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Use offline download in AKS on Azure Local and Windows Server

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Applies to: AKS on Azure Local 22H2, AKS on Windows Server

If you have unreliable internet connectivity at your deployment location or you need to scan files and images for security and compliance before deploying, you can use offline downloading to install or update from a local path. There are two ways that you can use this feature: onsite or offsite. Onsite means that you download the AKS on Azure Local images at the same location in which you deploy. Offsite means that you download the AKS on Azure Local images to a different location (where you may have better internet connectivity), use a tool of your choice to transfer the images to your deployment site, and then install or update locally.

In both onsite and offsite scenarios, the latest change ensures that all the zip/cab files of different versions are extracted during the install/update process. This process takes less space than before, which required files to be extracted prior to install/upgrade and stored on the cluster storage.

Before you begin

The following prerequisites are required:

  • The latest release of the AKS-HCI PowerShell module.
  • Open PowerShell as an administrator.
  • Make sure you have satisfied all the system requirements prerequisites.

Use offline download to install onsite

Step 1: Prepare your machine(s) for deployment

Run the following command to check every physical node to see if all the requirements to install AKS on Azure Local are satisfied.

PowerShell 
Initialize-AksHciNode

Step 2: Configure the deployment to use offline download and download the images

In the configuration step, use Set-AksHciConfig to enable offline downloading with the -offlineDownload parameter. Then, specify the local path with the -stagingShare parameter. This is where the images are downloaded.

PowerShell 
Set-AksHciConfig -offlineDownload $true -mode full -stagingShare c:\akshciimages -imageDir c:\clusterstorage\volume1\Images -workingDir c:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\ImageStore -cloudConfigLocation c:\clusterstorage\volume1\Config -vnet $vnet -cloudservicecidr "172.16.10.10/16"

Note

This command is an example. You must replace the parameter arguments with those that fit your deployment. You must also set your vnet settings. See step 2 in this quickstart. This example downloads in full mode. For more download modes, see the descriptions for the -mode parameter in Set-AksHciConfig.

Step 3: Ensure that offline download is enabled and the local path is correct

You can make sure that offline download is enabled and that the local path is correct by running the following command:

PowerShell 
Get-AksHciConfig | ConvertTo-Json

The output shows that offlineDownload is set to true, and the stagingShare value is the local path.

Step 4: Log into Azure and configure the registration settings

Run the following command with your Azure subscription information:

PowerShell 
Set-AksHciRegistration -subscriptionId "<subscriptionId>" -resourceGroupName "<resourceGroupName>"

Step 5: Start the new deployment

Run the following command to start the deployment:

PowerShell 
Install-AksHci

Use offline download to upgrade onsite

Step 1: Get available AKS on Azure Local host updates

Check if there is an available update by running the following command:

PowerShell 
Get-AksHciUpdates

Step 2: Turn on offline download

If you do not already have offline downloading turned on, run the following command with the local path to which you want the images to be downloaded. You can check if offline downloading is set to true with the correct local path by running Get-AksHciConfig | ConvertToJson and checking the values. If it is set to true and the local path is correct, skip to step 3.

PowerShell 
Enable-AksHciOfflineDownload -stagingShare <your path>

Step 3: Download the upgrade images

Run the following command to download the images. This example downloads in full mode. For more download modes, see the descriptions of the -mode parameter in Get-AksHCiRelease.

PowerShell 
Get-AksHciRelease -mode full

Step 4: Start the AKS on Azure Local host update

Run the following command to start the update:

PowerShell 
Update-AksHci

Use offline download to install offsite

With the offsite functionality, you download the images to a different location of your choice. This could be a location where you have a more reliable and secure connection.

Step 1: Set the offsite configurations

Run the following command at your offsite location with the version of AKS on Azure Local that you need:

PowerShell 
Set-AksHciOffsiteConfig -version <String> -stagingShare <String>

Step 2: Download the images

Run the following command to download the images. This example downloads in full mode. For more download modes, see the descriptions of the -mode parameter in Get-AksHCiRelease.

PowerShell 
Get-AksHciRelease -mode full

Step 3: Transfer the images onsite to where you will deploy

In this step, use your tool of choice to transfer the images so that they are available in a local directory onsite where AKS on Azure Local are deployed.

Step 4: Configure the deployment onsite

Set your configuration, make sure to use the -offlineDownload flag, and set your path to where AKS on Azure Local looks for the images during install:

PowerShell 
Set-AksHciConfig -offlineDownload $true -offsiteTransferCompleted $true -stagingShare c:\akshciimages -imageDir c:\clusterstorage\volume1\Images -workingDir c:\ClusterStorage\Volume1\ImageStore -cloudConfigLocation c:\clusterstorage\volume1\Config -vnet $vnet -cloudservicecidr "172.16.10.10/16"

Note

This command is an example. Replace the parameter arguments to ones that fit your deployment. You must also set your vnet settings. See step 2 in this quickstart.

Step 5: Ensure that offline download is on and the local path is correct

You can make sure that offline download is enabled, and that the local path is correct by running the following command:

PowerShell 
Get-AksHciConfig | ConvertTo-Json

The output shows that offlineDownload is set to true, and the stagingShare value is the local path.

Step 6: Log into Azure and configure the registration settings

Run the following command with your Azure subscription information:

PowerShell 
Set-AksHciRegistration -subscriptionId "<subscriptionId>" -resourceGroupName "<resourceGroupName>"

Step 7: Start the new deployment

Run the following command to start the deployment:

PowerShell 
Install-AksHci

Use offline download to upgrade offsite

With the offsite functionality, you download the images to a different location of your choice. This could be a location where you have a more reliable and secure connection.

Step 1: Set the offsite configuration

Run the following command at your offsite location with the version of AKS on Azure Local that you need:

PowerShell 
Set-AksHciOffsiteConfig -version <String> -stagingShare <String>

Step 2: Download the images

Run the following command with the upgrade version that you need to download the images. This example downloads in full mode. For more download modes, see the descriptions of the -mode parameter in Get-AksHCiRelease.

PowerShell 
Get-AksHciRelease -mode full

Step 3: Transfer the images onsite to where you will deploy

In this step, use your tool of choice to transfer the images so that they are available in a local directory onsite where AKS on Azure Local is deployed.

Step 4: Enable offline download

If you do not already have offline downloading enabled, run the following command to enable offline downloading, and provide the correct path to where the images are located:

PowerShell 
Enable-AksHciOfflineDownload -stagingShare <your path> -offsiteTransferCompleted $true

Step 5: Start the update

Run the following command below to start the update:

PowerShell 
Update-AksHci

Next steps

Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI