Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is Microsoft Azure’s managed Kubernetes service. Azure runs the control plane; Ankra provisions the cluster, then manages everything on top - node pools, Kubernetes upgrades, addons, stacks, GitOps, and AI-assisted operations.
This page covers AKS specifically. For the shared concepts across all managed providers - live options, discovery/import, and day-2 API patterns - see Managed Kubernetes.
Why AKS with Ankra
- Network plugin and SKU tier - choose
azure or kubenet networking and the control-plane SKU tier that fits your uptime needs.
- Private clusters - provision a private API endpoint when required.
- Live pricing and options - locations, Kubernetes versions, and VM sizes are fetched live with your service principal, including spot and autoscaling where available.
Prerequisites
An Azure service principal stored in Ankra with Contributor on the target subscription. See Azure Credentials.
GitOps is optional: connect a repository at creation and Ankra commits the cluster’s stack definitions to Git.
Creating an AKS cluster
Create Cluster
Go to Clusters → Create Cluster and pick Azure’s Cloud Managed action.
Credential & Location
Select the Azure credential and a location (for example westeurope). Locations load live from Azure.
Node Pools
Define one or more worker pools: name, VM size (with live pricing), count, labels, and autoscaling bounds.
Kubernetes & Network
Pick a Kubernetes version or keep the default, choose the network plugin (azure or kubenet), the SKU tier (Free, Standard, or Premium), and whether the cluster is private.
GitOps (optional) & Create
Optionally connect a Git repository, then create. Ankra runs AKS preflight checks, provisions the cluster, retrieves the kubeconfig, and installs the Ankra Agent.
ankra cluster managed create \
--provider aks \
--name my-aks-cluster \
--credential-id <azure-credential-id> \
--location westeurope \
--node-pool-name workers \
--node-pool-size Standard_D2s_v5 \
--node-pool-count 2
curl -X POST https://platform.ankra.app/org/clusters/managed/aks \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $ANKRA_API_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"name": "my-aks-cluster",
"credential_id": "<azure-credential-id>",
"location": "westeurope",
"kubernetes_version": "1.32.3",
"node_pools": [
{
"name": "workers",
"size": "Standard_D2s_v5",
"count": 2,
"autoscaling": {"enabled": true, "min_count": 2, "max_count": 5}
}
],
"aks": {"network_plugin": "azure", "sku_tier": "Standard"}
}'
AKS options
| Field | Description |
|---|
aks.resource_group | Target resource group |
aks.network_plugin | azure or kubenet |
aks.private_cluster | Provision a private API endpoint |
aks.sku_tier | Free, Standard, or Premium |
AKS node-pool names are lowercase alphanumeric and at most 12 characters; cluster names are at most 63 characters.
Day-2 operations
Node pools, upgrades, and deletion work from the CLI, portal, or API. The CLI examples use --provider aks:
# scale a pool to a fixed count
ankra cluster managed node-pool scale <cluster_id> workers --provider aks --count 5
# upgrade the cluster
ankra cluster managed upgrade <cluster_id> --provider aks --version 1.32.3
# delete the cluster
ankra cluster managed delete <cluster_id> --provider aks
PATCH .../node-pools/{name} endpoint. See Managed Kubernetes - day-2 operations for the shared mechanics.
Importing an existing AKS cluster
Already running AKS? Discover clusters in your subscription and adopt them into Ankra without touching them. Discovery and import run from the portal or API - see Managed Kubernetes - importing existing clusters.
