I recently was a guest on Michael Levan‘s Kubernetes Unpacked Podcast on the Packet Pushers network.
This is Kubernetes Unpacked episode #014 it is titled: “Using GitOps And AKS To Build And Deploy Applications“
Michael and I talked about using GitOps and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to automate the building and deployment of applications. We also chat about an entire architecture incorporating AKS, GitHub Actions, Azure Container Registry, GitHub, and ArgoCD along with how it all comes together to make a useful stack. Check out the podcast below.
I will be giving the Keynote at the next (MN)NUG (Minnesota Networking User Group) event on December 6th. (MN)NUG is a part of the (US)NUA (US Networking User Association) organization that hosts a vendor-neutral environment to talk networks. With beer.
After my talk, there will be a panel of networking experts from Target, Cologix, Cisco, and Arista Networks.
Here is my talk info:
Title:
Networking is more relevant than ever in a cloud-native world (cloud & Kubernetes)
Abstract:
Folks are often so focused on the new and shiny stuff in modern technology such as cloud, Kubernetes, and DevOps, however, core skills such as networking are as relevant as ever and one of the top skills one should have when working with these modern technologies. In this session, Steve is going to explore why you should start with networking when embarking on a journey into the cloud or Kubernetes.
Here is the full schedule:
4:30pm – 5:00pm Check-In / Open Mingle
5:00pm – 5:50pm Keynote Presentation Networking more relevant than ever in a cloud-native world (cloud & Kubernetes)
Yesterday a new article titled “Build and deploy apps on AKS using DevOps and GitOps” was published. This is an article I was working on for a while and it is the first item of work that I can share publicly since joining Microsoft. I am working on many other things I can’t share publicly at the moment. :-)!
The article is a part of the Azure Architecture Center. This article is about modernizing end-to-end app build and deploy using containers, continuous integration (CI) via GitHub Actions for build and push to an Azure Container Registry, as well as GitOps via Argo CD for continuous deployment (CD) to an AKS cluster.
The article explores deploying a Python and Flask based app via two CI/CD approaches push-based and pull-based (GitOps). It is complete with a pros and cons comparison of both approaches and architecture diagrams for each that you can download. Here is a screenshot of the pull-based (GitOps) architecture:
The technologies used in this article and scenario include:
I hope that you find all of this useful. Now go check out the article and deploy the app using the approaches. Stay tuned for more from me at Microsoft and for more blog posts here!
After designing and architecting AKS the next step is to deploy your cluster/s. It is ideal to build your AKS deployments out as code.
This means taking your Azure infrastructure & AKS cluster/s design and scripting them as IaC (Infrastructure as Code). Scripting the AKS deployment vs manually deploying gives you documentation as code, standardization, & a templatized deployment for repeatability. You can deploy this code as is, place it in a pipeline for ease of deployment, in inner-source, or in a service catalog for access by multiple teams.
Microsoft has built a tool named the AKS Construction helper to accelerate building out your IaC for AKS. This tool is not as well-known as it should be. I wanted to blog about this tool to share this great resource that will save you tons of time. The AKS Construction helper was originally launched by Keith Howling of Microsoft. The core contributors to this tool have been Gordon Byers and Keith Howling with contributions from others as well.
The AKS Construction helper unifies guidance provided by the AKS Secure Baseline, Well Architected Framework, Cloud Adoption Framework, and Enterprise-Scale. It also is part of the official AKS Landing Zone Accelerator (Enterprise Scale). The AKS Construction helper lets you configure your AKS deployment using wizard/form style selections. After you complete your selections the tool gives you IaC code that you can copy to perform the AKS Deployment/s. You can get code for Az CLI, a Github Actions workflow, Terraform, or a Parameters file that can be used with an ARM Template.
Let’s go ahead and take a tour of the tool.
The tool lets you select Operations Principles or Enterprise-Scale path for configuring the options.
This helps narrow down the overall design requirements of your AKS deployment.
The next section of the AKS Construction helper is to fine-tune your AKS deployment. This gives you the chance to tweak things like the cluster name, K8s version, resource group, region, to be created, IP and Cider, initial RBAC, SLA, autoscaling, upgrade configuration, cluster networking, add ons such as an ingress controller (App Gateway, NGINX, etc), monitoring such as Azure Monitor, Azure policy, service mesh, secret storage, Keda, GitOps with Flux, and even has a few options to deploy some sample apps. This is done across 5 tabs in the Fine tine and Deploy section.
After you have set all of the configurations for your cluster there is code available for you to copy on the Deploy tab. Again you have options for Az CLI, a Github Actions workflow, Terraform scripts or an ARM Template Parameters file. Running the deployment code will deploy your AKS cluster exactly how you have it configured in the AKS Construction helper tool.
What if you are not ready to deploy your AKS Clusters now but you do not want to lose your configuration? The tool has you covered. At the end of the Deploy Cluster code you can click the link as shown in the screenshot to get a URL for your configuration.
You can access this URL at any time to pick up where you left off with your AKS deployment configuration.
That brings us to the end of this blog post. Stop wasting time, head over to the tool, and start using this for all of your AKS Deployments. Here are the links for the tool:
A former Microsoft MVP and friend Steve Beaumont started a podcast. I was honored to be a guest on his first episode! The episode was released today. This podcast explores balancing Tech and Life. On the podcast episodes, Steve talks with people within the technology field, discussing both tech and diving into personal lives, stress, learning, and interests.
Steve and I had a chance to catch up at MMS 2022 for the episode. We talked about my transition to Microsoft working as a Principal Program Manager in Azure. We also talked about my time practicing Kung Fu, how I stay motivated, make goals, balance tech with hobbies, how tech is one of my hobbies, and balancing that so it does not become another job, Kubernetes, AKS, and more.
Steve already has episodes with many other great folks already. He will be releasing them in the coming weeks. So be sure to subscribe to his podcast. Here are some of the other guests he will have on:
Today Pierre Roman (@wiredcanuck) Senior Cloud Advocate of Microsoft & myself (@buchatech) streamed “Introduction to Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes” on Learn Live. Here is what we covered in this session:
In this session, showed you how Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters can help customers like Contoso to optimize and simplify their operations. Here are the Learning objectives we covered:
Describe Kubernetes, Azure Arc, and Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes.
Connect Kubernetes clusters to Azure Arc.
Manage Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes clusters by using GitOps.
Integrate Azure Arc enabled Kubernetes cluster with Azure services like Azure Monitor and Azure Policy.
If you missed it don’t worry. 🙂 You can watch the playback on the Microsoft Developer YouTube channel here:
You can check out more Learn Live episodes on the:
I am very excited to be a part of a new Microsoft Azure Hybrid Cloud Study Hall series. This is a free fourteen-part weekly series that starts in April running through June.
In this study hall, you will learn how you can manage your on-premises, edge, and multi-cloud resources, and how you can deploy Azure services anywhere with Azure Arc and Azure Stack.
In this series, each session covers working with hybrid cloud resources using Azure services and hybrid cloud technologies. In these sessions we will:
Answer your questions live
Walk-through how to configure hybrid cloud resources
Walk-through how to deploy hybrid cloud resources
Walk-through how to manage hybrid cloud resources
In these sessions, together with you, we will work through Microsoft Learn modules focused on Azure Arc and Azure Stack HCI.
We have a solid lineup of speakers from Microsoft and the community! And I will be co-delivering two sessions myself.
Some of the speakers and moderators
Check out this video Microsoft marketing made where I talk about the sessions:
My session will be with my friend and co-author of my latest book John Joyner.
Here are the session details:
Azure Arc: Extending Hyperscale Cloud Management to Your Datacenter
Description:
Learn about Microsoft’s Azure Arc service, a new multi-cloud management platform that belongs in every cloud or DevOps estate. The premise of Azure Arc is compelling: why not extend familiar management tools proven in Azure to on-premise and other cloud networks? A practical scenario-based tour will get you up to speed quickly, with instruction and demos that are heavy with hands-on experience. If your organization has resources across the hybrid cloud, multi-cloud, and edge environments, then this session is for you. You will learn how to configure and use Azure Arc to uniformly manage workloads across all of these environments.
What you will learn:
Introduces the basics of hybrid, multi-cloud, and edge computing and how Azure Arc fits into that IT strategy
Insights into Azure native management tooling for managing on-premises servers and extending to other clouds
Detail an end-to-end hybrid server monitoring scenario leveraging Azure Monitor and/or Microsoft Sentinel that is seamlessly delivered by Azure Arc
Define a blueprint to achieve regulatory compliance with industry standards using Azure Arc, delivering Azure Policy from Microsoft Defender for Cloud
Are you thinking about starting the cloud journey, or are you an experienced cloud engineer already? Come join this interactive session where we will talk all things cloud! We will have a round-table discussion about what resources are available, where to find them, and which ones are better than others. Talk with experienced cloud architects about the mistakes they’ve seen and how to avoid them. Come listen to stories, enjoy a few drinks, and have a great time talking about the cloud movement.
What you will learn:
How to begin your cloud adoption journey
What resources are available to start your migration process, and how to find them
This session will be an open format Q&A. Come ask your burning questions in front of a live audience and get real-time feedback from cloud MVP’s and SME’s. No question too hard, no topic off-limits. Wanted to know why something was built the way it was? Want to know how to accomplish something you’ve been working on for months? Have a general question about Azure in general? Come, listen, ask.
I was a guest on Tech Talk with Kazeem again! The topic of discussion was Azure Arc Enabled Kubernetes for Beginners.
@KazeemCanTeach & @buchatech
@buchatech Azure Arc K8s book with O’Reilly
In the discussion with me and Microsoft MVP Kazeem Adegboyega, we talked about Azure Stack, AKS, Azure Arc: K8s, and GitOps! We talked about each technology and when to use them for what purpose and more.
