AKS with Azure Load Balancer - Step-by-Step Execution

Process Flow - AKS with Azure Load Balancer

Create AKS Cluster

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Deploy Application Pods

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Create Service of type LoadBalancer

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Azure Load Balancer Provisioned

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External IP Assigned

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Traffic Routed to Pods

This flow shows how creating an AKS cluster and deploying a LoadBalancer service leads to Azure provisioning a load balancer with an external IP that routes traffic to application pods.

Execution Sample

Azure

az aks create --resource-group myRG --name myAKS --node-count 2 --enable-managed-identity
kubectl apply -f app-deployment.yaml
kubectl expose deployment app --type=LoadBalancer --name=app-service

Creates AKS cluster, deploys app pods, and exposes them via Azure Load Balancer.

Process Table

Step	Action	Resource Created/Updated	State Change	Result
1	Create AKS cluster	AKS cluster 'myAKS'	Cluster provisioning started	Cluster nodes initializing
2	Cluster ready	AKS cluster 'myAKS'	Cluster ready	Nodes ready for workloads
3	Deploy app pods	Pods from app-deployment.yaml	Pods created and running	App containers running
4	Expose deployment with LoadBalancer	Service 'app-service'	Service created with type LoadBalancer	Pending external IP
5	Azure provisions Load Balancer	Azure Load Balancer resource	Load Balancer created	External IP assigned
6	External IP assigned to service	Service 'app-service'	External IP available	Traffic can reach pods
7	Traffic routed	Load Balancer -> Pods	Load Balancer routes incoming traffic	App accessible externally
8	End	-	-	AKS with Azure Load Balancer setup complete

💡 External IP assigned and traffic routing established, setup complete

Status Tracker

Resource	Initial State	After Step 2	After Step 4	After Step 6	Final State
AKS Cluster	Not created	Ready	Ready	Ready	Ready
Pods	None	None	Running	Running	Running
Service 'app-service'	None	None	Created (Pending IP)	Created (IP assigned)	Created (IP assigned)
Azure Load Balancer	None	None	Provisioning	Provisioned	Provisioned
External IP	None	None	None	Assigned	Assigned

Key Moments - 3 Insights

Why does the service show 'pending external IP' initially after creation?

Because Azure Load Balancer provisioning takes time after the service is created, as shown in execution_table step 4 and 5.

How does traffic reach the pods from outside the cluster?

The Azure Load Balancer gets an external IP and routes incoming traffic to the pods, as shown in steps 5, 6, and 7.

What happens if the LoadBalancer service is deleted?

The Azure Load Balancer and external IP are released, stopping external traffic routing, reversing steps 5 and 6.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, at which step is the external IP assigned to the service?

A Step 4

B Step 5

C Step 6

D Step 7

💡 Hint

Check the 'State Change' and 'Result' columns for when 'External IP available' appears.

According to variable_tracker, what is the state of the pods after step 4?

A None

B Running

C Pending

D Terminated

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Pods' row under 'After Step 4' column.

If the AKS cluster was not ready at step 2, what would happen to the pods deployment in step 3?

A Pods would deploy successfully

B Pods deployment would fail

C Pods would deploy but not run

D Pods would run but not be reachable

💡 Hint

Refer to execution_table step 2 and 3 about cluster readiness and pod creation.

Concept Snapshot

AKS with Azure Load Balancer:
- Create AKS cluster to run containers
- Deploy pods with your app
- Expose pods via Service type LoadBalancer
- Azure provisions external Load Balancer
- External IP assigned for public access
- Load Balancer routes traffic to pods

Full Transcript

This visual execution shows how to set up an Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster with an Azure Load Balancer. First, the AKS cluster is created and nodes become ready. Then application pods are deployed. Next, a Kubernetes Service of type LoadBalancer is created, which triggers Azure to provision a Load Balancer resource. After provisioning, an external IP is assigned to the service. Finally, the Load Balancer routes incoming traffic to the pods, making the application accessible from outside the cluster.