanan

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Guest on New Relic Observy McObservface Podcast – GitOps, Kubernetes, Linux on Azure, AI, Blockchain, and more

I was recently a guest on New Relic‘s Developer Relations team podcast “Observy McObservface” with Jonan Scheffler.

Jonan Scheffler and I talk about Microsoft’s Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Linux on Azure, how Microsoft’s been successful at working in enterprise and open source, where I believe GitOps & Kubernetes is eventually going to go, and my excitement in regards to AI and blockchain as well as how they’re going to impact the world. You can listen to the podcast and read the article links below.

Listen to the Podcast:
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1225223/8618776-open-is-not-optional-shifting-sands-and-faxing-on-blockchains-with-steve-buchanan

Read the Article:
https://www.therelicans.com/mandymoore/open-is-not-optional-shifting-sands-and-faxing-on-blockchains-with-steve-buchanan-495p

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9 Pluralsight Courses

I recently published 2 new courses bringing my total Pluralsight courses to 9! These two new courses wrap up my time authoring courses for the SAP on Azure path. These 2 new courses are Migrating SAP Workloads to Azure and Designing an Azure Solution to Support SAP Workloads.

This brand new path is Planning and Administering Microsoft Azure for SAP Workloads (AZ-120). This path also has a course by Tim Warner as well as two more being developed right now! Also, I should mention this path also contains my SAP on Azure: The Big Picture course.

This new path will help you prepare to take the AZ-120 exam to earn your Microsoft Certified: Azure for SAP Workloads Specialty certification and ramp up on SAP on Azure in general.

Check out the path here: https://app.pluralsight.com/paths/certificate/planning-and-administering-microsoft-azure-for-sap-workloads-az-120

I hope you find value in this new SAP on Azure learning path on Pluralsight. Again these two new courses bring me to a total of 9 courses now published on the Pluralsight platform! Next up I will start working on some Azure courses. These new courses will cover managing servers and Kubernetes with Azure Arc. I am very excited about my next courses. Be sure to follow my profile on Pluralsight so you will be notified as I release these new courses! 

Here is the link to my Pluralsight profile to follow mehttps://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/steve-buchanan

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Speaking at Open Source North on Azure Arc K8s and GitOps

I am excited to be speaking at Open Source North Conference for the first time this year. It will be on May 20th, 2021.

I will be speaking on Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes and GitOps. My session is titled: “Push Code, Not Containers with Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes and GitOps“. The description is:

Use Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes to manage Kubernetes clusters across Google Cloud Platform and Azure without running a single Kubectl command! In this session, Steve Buchanan will take you into the world of GitOps. He will show you how to deploy applications and configuration to GKE clusters and AKS clusters from a GitHub repository. Explore how we can use this new operating model for Kubernetes and cloud-native apps to declaratively describe and ensure the state of our applications and Kubernetes environments.

You can see my speaker profile and session here: https://opensourcenorth.com/speakers

Register for the conference here: https://hopin.com/events/open-source-north

—-Update—-

The session went great! Here is a recording of the session in case you missed the event:

https://vimeo.com/user131685752/review/554446642/196569f760?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc
https://vimeo.com/user131685752/review/554446642/196569f760?sort=lastUserActionEventDate&direction=desc

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