Day 17: Azure Az-900: How to deploy a Container in Azure?

Now, that we have learned about Azure Container Instance, let’s break down the process of deploying our first container on Azure Container Instances into even clearer steps, with more detailed explanations along the way.

Step 1: Getting Started with?Azure

• Azure Subscription: If you don’t have one, you’ll need to create a free Azure account to get started with Azure Container Instances.
• Azure Portal: Log in to the Azure portal (https://portal.azure.com). This is your web-based control center for managing Azure resources.

Step 2: Find Azure Container Instances

1. Search Bar: Use the search bar at the top of the portal, type in “Azure Container Instances” and select the service.
2. +Create: Click the prominent “+ Create” button on the Azure Container Instances page.

Step 3: Configure Your First Container

• Resource Group: Choose “Create New” and give your group a descriptive name like “my-first-aci-group”. This keeps your ACI organized with related resources.
• Container Name: Get creative! Give your container a memorable name (e.g., “my-test-container”).
• Region: Pick a region geographically close to you (e.g., “West US”). This can reduce latency for users in that area.
• Image Source: Keep “Quickstart images” selected.
• OS: Linux is the default, but you can choose Windows if needed.

Networking Tab:

• Network Type: Beginners should start with “Public”, allowing you to access the container from the internet.
• Ports: Leave this at the default (port 80) for typical web apps.

Advanced Tab:

• Restart Policy: “On Failure” is a good default. Your container will restart automatically if something goes wrong.
• Environment Variables: We’ll skip these for now, but keep in mind you can use them for secret keys or configurations.

Step 4: Review and?Deploy!

• Review + Create: Azure will validate your choices. If everything looks good, click “Create” to start the deployment process.
• Wait a Moment: Grab a coffee! Azure takes a few minutes to provision your container.

Step 5: Test Your “Hello World” Container

1. Resource Page: Navigate to your newly created container instance within the resource group.
2. Overview Tab: Find the public IP address. It will look like a series of numbers separated by dots (like 52.123.145.167).
3. Open It: Open a new browser tab and paste the IP address into the address bar. Hit enter, and you should see the “Welcome to Azure Container Instances” page!

Step 6: Explore Your ACI’s Dashboard

Azure provides several tools for managing your container instance:

• Containers Tab: See the status (Running, Stopped, etc.) of your container and access logs for troubleshooting.
• Events Tab: Shows a timeline of what happened to your container (e.g., when it started).
• Connect Tab Provides options to open a command line directly within the container (for advanced users).

Step 7: Cleaning?Up

• Don’t Forget: ACIs are billed per second. To avoid charges, delete test containers when you’re finished experimenting.
• Delete Resource Group: The easiest way is to delete the entire resource group that holds your ACI, ensuring everything gets cleaned up.

Beyond the Basics

• Docker Hub: Explore Docker Hub for a vast array of pre-built container images ready to use.
• Custom Images: Learn to build your own images tailored to your apps.
• Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): For scaling and managing complex containerised systems, step up to AKS.

Let me know what specific use case you want to try building with Azure Container Instances, and I’ll gladly write another blog for the same!