azure-kubernetes-service

What this skill does

# Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Skill

This skill provides expert guidance for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Covers troubleshooting, best practices, decision making, architecture & design patterns, limits & quotas, security, configuration, integrations & coding patterns, and deployment. It combines local quick-reference content with remote documentation fetching capabilities.

## How to Use This Skill

> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: Use the **Category Index** below to locate relevant sections. For categories with line ranges (e.g., `L35-L120`), use `read_file` with the specified lines. For categories with file links (e.g., `[security.md](security.md)`), use `read_file` on the linked reference file

> **IMPORTANT for Agent**: If `metadata.generated_at` is more than 3 months old, suggest the user pull the latest version from the repository. If `mcp_microsoftdocs` tools are not available, suggest the user install it: [Installation Guide](https://github.com/MicrosoftDocs/mcp/blob/main/README.md)

This skill requires **network access** to fetch documentation content:
- **Preferred**: Use `mcp_microsoftdocs:microsoft_docs_fetch` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill`. Returns Markdown.
- **Fallback**: Use `fetch_webpage` with query string `from=learn-agent-skill&accept=text/markdown`. Returns Markdown.

## Category Index

| Category | Lines | Description |
|----------|-------|-------------|
| Troubleshooting | L37-L60 | Diagnosing and fixing AKS cluster issues: networking, DNS, kubelet, GPUs, encryption, upgrades, Windows nodes, Fleet, and add-ons using logs, metrics, events, and troubleshooting tools. |
| Best Practices | L61-L105 | Best practices for AKS design, operations, security, performance, cost optimization, upgrades, and workload resiliency (GPU, databases, PCI, Windows, networking, storage, and scheduling). |
| Decision Making | L106-L155 | Guidance for planning and decision-making on AKS: migrations, networking, upgrades, pricing/tiers, node/VM choices, cost optimization, compliance, and comparisons with other platforms/services. |
| Architecture & Design Patterns | L156-L179 | Designing AKS architectures and patterns for HA/DR, upgrades, networking/ingress, PCI workloads, multi-region, GPU and node pool strategies, and multi-cluster/Fleet rollout control. |
| Limits & Quotas | L180-L205 | AKS capacity, limits, and lifecycle: quotas, SKUs, node/pod/network caps, Istio and egress limits, version/support timelines, and scaling patterns (Automatic, Fleet, SLBs, identities). |
| Security | L206-L288 | Securing AKS clusters: authn/z (Entra, RBAC/ABAC, workload identity), node hardening, encryption, network policies, Istio, PCI controls, Azure Policy, and secure access to external services. |
| Configuration | L289-L440 | Configuring AKS clusters, networking, storage, security, autoscaling, cost controls, add-ons (Istio, Dapr, App Config, ACNS), GPUs, databases, and multi-cluster/Fleet features. |
| Integrations & Coding Patterns | L441-L466 | Patterns and examples for integrating AKS with AI/agent tooling, storage, security, monitoring, scaling, CI/CD, and external services (Azure and OSS) in real applications. |
| Deployment | L467-L523 | Deploying and upgrading AKS clusters and apps, including CI/CD, AI/ML and Wasm workloads, service meshes, autoscaling, storage/network migrations, and production-ready infrastructure setup. |

### Troubleshooting
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Diagnose and fix common Agentic CLI for AKS issues | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/agentic-cli-for-aks-troubleshoot |
| Diagnose AKS workloads with AKS Desktop AI assistant | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/aks-desktop-deploy-ai-assistant |
| Use AKS Desktop Insights to troubleshoot workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/aks-desktop-deploy-troubleshooting |
| Support and troubleshooting options for Azure Kubernetes Service | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/aks-support-help |
| Troubleshoot AKS network issues using ACNS metrics and logs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/container-network-observability-guide |
| Troubleshoot CoreDNS issues in AKS clusters | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/coredns-troubleshoot |
| Use Kubernetes events to troubleshoot AKS clusters | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/events |
| Diagnose GPU node health with NPD in AKS | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/gpu-health-monitoring |
| Monitor and troubleshoot AKS KMS etcd encryption | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/kms-observability |
| Collect and view kubelet logs from AKS nodes | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/kubelet-logs |
| Diagnose and fix common Open Service Mesh add-on issues on AKS | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/open-service-mesh-troubleshoot |
| Use AKS security bulletins to diagnose vulnerabilities | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/security-bulletins/overview |
| Troubleshoot Container Network Insights Agent issues on AKS | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/troubleshoot-container-network-insights-agent |
| Troubleshoot SNAT port exhaustion for AKS load balancers | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/troubleshoot-source-network-address-translation |
| Troubleshoot UDP packet drops in AKS clusters | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/troubleshoot-udp-packet-drops |
| Diagnose and resolve Azure AKS upgrade issues | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/upgrade-aks-faq |
| Resolve common Windows Server on AKS issues | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/windows-faq |
| Identify and migrate preview Azure Kubernetes Fleet CRDs to supported versions | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/kubernetes-fleet/howto-migrate-preview-to-ga-fleets |
| Interpret ClusterResourcePlacement and ResourcePlacement status | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/kubernetes-fleet/howto-understand-placement |
| Access and use Azure Fleet agent logs | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/kubernetes-fleet/view-fleet-agent-logs |

### Best Practices
| Topic | URL |
|-------|-----|
| Enable Artifact Streaming in AKS to reduce image pull time | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/artifact-streaming |
| Apply AKS deployment and cluster reliability practices | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-app-cluster-reliability |
| Optimize Azure Kubernetes Service costs effectively | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-cost |
| Apply GPU best practices on AKS clusters | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-gpu |
| Apply GPU observability best practices on AKS | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-gpu-observability |
| Apply MLOps best practices on Azure Kubernetes Service | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-ml-ops |
| Apply proactive monitoring best practices for AKS clusters | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-monitoring-proactive |
| Optimize AKS performance and scaling for small to medium workloads | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-performance-scale |
| Tune AKS for large-scale performance and scaling | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-performance-scale-large |
| Best practices for AKS ephemeral NVMe disks | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/best-practices-storage-nvme |
| Plan resource and security considerations for AKS pod sandboxing | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/considerations-pod-sandboxing |
| Enforce AKS deployment safeguards and best practices | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/deployment-safeguards |
| Implement pod security best practices on AKS | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/developer-best-practices-pod-security |
| Optimize AKS workload resource management practices | https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/developer-best-practices-resource-management |
| Us