Config maps for Azure Container Instances (Preview)

A config map is a property that can be used to apply container configurations similar to environment variables and secret volumes. However, unlike when using environment variables or secret volumes where restarting the pod to apply the settings is required, apply settings using a config map does not require any restarts for the changes to take effect.

Azure Container Instances can be created with or without config maps and can be updated at any point in time post creation using config maps. Updating config maps in an existing running container group can be accomplished quickly without compromising uptime of the container.

How it works

A config map can be included in the container properties or in a container group profile. Creating a container group profile with the config map settings makes applying those settings simple and easy to automate.

Create a container group profile with config map settings

CLI

Create a container group profile with config map settings using az container container-group-profile create.

az container container-group-profile create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \
    --name myContainerGroupProfile \
    --location WestCentralUS \
    --image nginx \
    --os-type Linux \ 
    --ip-address Public \ 
    --ports 8000 \ 
    --cpu 1 \
    --memory 1.5 \
    --restart-policy never \
    --config-map key1=value1 key2=value2

PowerShell

Create a container group profile with config map settings using New-AzContainerInstanceContainerGroupProfile.

$port1 = New-AzContainerInstancePortObject -Port 8000 -Protocol TCP
$port2 = New-AzContainerInstancePortObject -Port 8001 -Protocol TCP

$container = New-AzContainerInstanceObject -Name myContainer -Image nginx -RequestCpu 1 -RequestMemoryInGb 1.5 -Port @($port1, $port2) -ConfigMapKeyValuePair @{"key1"="value1"}

New-AzContainerInstanceContainerGroupProfile `
    -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup `
    -Name myContainerGroupProfile `
    -Location WestCentralUS `
    -Container $container `
    -OsType Linux `
    -RestartPolicy "Never" `
    -IpAddressType Public

ARM template

Create a container group profile with and config map settings deploy the template using az deployment group create or New-AzResourceGroupDeployment.

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups",
      "apiVersion": "2024-05-01-preview",
      "name": "[parameters('profileName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "containers": [
          {
            "name": "myContainer",
            "properties": {
              "image": "[parameters('containerImage')]",
              "ports": [
                {
                  "port": 8000
                }
              ],
              "resources": {
                "requests": {
                  "cpu": 1,
                  "memoryInGB": 1.5
                }
              },
              "command": [],
              "configMap": {
                  "keyValuePairs": {
                        "key1": "value1",
                        "key2": "value2"
                                   }                   
              "environmentVariables": []
            }
          }
        ],
        "osType": "Linux",
        "ipAddress": {
          "type": "Public",
          "ports": [
            {
              "protocol": "TCP",
              "port": 8000
            }
          ]
        },
        "imageRegistryCredentials": [],
        "sku": "Standard"
      }
    }
  ],
  "parameters": {
    "profileName": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "myContainerGroupProfile",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Name of the container profile"
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "West Central US",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Location for the resource"
      }
    },
    "containerImage": {
      "type": "string",
      "defaultValue": "mcr.microsoft.com/azuredocs/aci-helloworld:latest",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The container image used"
      }
    }
  }
}

REST

Create a container group profile with config map settings using Create or Update.

PUT https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/{SubscriptionID}/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroupProfiles/myContainerGroupProfile?api-version=2024-05-01-preview

Request Body
{
    "location": "West Central US",
    "properties":{
        "containers": [
        {
            "name":"myContainerGroupProfile",
            "properties": {
                "command":[],
                "configMap": {
                  "keyValuePairs": {
                        "key1": "value1",
                        "key2": "value2"
                                   }
                            },     
                "environmentVariables":[],
                "image":"mcr.microsoft.com/azuredocs/aci-helloworld:latest",
                "ports":[
                    {
                        "port":8000
                    }
                ],
                "resources": {
                    "requests": {
                        "cpu":1,
                        "memoryInGB":1.5
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                ],
                "imageRegistryCredentials":[],
                "ipAddress":{
                "ports":[
                    {
                        "protocol":"TCP",
                        "port":8000
                    }
            ],
            "type":"Public"
            },
            "osType":"Linux",
            "sku":"Standard"
            }
        }

Apply config map settings using a container group profile

Applying the config map settings stored in a container group profile requires updating the container and specifying the container group profile that should be associated with the update.

CLI

Apply the config map settings stored in the container group profile using az container create.

az container create 
        --resource-group myResourceGroup \ 
        --name myContainer \ 
        --location WestCentralUS \
        --container-group-profile-id "/subscriptions/{SubscriptionID}/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroupProfiles/myContainerGroupProfile" \
        --container-group-profile-revision 1 

PowerShell

Apply the config map settings stored in the container group profile using New-AzContainerGroup.

$container = New-AzContainerInstancenoDefaultObject -Name myContainer

New-AzContainerGroup `
    -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup `
    -Name myContainer`
    -Container $container `
    -Location WestCentralUS `
    -ContainerGroupProfileId "/subscriptions/{SubscriptionID}/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroupProfiles/myContainerGroupProfile" `
    -ContainerGroupProfileRevision 1 
                    

ARM template

Apply the config map settings stored in the container group profile using az deployment group create or New-AzResourceGroupDeployment.

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "subscriptionId": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The subscription ID."
      }
    },
    "resourceGroup": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The name of the resource group."
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Location for the resource."
      },
      "defaultValue": "West Central US"
    },
    "containerGroupName": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The name of the container group."
      }
    },
    },
    "containerGroupProfileName": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The name of the container group profile."
      }
    },
    "newKey": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The new key for the config map."
      }
    },
    "newValue": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The new value for the config map."
      }
    },
    "revisionNumber": {
      "type": "int",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The revision number for the container group profile."
      }
    }
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups",
      "apiVersion": "2024-05-01-preview",
      "name": "[parameters('containerGroupName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "containerGroupProfile": {
          "id": "[concat('/subscriptions/', parameters('subscriptionId'), '/resourceGroups/', parameters('resourceGroup'), '/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroupProfiles/', parameters('containerGroupProfileName'))]",
          "revision": "[parameters('revisionNumber')]"
        },
        "containers": [
          {
            "name": "[parameters('myContainerProfile')]",
            "properties": {
              "configMap": {
                "keyValuePairs": {
                  "[parameters('newKey')]": "[parameters('newValue')]"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "containerGroupId": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[resourceId('Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups', parameters('containerGroupName'))]"
    }
  }
}

REST

Apply the config map settings stored in the container group profile using Create or Update.

PUT
https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/{SubscriptionID}/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups/myContainerGroup?api-version=2024-05-01-preview 

Request Body
{
   "location": "{location}",
   "properties": {
           "containerGroupProfile": {
               "id": "/subscriptions/{subscriptionId}/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroupProfiles/myContainerGroupProfile",
               "revision": {revisionNumber}
           },
           "containers": [
               {
                   "name": "{myContainerGroupProfile}",
                   "properties": {
                   }
               }
           ]
   }
}

Apply config map settings without container group profile

Config map settings can also be applied directly to the instance by specifying the config map settings in the create commands.

CLI

Apply the config map settings using az container create.

az container create \
    --resource-group myResourceGroup \ 
    --name myContainer \
    --location WestCentralUS \ 
    --config-map key1=value1 key2=value2 
        

PowerShell

Apply the config map settings using New-AzContainerGrouop.

$container = New-AzContainerInstancenoDefaultObject -Name myContainer -ConfigMapKeyValuePair @{"key1"="value1"}

New-AzContainerGroup `
    -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup `
    -Name myContainerGroup ` 
    -Container $container `
    -Location WestCentralUS 

ARM template

Apply the config map settings using az deployment group create or New-AzResourceGroupDeployment.

{
  "$schema": "https://schema.management.azure.com/schemas/2019-04-01/deploymentTemplate.json#",
  "contentVersion": "1.0.0.0",
  "parameters": {
    "subscriptionId": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The subscription ID."
      }
    },
    "resourceGroup": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The name of the resource group."
      }
    },
    "location": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "Location for the resource."
      },
      "defaultValue": "West Central US"
    },
    "containerGroupName": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The name of the container group."
    }
    },
    "myContainerProfile": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The name of the container profile."
      }
    },
    "newKey": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The new key for the config map."
      }
    },
    "newValue": {
      "type": "string",
      "metadata": {
        "description": "The new value for the config map."
      }
    },
  },
  "resources": [
    {
      "type": "Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups",
      "apiVersion": "2024-05-01-preview",
      "name": "[parameters('containerGroupName')]",
      "location": "[parameters('location')]",
      "properties": {
        "containers": [
          {
            "name": "[parameters('myContainerProfile')]",
            "properties": {
              "configMap": {
                "keyValuePairs": {
                  "[parameters('newKey')]": "[parameters('newValue')]"
                }
              }
            }
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "outputs": {
    "containerGroupId": {
      "type": "string",
      "value": "[resourceId('Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups', parameters('containerGroupName'))]"
    }
  }
}

REST

Apply the config map settings using Create or Update.

PUT
https://management.azure.com/subscriptions/{SubscriptionID}/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups/myContainerGroup?api-version=2024-05-01-preview 

Request Body
{
   "location": "{location}",
   "properties": {
           "containers": [
               {
                   "name": "{myContainerGroupProfile}",
                   "properties": {
                       "configMap": {
                           "keyValuePairs": {
                               "{newKey}": "{newValue}"
                           }
                       }
                   }
               }
           ]
   }
}

Once the update has been applied to an existing container and you will see the values mounted in the container without requiring a restart.

/mnt/configmap/<containername>/key1 with value as “value1”

/mnt/configmap/<containername>/key2 with value as “value2”

Next steps

Learn how to use config maps with standby pools to increase scale and availability