Set up your Azure environment

  • 6 minutes

In this unit, you use the Azure CLI to create the Azure resources needed in later units. Before you start entering commands, make sure Docker Desktop is installed and running.

To save time, you can instruct Azure to provision the resources first and then move on to the next unit. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster creation can take up to 10 minutes. This process can run in the background while you proceed through subsequent units.

Authenticate with Azure Resource Manager

Use the following command to sign in:

az login

Select an Azure subscription

Azure subscriptions are logical containers used to provision resources in Azure. Use the following command to list your Azure subscriptions, then locate the subscription ID - the SubscriptionId value - that you plan to use in this module.

az account list --output table

Use the following command to ensure you're using an Azure subscription that enables you to create resources for the purposes of this module, substituting your preferred SubscriptionId value for the placeholder:

az account set --subscription "<your-subscription-ID>"

Define local variables

To simplify the commands that you use later, set up the following environment variables. Be sure to replace the following placeholders with your own values:

  • Replace <your-Azure-region> with your region of choice - for example, eastus.
  • Replace <your-container-registry> with a unique value. This value is used to generate a unique fully qualified domain name (FQDN) for your Azure container registry when it's created.
  • Replace <your-unique-DNS-prefix-to-access-your-AKS-cluster> with a unique value. This value is used to generate a unique FQDN for your AKS cluster when it's created.
export AZ_RESOURCE_GROUP=java-containerization-demo-rg
export AZ_CONTAINER_REGISTRY=<your-container-registry>
export AZ_KUBERNETES_CLUSTER=java-containerization-demo-aks
export AZ_LOCATION=<your-Azure-region>
export AZ_KUBERNETES_CLUSTER_DNS_PREFIX=<your-unique-DNS-prefix-to-access-your-AKS-cluster>

Create an Azure resource group

Azure resource groups are Azure containers in Azure subscriptions for holding related resources for an Azure solution. Create a resource group by using the following command:

az group create \
    --name $AZ_RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --location $AZ_LOCATION \
| jq

Note

This module uses the jq tool, which is installed by default on Azure Cloud Shell to display JSON data and make it more readable.

If you don't want to use the jq tool, you can safely remove the | jq part of all commands in this module.

Create an Azure container registry

Azure Container Registry enables you to build, store, and manage container images, including a container image for this Java app. Create a container registry by using the following command:

az acr create \
    --resource-group $AZ_RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --name $AZ_CONTAINER_REGISTRY \
    --sku Basic \
| jq

Use the following command to configure the Azure CLI to use this newly created Azure container registry:

az configure --defaults acr=$AZ_CONTAINER_REGISTRY

Use the following command to authenticate to the newly created Azure container registry:

Note

Before you run the az acr login command, ensure that Docker Desktop is running on your local environment. If it isn't running, you receive an error message similar to Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///$HOME_DIR/.docker/run/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?

az acr login --name $AZ_CONTAINER_REGISTRY

Create an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster

You need an AKS cluster to deploy the Java app container image. Create an AKS cluster by using the following command:

az aks create \
    --resource-group $AZ_RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --name $AZ_KUBERNETES_CLUSTER \
    --attach-acr $AZ_CONTAINER_REGISTRY \
    --dns-name-prefix=$AZ_KUBERNETES_CLUSTER_DNS_PREFIX \
    --generate-ssh-keys \
| jq

Note

Creating an AKS cluster can take up to 10 minutes. After you run the previous command, you can let it continue in your Azure CLI tab and move on to the next unit.