Creating Kubernetes Clusters on Azure

  • 1/4/2022
  • One-minute read

Use Terraform’s azurerm_kubernetes_cluster resource or the official AKS module to provision production-ready clusters. The module handles node pools, networking, and diagnostics without handcrafting every dependency.

Minimum Viable Configuration (Excerpt)

resource "azurerm_resource_group" "aks" {
  name     = var.resource_group_name
  location = var.location
}

module "aks" {
  source  = "Azure/aks/azurerm"
  version = "~> 6.0"

  resource_group_name = azurerm_resource_group.aks.name
  kubernetes_version  = var.kubernetes_version
  prefix              = var.cluster_name

  default_node_pool_name       = "system"
  default_node_pool_vm_size    = "Standard_D4s_v3"
  default_node_pool_node_count = 3

  vnet_subnet_id = azurerm_subnet.aks.id
}

Operational Checklist

  • Identity: Prefer managed identities over service principals for AKS control plane access.
  • Networking: Allocate subnet CIDRs that leave headroom for additional node pools; enable Azure CNI if you need routable pod IPs.
  • Security: Enforce Azure RBAC, enable Azure AD integration, and configure Azure Policy for Kubernetes (baseline restrictions, pod security).
  • Observability: Enable diagnostic settings to ship control-plane logs and metrics to Log Analytics or Azure Monitor.

Next Steps

  • Automate terraform plan/apply via Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions with remote state stored in Azure Storage + key vault-managed secrets.
  • Rotate node pool images regularly (e.g., via node image upgrades) to pick up security patches.
  • Review Azure’s AKS baseline reference architecture for production hardening guidance.
cloudkubernetesdevopsazureterraform