Deploying workloads to AKS in Azure - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Deploying workloads to AKS

📖 Scenario: You are working as a cloud engineer for a company that wants to deploy a simple web application on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Your task is to create the necessary Kubernetes deployment and service configuration files step-by-step to deploy the application and expose it to the internet.

🎯 Goal: Build a Kubernetes deployment and service YAML configuration to deploy a web application container on AKS and expose it via a LoadBalancer service.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a Kubernetes deployment YAML with the exact name webapp-deployment

Use the container image nginx:1.23.3 in the deployment

Set the number of replicas to 3

Create a Kubernetes service YAML named webapp-service of type LoadBalancer

Expose port 80 on the service and target port 80 on the pods

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Deploying containerized applications on AKS is a common task for cloud engineers to make applications scalable and accessible.

💼 Career

Understanding how to write Kubernetes deployment and service YAML files is essential for roles like DevOps engineer, cloud engineer, and site reliability engineer.

1

Create the initial deployment YAML

Create a Kubernetes deployment YAML named webapp-deployment with 3 replicas using the container image nginx:1.23.3. Set the container port to 80.

Azure

# Write the deployment YAML starting with apiVersion and kind
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Start with apiVersion: apps/v1 and kind: Deployment. Use replicas: 3 and specify the container image and port inside spec.template.spec.containers.

2

Add labels and selectors for the deployment

Add the label app: webapp to both the deployment's metadata.labels and the pod template's metadata.labels. Also add a selector.matchLabels with app: webapp to the deployment spec.

Azure

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: webapp-deployment
  # Add label app: webapp here
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      # Add app: webapp label here
  template:
    metadata:
      # Add app: webapp label here
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx-container
        image: nginx:1.23.3
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Labels help Kubernetes know which pods belong to this deployment. Add app: webapp under metadata.labels and template.metadata.labels. Also add the same label under selector.matchLabels.

3

Create the service YAML to expose the deployment

Create a Kubernetes service YAML named webapp-service of type LoadBalancer. It should select pods with label app: webapp and expose port 80 on the service, targeting port 80 on the pods.

Azure

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: webapp-deployment
  labels:
    app: webapp
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: webapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: webapp
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx-container
        image: nginx:1.23.3
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
---
# Create the service YAML below
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use kind: Service with type: LoadBalancer. The selector must match the deployment's pod label app: webapp. Expose port 80 and target port 80.

4

Add final metadata and comments

Add a comment at the top of the YAML file stating # Kubernetes deployment and service for webapp. Also add a label environment: production under the deployment's metadata.labels.

Azure

# Add a comment at the top and add environment label under deployment metadata.labels
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: webapp-deployment
  labels:
    app: webapp
    # Add environment: production label here
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: webapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: webapp
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx-container
        image: nginx:1.23.3
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: webapp-service
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: webapp
  ports:
  - protocol: TCP
    port: 80
    targetPort: 80
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Comments start with #. Add the comment at the very top. Add the label environment: production under metadata.labels in the deployment.