Configure Azure CNI networking in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

This article shows you how to use Azure CNI networking to create and use a virtual network subnet for an AKS cluster. For more information on network options and considerations, see Network concepts for Kubernetes and AKS.

Prerequisites

Portal

• An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account for free.

PowerShell

• An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account for free.

• Azure Cloud Shell or Azure PowerShell.

  The steps in this quickstart run the Azure PowerShell cmdlets interactively in Azure Cloud Shell. To run the commands in the Cloud Shell, select Open Cloudshell at the upper-right corner of a code block. Select Copy to copy the code and then paste it into Cloud Shell to run it. You can also run the Cloud Shell from within the Azure portal.

  You can also install Azure PowerShell locally to run the cmdlets. The steps in this article require Azure PowerShell module version 5.4.1 or later. Run Get-Module -ListAvailable Az to find your installed version. If you need to upgrade, see Update the Azure PowerShell module.

  If you run PowerShell locally, run Connect-AzAccount to connect to Azure.

CLI

• An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account for free.

• Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell.

  

• If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

  • If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.

  • When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.

  • Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

Configure networking

Portal

1. Sign in to the Azure portal.

2. In the search box at the top of the portal enter Kubernetes services, select Kubernetes services from the search results.

3. Select + Create then Create a Kubernetes cluster.

4. In Create Kubernetes cluster enter or select the following information:

   Setting	Value
   Project details
   Subscription	Select your subscription.
   Resource group	Select test-rg.
   Cluster details
   Cluster preset configuration	Leave the default of Production Standard.
   Kubernetes cluster name	Enter aks-cluster.
   Region	Select (US) East US 2.
   Availability zones	Leave the default of Zones 1,2,3.
   AKS pricing tier	Leave the default of Standard.
   Kubernetes version	Leave the default of 1.26.6.
   Automatic upgrade	Leave the default of Enabled with patch (recommended).
   Authentication and Authorization	Leave the default of Local accounts with Kubernetes RBAC.

5. Select Next: Node pools >, then Next: Networking >.

6. In Container networking in the Networking tab, verify that Azure CNI is selected.

   

7. Select Review + create.

8. Select Create.

PowerShell

When you create an AKS cluster with Azure PowerShell, you can also configure Azure CNI networking.

Use New-AzAksCluster to create an AKS cluster with default settings and Azure CNI networking:

## Create a resource group for the AKS cluster. ##
$rg = @{
    Name = "test-rg"
    Location = "eastus2"
}
New-AzResourceGroup @rg

$net = @{
      NetworkPlugin = "azure"
      ResourceGroupName = "test-rg"
      Name = "aks-cluster"
}
New-AzAksCluster @net

CLI

When you create an AKS cluster with the Azure CLI, you can also configure Azure CNI networking.

Use [az aks create][az-aks-create] with the --network-plugin azure argument to create a cluster with advanced networking:

az group create \
    --name test-rg \
    --location eastus2

az aks create \
    --resource-group test-rg \
    --name aks-cluster \
    --network-plugin azure \
    --generate-ssh-keys

Next steps

To configure Azure CNI networking with dynamic IP allocation and enhanced subnet support, see Configure Azure CNI networking for dynamic allocation of IPs and enhanced subnet support in AKS.