# AKS initial setup

Once your Infrastructure and Plan have been created, the final step before creating a Tenant is to enable Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) to connect with Azure cloud management.

## Enabling the AKS Kubernetes Cluster

1. In the DuploCloud Portal, navigate to **Administrator** -> **Infrastructure**.
2. Select the Infrastructure that you created from the **NAME** column.
3. Select the **AKS** tab.
4. Click the link to enable the Kubernetes cluster. The **Configure AKS Cluster** pane displays.

<div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/8bCGmUIff5KZh49Zcw40" alt=""><figcaption><p><strong>Configure AKS Cluster</strong> pane</p></figcaption></figure></div>

5. Complete the following fields in the **Configure AKS Cluster** pane:

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th width="155.55560302734375">Field</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Cluster Name</strong></td><td>Enter a unique name for the AKS cluster.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Pricing Tier</strong></td><td>Select the pricing tier for your cluster.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>AKS Version</strong></td><td>Select the desired Kubernetes version.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Cluster Type</strong></td><td>Choose between:<br>• <strong>Public</strong>: Exposes the API server via public IP<br>• <strong>Private</strong>: Restricts access to the cluster within the virtual network</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Node Count</strong></td><td>Specify the number of nodes to deploy in the system node pool.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Max Pods per NodePool</strong></td><td>Set the maximum number of pods that can run on each node. Increasing this allows more pods per node but can affect node performance. Defaults depend on VM size.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Node VM Size</strong></td><td>Select the Azure VM size for the Kubernetes worker nodes (e.g., <strong>Standard_DS2_v2</strong>).</td></tr><tr><td><strong>System NodePool Autoscaling</strong></td><td>Optionally, enable autoscaling for the system node pool and specify the minimum and maximum number of nodes. DuploCloud will automatically scale the node count within this range based on workload demand.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Workload Identity</strong></td><td>Enable this if you want Kubernetes workloads to use Workload Identity for accessing cloud resources. Select it only if your environment requires identity-based access.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Image Cleaner</strong></td><td>Enable this to automatically remove unused container images from nodes. If enabled, specify how often unused images should be cleaned up in the <strong>Image Cleaner Interval (Days)</strong> field.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>System Node Pool AutoScaling</strong></td><td><p>Enable this to allow the system node pool to scale automatically based on workload demand. If enabled, specify:<br></p><ul><li><strong>Min Count:</strong> Enter the minimum number of system nodes you want available at all times.</li><li><strong>Max Count:</strong> Enter the maximum number of system nodes the node pool is allowed to scale up to.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><strong>AAD Managed</strong></td><td><p>Enable this to use Azure Active Directory–managed authentication for the cluster. If enabled, provide the following:<br></p><ul><li><strong>Azure RBAC:</strong> Select this to enable Azure role-based access control for Kubernetes authorization.</li><li><strong>Tenant Id:</strong> Enter the Azure AD tenant ID for the directory that will manage access.</li><li><strong>Admin Group Object Ids:</strong> Enter the object IDs of the Azure AD groups whose members should have administrative access to the cluster.</li></ul></td></tr></tbody></table>

6. Optionally, select **Advanced Options** and complete the following fields.

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th width="220.22210693359375"></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Network Plugin</strong></td><td><p>Select the network plugin to use for your cluster.<br></p><ul><li><strong>Azure:</strong> Integrates AKS networking with Azure VNETs (recommended).</li><li><strong>Kubenet:</strong> Basic plugin with limited Azure network integration.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><strong>K8s Resource Group</strong></td><td>Enter the Azure resource group that will contain your Kubernetes cluster.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Outbound Connectivity</strong></td><td><p>Select how outbound internet traffic from the AKS cluster is routed:<br></p><ul><li><strong>Load Balancer:</strong> Outbound traffic goes through a standard Azure public load balancer.</li><li><strong>User Defined Routing:</strong> Outbound traffic is routed via custom Azure route tables you configure.</li></ul></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Blob CSI Driver</strong></td><td>Enable this to allow Kubernetes to mount Azure Blob storage via the CSI driver.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Disable Run Command</strong></td><td>Enable this to prevent running remote commands on cluster nodes.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Linux Admin Username</strong></td><td>Enter the username for the Linux administrator account.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Linux SSH Public Key</strong></td><td>Enter the public SSH key for accessing Linux nodes via SSH.</td></tr><tr><td><strong>System Agent Pool Critical Taint</strong></td><td>Select this option to specify any <strong>System Agent Pool Taints</strong> to apply to system agent nodes to control pod scheduling.</td></tr></tbody></table>

7. Click **Create** to enable AKS for your Infrastructure. DuploCloud begins creating and configuring an AKS cluster using Kubernetes. You receive an alert message when the Infrastructure has been updated.

{% hint style="success" %}
It may take some time to configure the cluster. The **Kubernetes** card on the Infrastructure page shows **Enabled** when the cluster is complete. You can also monitor progress using the **Kubernetes** tab.
{% endhint %}

<table data-header-hidden><thead><tr><th width="222.88885498046875"></th><th></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>UI Field</strong></td><td><strong>Terraform Parameter</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Workload Identity</strong></td><td><code>workload_identity = true</code></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Image Cleaner</strong></td><td><code>image_cleaner { interval_days = X }</code></td></tr><tr><td><strong>System NodePool AutoScaling</strong></td><td><code>system_nodepool_autoscaling { min_count = X, max_count = Y }</code></td></tr><tr><td><strong>AAD Managed</strong></td><td><code>aad_managed { azure_rbac = true, tenant_id = "...", admin_group_object_ids = [...] }</code></td></tr></tbody></table>


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