Quickstart: Deploy a container instance in Azure using Azure PowerShell

Use Azure Container Instances to run serverless Docker containers in Azure with simplicity and speed. Deploy an application to a container instance on-demand when you don't need a full container orchestration platform like Azure Kubernetes Service.

In this quickstart, you use Azure PowerShell to deploy an isolated Windows container and make its application available with a fully qualified domain name (FQDN). A few seconds after you execute a single deployment command, you can browse to the application running in the container:

If you don't have an Azure subscription, create a free account before you begin.

Note

We recommend that you use the Azure Az PowerShell module to interact with Azure. See Install Azure PowerShell to get started. To learn how to migrate to the Az PowerShell module, see Migrate Azure PowerShell from AzureRM to Az.

Azure Cloud Shell

Azure hosts Azure Cloud Shell, an interactive shell environment that you can use through your browser. You can use either Bash or PowerShell with Cloud Shell to work with Azure services. You can use the Cloud Shell preinstalled commands to run the code in this article, without having to install anything on your local environment.

To start Azure Cloud Shell:

Option	Example/Link
Select Try It in the upper-right corner of a code or command block. Selecting Try It doesn't automatically copy the code or command to Cloud Shell.
Go to https://shell.azure.com, or select the Launch Cloud Shell button to open Cloud Shell in your browser.
Select the Cloud Shell button on the menu bar at the upper right in the Azure portal.

To use Azure Cloud Shell:

1. Start Cloud Shell.

2. Select the Copy button on a code block (or command block) to copy the code or command.

3. Paste the code or command into the Cloud Shell session by selecting Ctrl+Shift+V on Windows and Linux, or by selecting Cmd+Shift+V on macOS.

4. Select Enter to run the code or command.

If you choose to install and use the PowerShell locally, this tutorial requires the Azure PowerShell module. Run Get-Module -ListAvailable Az to find the version. If you need to upgrade, see Install Azure PowerShell module. If you are running PowerShell locally, you also need to run Connect-AzAccount to create a connection with Azure.

Create a resource group

Azure container instances, like all Azure resources, must be deployed into a resource group. Resource groups allow you to organize and manage related Azure resources.

First, create a resource group named myResourceGroup in the eastus location with the following New-AzResourceGroup command:

New-AzResourceGroup -Name myResourceGroup -Location EastUS

Create a container

Now that you have a resource group, you can run a container in Azure. To create a container instance with Azure PowerShell, provide a resource group name, container instance name, and Docker container image to the New-AzContainerGroup cmdlet. In this quickstart, you use the public mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis:nanoserver image. This image packages Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) to run in Nano Server.

You can expose your containers to the internet by specifying one or more ports to open, a DNS name label, or both. In this quickstart, you deploy a container with a DNS name label so that IIS is publicly reachable.

Execute a command similar to the following to start a container instance. Set a -DnsNameLabel value that's unique within the Azure region where you create the instance. If you receive a "DNS name label not available" error message, try a different DNS name label.

New-AzContainerGroup -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -Name mycontainer -Image mcr.microsoft.com/windows/servercore/iis:nanoserver -OsType Windows -DnsNameLabel aci-demo-win

Within a few seconds, you should receive a response from Azure. The container's ProvisioningState is initially Creating, but should move to Succeeded within a minute or two. Check the deployment state with the Get-AzContainerGroup cmdlet:

Get-AzContainerGroup -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -Name mycontainer

The container's provisioning state, fully qualified domain name (FQDN), and IP address appear in the cmdlet's output:

PS Azure:\> Get-AzContainerGroup -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -Name mycontainer


ResourceGroupName        : myResourceGroup
Id                       : /subscriptions/<Subscription ID>/resourceGroups/myResourceGroup/providers/Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups/mycontainer
Name                     : mycontainer
Type                     : Microsoft.ContainerInstance/containerGroups
Location                 : eastus
Tags                     :
ProvisioningState        : Creating
Containers               : {mycontainer}
ImageRegistryCredentials :
RestartPolicy            : Always
IpAddress                : 52.226.19.87
DnsNameLabel             : aci-demo-win
Fqdn                     : aci-demo-win.eastus.azurecontainer.io
Ports                    : {80}
OsType                   : Windows
Volumes                  :
State                    : Pending
Events                   : {}

Once the container's ProvisioningState is Succeeded, navigate to its Fqdn in your browser. If you see a web page similar to the following, congratulations! You've successfully deployed an application running in a Docker container to Azure.

Clean up resources

When you're done with the container, remove it with the Remove-AzContainerGroup cmdlet:

Remove-AzContainerGroup -ResourceGroupName myResourceGroup -Name mycontainer

Next steps

In this quickstart, you created an Azure container instance from an image in the public Docker Hub registry. If you'd like to build a container image and deploy it from a private Azure container registry, continue to the Azure Container Instances tutorial.

Azure Container Instances tutorial