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Welcome to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)! I’m Pranav Holavanahalli, and in this course you’ll learn how to deploy, manage, and secure containerized applications on Microsoft Azure. As organizations embrace cloud-native architectures, proficiency with containers—and Kubernetes in particular—has become essential for DevOps, data, and cloud engineers. Kubernetes powers a wide range of cloud workloads, from infrastructure and data services to machine learning and developer platforms. If you plan to specialize in Azure, mastering AKS is non-negotiable. This course covers core Azure concepts, containerization best practices, and end-to-end AKS operations.

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What You’ll Learn

Hands-on practice is essential. We recommend using your own Azure free account to follow along with the labs.

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Course Outline

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1. Azure Fundamentals Refresher

We’ll begin with a concise review of Azure’s core services:
  • Compute: Virtual Machines, VM Scale Sets, and App Services
  • Storage: Blob, File, and Disk storage options
  • Networking: Virtual Networks, Subnets, and Load Balancers
  • Data: Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, and Data Lake Storage

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2. Containerizing a Web Application

You’ll learn how to package your code into a container:
  • Author and optimize a Dockerfile
  • Build and test container images locally
  • Publish images to Azure Container Registry

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3. Deploying to AKS

Provision and manage your AKS cluster:
  • Create and configure AKS clusters
  • Scale pods and nodes to meet demand
  • Integrate with Azure Container Registry for seamless image pulls
  • Manage rolling updates to ensure zero-downtime deployments

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4. Security & Networking in AKS

Protect your cluster and workloads:
  • Virtual Networks: Isolate AKS in your VNet
  • Azure AD Integration: Enable RBAC and pod identity
  • Azure Policy: Enforce guardrails on namespaces and cluster add-ons
  • Azure Defender: Runtime threat detection for containers
Always restrict API server access and enable network policies to prevent unauthorized lateral movement within your cluster.

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5. Monitoring & CI/CD for AKS

Streamline observability and deployment:
  • Azure Monitor & Log Analytics: Collect metrics, logs, and alerts
  • CI/CD Pipelines: Set up GitHub Actions or Azure DevOps to build, test, and deploy your containers to AKS
Let’s get started on your journey to mastering Azure Kubernetes Service!

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