AKS the Easy Way: Deploy a Kubernetes Cluster with Azure CLI

This is a copy‑paste friendly guide to spin up a small AKS (Azure Kubernetes Service) cluster using the Azure CLI, grab cluster access for kubectl, and view workloads. Perfect for demos, learning, or a quick sandbox.

Prerequisites

Azure CLI installed (az version)
kubectl installed (kubectl version --client)
An Azure subscription (free trial works)

az login
# If on a headless box: az login --use-device-code
az account show --output table

Optionally pick a specific subscription:

az account set --subscription "<SUBSCRIPTION NAME OR ID>"

2) Create a resource group

RG="rg-aks-demo"
LOC="eastus"   # pick your nearest region
az group create --name "$RG" --location "$LOC" --output table

3) Create a minimal AKS cluster

This creates a single‑node system pool — fast and inexpensive for testing.

AKS="aks-demo"
az aks create \
  --resource-group "$RG" \
  --name "$AKS" \
  --node-count 1 \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --output table

Provisioning takes a few minutes.

4) Get kubeconfig and connect with kubectl

az aks get-credentials --resource-group "$RG" --name "$AKS" --overwrite-existing

# Verify cluster access
kubectl cluster-info
kubectl get nodes -o wide

If you see nodes listed, you’re in.

5) View cluster workloads

Start with the basics:

# All namespaces at a glance
kubectl get pods -A
kubectl get deploy -A
kubectl get svc -A

Optionally, deploy a tiny sample and expose it:

kubectl create deployment hello --image=nginx --port=80
kubectl expose deployment hello --type=LoadBalancer --port=80
kubectl get svc hello -w

Once an external IP appears, open it in your browser.

Tip: a nicer TUI with k9s

k9s gives you a fast, keyboard‑driven view of your cluster.

Install (pick one):

# macOS (Homebrew)
brew install derailed/k9s/k9s

# Linux (Debian/Ubuntu)
curl -sS https://webinstall.dev/k9s | bash   # or use your distro’s package manager

# Arch
pacman -S k9s

Launch it:

k9s

Use :ns to switch namespaces, / to search, d for deployments, po for pods.

Cleanup (avoid surprise costs)

az group delete --name "$RG" --yes --no-wait

That’s it — you created an AKS cluster, connected with kubectl, and viewed workloads. Happy shipping!