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Containers
premium
AKS cluster
Microsoft Learn describes Azure Kubernetes Service as a managed Kubernetes service for deploying and managing containerized applications. An AKS cluster provides the managed Kubernetes control plane, node pools, networking, identity, scaling, and Azure integration points for running containers in Azure production environments.
Azure Kubernetes Service
fundamentals
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes cluster, AKS managed cluster, Kubernetes cluster in Azure
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Containers
premium
AKS ingress controller
Microsoft Learn explains AKS ingress through Kubernetes ingress resources and controllers that route HTTP or HTTPS traffic to services in a cluster. AKS application routing options can configure ingress controllers, DNS integration, TLS handling, and related networking components for production applications.
AKS networking
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: AKS ingress, Ingress controller for AKS, Kubernetes ingress controller
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Containers
premium
AKS Linux node pool
An AKS Linux node pool is a group of Linux-based nodes with shared configuration that runs Kubernetes workloads in an AKS cluster. Node pools let teams separate system components, application workloads, VM sizes, zones, scaling behavior, taints, labels, and upgrade settings.
AKS compute
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes Service Linux node pool, aks linux node pool
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Containers
premium
AKS maintenance window
An AKS maintenance window is a planned maintenance configuration that controls when AKS starts certain cluster and node image upgrade operations. It helps teams align automatic upgrades and maintenance-sensitive changes with approved business windows, while Azure platform maintenance for underlying infrastructure remains separate.
AKS operations
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes Service maintenance window, aks maintenance window
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Containers
premium
AKS managed identity
An AKS managed identity is a Microsoft Entra identity that an AKS cluster uses to manage Azure resources without stored service principal secrets.
AKS identity
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes Service managed identity, aks managed identity
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Containers
premium
AKS network policy
An AKS network policy is a Kubernetes traffic-control policy used to restrict pod communication in Azure Kubernetes Service.
AKS networking
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes Service network policy, aks network policy
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Containers
premium
AKS node
Microsoft Learn explains that AKS nodes are the virtual machines that run your containerized applications, grouped into node pools with the same configuration. System node pools host core cluster pods, while user node pools typically host application workloads and can differ by size, operating system, taints, or purpose.
AKS compute
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: AKS cluster node, Kubernetes node in AKS, AKS VM node
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Containers
premium
AKS private cluster
Microsoft Learn describes a private AKS cluster as an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster whose API server uses internal IP addresses and Private Link-based connectivity. The design keeps control-plane traffic between the API server and node pools on private networking, with DNS configuration required for administrators and automation.
AKS networking
advanced
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes Service private cluster, aks private cluster
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Containers
premium
AKS add-on
An AKS add-on is a Microsoft-supported capability that can be enabled on an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster to add functionality such as monitoring, policy, ingress, or security integration, with installation and lifecycle managed through AKS.
Azure Kubernetes Service
fundamentals
3 commands
Aliases: AKS addon, Azure Kubernetes Service add-on, managed AKS integration, AKS integration
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Containers
premium
AKS Azure Policy add-on
The AKS Azure Policy add-on integrates Azure Policy with an AKS cluster so policy assignments can audit or enforce Kubernetes rules through in-cluster policy components and report compliance back to Azure Policy.
Azure Kubernetes Service
intermediate
3 commands
Aliases: Azure Policy add-on for AKS, AKS policy add-on, Gatekeeper add-on, Azure Policy for Kubernetes
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Containers
premium
AKS cluster upgrade
An AKS cluster upgrade moves an AKS cluster and its node pools to a newer supported Kubernetes version or updates node images after checking available versions, planning surge capacity, and validating workload readiness.
Azure Kubernetes Service
intermediate
3 commands
Aliases: AKS upgrade, Kubernetes version upgrade, AKS node upgrade, cluster version upgrade
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Containers
premium
AKS GitOps
AKS GitOps uses Git as the source of truth for Kubernetes configuration and application deployment, commonly through the Microsoft Flux extension, so AKS clusters continuously reconcile to the desired state declared in a repository.
Azure Kubernetes Service
intermediate
3 commands
Aliases: GitOps for AKS, Flux on AKS, microsoft.flux extension, AKS Flux configuration
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Containers
premium
AKS horizontal pod autoscaler
The AKS Horizontal Pod Autoscaler is the Kubernetes HPA capability used in AKS to automatically change the number of pod replicas for a workload based on observed metrics such as CPU, memory, or custom metrics.
Azure Kubernetes Service scaling
intermediate
3 commands
Aliases: HPA on AKS, horizontal pod autoscaler, Kubernetes HPA, pod autoscaling
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Containers
premium
AKS Windows node pool
An AKS Windows node pool is a group of Windows Server worker nodes in an AKS cluster, used to run Windows container workloads while Linux pools continue to host core Kubernetes system components.
AKS
intermediate
3 commands
Aliases: Windows node pool, Windows Server node pool, AKS Windows containers
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Containers
field-manual-complete
AKS cluster autoscaler
The AKS cluster autoscaler changes how many Kubernetes nodes are available in an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster. When pods are waiting because there is not enough room, it can add nodes to a node pool. When nodes sit underused, it can remove them safely after checks. It is not the same as scaling application replicas; it scales the infrastructure those replicas land on. Good settings keep workloads moving without leaving expensive virtual machines idle all week.
Azure Kubernetes Service
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: cluster autoscaler, AKS node autoscaler, node pool autoscaler, CA on AKS
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Containers
field-manual-complete
AKS network plugin
An AKS network plugin is the networking choice that decides how Kubernetes pods get IP addresses and how traffic moves inside an Azure Kubernetes Service cluster.
AKS networking
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes Service network plugin, aks network plugin
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Containers
field-manual-complete
AKS node image
An AKS node image is the AKS-tested operating system image used by cluster nodes. Microsoft regularly publishes updated node images with security fixes, component updates, and bug fixes, and teams can upgrade node images separately from Kubernetes minor version upgrades.
AKS operations
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: AKS node image, aks-node-image, aks-cluster, aks-node, node-pool, aks-cluster-upgrade, aks-maintenance-window, kubernetes-version, aks-linux-node-pool, aks-windows-node-pool, node-image-upgrade, automatic-os-image-upgrade
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Containers
field-manual-complete
AKS workload identity
AKS workload identity lets a pod sign in to Azure as an approved identity without storing a password, client secret, or long-lived key inside the container. You connect a Kubernetes service account to a Microsoft Entra application or managed identity through federation. When the pod runs, Azure trusts the service account token from the cluster OIDC issuer and issues access tokens for allowed resources. The result is cleaner secret handling for applications running in AKS.
AKS Identity
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Microsoft Entra Workload ID for AKS, pod workload identity, AKS OIDC federation
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Containers
strict-validated
AKS service mesh
AKS service mesh is a service-to-service traffic layer for AKS workloads, commonly delivered through the Istio-based add-on for traffic management, mTLS, and telemetry.
AKS networking
Advanced
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Kubernetes Service service mesh, aks service mesh
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Containers
field-manual-complete
AKS egress
AKS egress is outbound network traffic from AKS nodes or workloads to destinations outside the pod or cluster network. AKS egress behavior is shaped by outbound type choices such as load balancer, NAT Gateway, or user-defined routes.
Azure Kubernetes Service networking
intermediate
3 commands
Aliases: AKS outbound traffic, cluster egress, AKS outbound type, pod egress
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Containers
strict-validated
AKS control plane
The AKS control plane is the Azure-managed Kubernetes API and orchestration layer that coordinates cluster state, authentication, upgrades, and communication with worker nodes.
Azure Kubernetes Service
fundamentals
3 commands
Aliases: Kubernetes control plane, AKS managed control plane, AKS API server, managed Kubernetes API
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Containers
learning-path-anchor
System node pool
A system node pool is the AKS worker pool that keeps the cluster itself functioning. It hosts core Kubernetes and AKS add-on pods such as DNS, networking agents, metrics, and connectivity components. You can technically run application pods there, but experienced teams avoid that because noisy workloads can starve the services that make the...
Azure Kubernetes Service
intermediate
4 commands
Aliases: AKS system pool, system mode node pool, AKS platform node pool, kube-system node pool
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Databases
premium
Change feed processor
A database capability or setting in Azure Cosmos DB that helps teams store, query, scale, secure, and recover application data with clearer ownership, safety, and operational context.
Azure Cosmos DB
fundamentals
15 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Compute
premium
Azure Functions
Azure Functions is Azure serverless compute for running code from triggers such as HTTP requests, queues, timers, events, and service integrations without managing servers.
Serverless compute
intermediate
6 commands
Aliases: Functions, Function App, serverless functions
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Containers
premium
Azure Kubernetes Service
Azure Kubernetes Service is Azure’s managed Kubernetes service for deploying, scaling, and operating containerized applications while Azure manages much of the cluster control plane.
Managed Kubernetes
advanced
6 commands
Aliases: AKS, managed Kubernetes
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Hybrid and Multicloud
premium
Azure Local
Azure Local is Microsoft’s distributed infrastructure solution that extends Azure capabilities to customer-owned environments for local VMs, containers, and selected Azure services through Azure Arc.
Distributed infrastructure
advanced
6 commands
Aliases: Azure Stack HCI, Azure Local infrastructure, Arc-enabled local infrastructure
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Containers
premium
Event-driven job
An Event-driven job in Azure Container Apps starts job executions when a configured scale rule detects work from an event source. Teams use it to run finite container work such as queue processing, batch enrichment, report generation, or cleanup only when events or messages are waiting. It is not a continuously running container app, an AKS deployment, a scheduled job, or a guarantee that every event is processed exactly once. In production, confirm job trigger type, scale rule, minimum and maximum executions, polling interval, image version, secret references, managed identity, execution status, logs, retries, and queue depth before treating the.
Azure Container Apps
intermediate
6 commands
Aliases: Container Apps event-driven job, KEDA job, event-triggered container job
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Containers
premium
Flux extension
The Flux extension is the microsoft.flux Kubernetes cluster extension for Azure Kubernetes Service or Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes that installs Flux v2 controllers for GitOps reconciliation. Teams use it to sync Git, OCI, Helm, or Kustomize sources to Kubernetes clusters so desired configuration is versioned, reconciled, audited, and applied consistently across AKS and Arc-enabled environments. It is not a CI pipeline by itself, a replacement for cluster security, a guarantee that every manifest is safe, or a reason to let unreviewed repository changes modify production clusters.
Kubernetes GitOps
intermediate
6 commands
Aliases: microsoft.flux extension, GitOps Flux extension, AKS Flux extension, Azure Arc Flux extension
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Containers
premium
Kubernetes Deployment
A Kubernetes Deployment is a workload controller that declaratively manages ReplicaSets and pods for stateless applications.
Kubernetes workloads
Intermediate
6 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Containers
premium
ACR admin user
The ACR admin user is the quick username-and-password login for a registry. It can be convenient for tests, but it weakens accountability because it is shared. For production, prefer Entra identities, managed identities, tokens, or scoped access patterns.
Azure Container Registry
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: ACR
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Containers
premium
ACR geo-replication
ACR geo-replication keeps container images closer to workloads in multiple regions. Developers push to one registry, and Azure replicates content so regional clusters can pull faster and more reliably, assuming the registry uses the Premium tier.
Azure Container Registry
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: ACR
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Containers
premium
ACR repository
An ACR repository is the named place inside Azure Container Registry where related container images or OCI artifacts live. A repository is not the whole registry; it is one lane inside it, such as payments-api or base/python. Each.
Azure Container Registry
fundamentals
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Container Registry repository, container registry repository, image repository
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Containers
premium
API server authorized IP ranges
API server authorized IP ranges are an AKS security setting that limits who can reach the Kubernetes control-plane endpoint. Instead of letting any public IP attempt a connection to the API server, the cluster allows only specified public CIDR ranges, such as corporate VPN, jump-host, automation,.
Azure Kubernetes Service
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: AKS API server authorized IP ranges, authorized API server IP ranges
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Containers
premium
Azure Container Registry
A managed private registry service for building, storing, and managing container images and OCI artifacts for container deployments.
Container images
fundamentals
5 commands
Aliases: ACR
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AI and Machine Learning
premium
Azure Machine Learning
Azure Machine Learning is a cloud service for managing the machine learning lifecycle, including workspaces, data, training jobs, model deployment, monitoring, and MLOps.
Machine learning operations
advanced
5 commands
Aliases: Azure ML, AML, Machine Learning workspace
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AI and Machine Learning
premium
Azure OpenAI managed identity
Azure OpenAI managed identity uses Microsoft Entra identities so Azure workloads can call model endpoints without stored keys.
Azure OpenAI
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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DevOps
premium
Canary deployment
Canary deployment is a release approach that sends a small portion of real traffic to a new version before rolling it out broadly.
Deployment workflows
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Containers
premium
Container Apps
A serverless Azure service for running containerized apps and jobs without directly operating Kubernetes clusters.
Serverless containers
fundamentals
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Container Apps
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Networking
premium
Front Door
Azure Front Door is Microsoft’s global edge service for modern web applications. Microsoft Learn describes it as a cloud CDN that provides fast, reliable, and secure access to static and dynamic content through Microsoft’s global edge network worldwide.
Application delivery and API edge
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Azure Front Door, AFD, Azure Front Door Standard, Azure Front Door Premium, global edge
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Containers
premium
Image pull secret
Image pull secret is a Kubernetes secret that stores registry credentials so pods can pull private container images at deployment time.
Azure Container Registry
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Image pull secret, image pull secret, image-pull-secret
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Networking
premium
Ingress
Ingress controls how users, APIs, partners, and internal services can reach a workload and which network controls protect that entry point. Teams see it in container apps ingress settings, kubernetes ingress controllers. It is not egress, a firewall rule alone, a load balancer backend pool, or an application route inside code; confusing them can create public exposure, unreachable apps. Use the term when reviewing access, monitoring, cost, recovery, or performance. It keeps architects, operators, security reviewers, and support teams focused on the same setting, resource, or behavior.
Application Networking
Fundamentals
5 commands
Aliases: incoming application traffic, inbound app traffic, Container Apps ingress, external ingress, internal ingress
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Containers
premium
KEDA
KEDA is the Kubernetes Event-driven Autoscaling component that scales workloads based on external event sources and metrics, including scale-to-zero scenarios.
Autoscaling
intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Kubernetes Event-driven Autoscaling, event-driven autoscaler, KEDA scaler, scaled object
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Containers
premium
kubeconfig
kubeconfig is the client configuration that tells kubectl and related tools which Kubernetes cluster, user credential, context, and namespace to use. Microsoft Learn describes AKS access through credentials retrieved with az aks get-credentials, where context selection determines which cluster receives operational commands.
AKS access and administration
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: Kubernetes config file, AKS kubeconfig, kubectl configuration, cluster credentials
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Containers
premium
Kubelet identity
Kubelet identity controls how AKS nodes authenticate to Azure resources for node-level tasks, especially pulling container images from registries without embedded secrets. Teams see it in aks identity profile, node pools. It is not cluster control-plane identity, workload identity, pod managed identity, service account token, kubeconfig credential, or container registry admin user; confusing them can create image pull failures, overbroad registry access. Use the term when reviewing access, monitoring, cost, recovery, or performance. It keeps architects, operators, security reviewers, and support teams focused on the same setting, resource, or behavior.
AKS identity
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: AKS kubelet identity, node pool kubelet identity, AKS node managed identity, identityProfile kubeletidentity
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Containers
premium
Kubenet
Kubenet is an AKS network plugin where nodes receive virtual network IP addresses and pods receive IP addresses from a separate pod CIDR, with routing handled through user-defined routes.
AKS networking
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Containers
premium
Kubernetes DaemonSet
A Kubernetes DaemonSet is a workload controller that ensures a copy of a pod runs on selected nodes, commonly for logging agents, monitoring collectors, security agents, and node-level services.
Kubernetes workloads
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Containers
premium
Kubernetes Persistent Volume
A Kubernetes Persistent Volume is cluster storage provisioned for pods and bound through persistent volume claims so data can outlive individual pod restarts, rescheduling, or replacements.
Kubernetes storage
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Containers
premium
Kubernetes StorageClass
A Kubernetes StorageClass defines how persistent storage is dynamically provisioned for persistent volume claims, including the driver, performance tier, reclaim policy, and binding behavior.
Kubernetes storage
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Containers
premium
Kubernetes Version
Kubernetes Version is the control plane and node version level that determines supported Kubernetes APIs, feature availability, security patches, and upgrade requirements for a cluster.
AKS lifecycle
Intermediate
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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Networking
premium
NAT Gateway
NAT Gateway means a managed Azure networking service that provides outbound internet connectivity for private resources in associated subnets. You see it when teams let virtual machines, containers, or private application workloads reach updates, APIs, package feeds, or external services. Think of it as an outbound source address and SNAT boundary, not a firewall for all network traffic. It matters because the setting changes how teams design, secure, operate, and troubleshoot the workload. Before changing it in production, know the owner, dependency, evidence, expected result, and rollback path.
Outbound connectivity
fundamentals
5 commands
Aliases: No aliases yet
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