What is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Automatic (preview)?

Applies to: ✔️ AKS Automatic (preview)

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Automatic offers an experience that makes the most common tasks on Kubernetes fast and frictionless, while preserving the flexibility, extensibility, and consistency of Kubernetes. Azure takes care of your cluster setup, including node management, scaling, security, and preconfigured settings that follow AKS well-architected recommendations. Automatic clusters dynamically allocate compute resources based on your specific workload requirements and are tuned for running production applications.

• Production ready by default: Clusters are preconfigured for optimal production use, suitable for most applications. They offer fully managed node pools that automatically allocate and scale resources based on your workload needs. Pods are bin packed efficiently, to maximize resource utilization.

• Built-in best practices and safeguards: AKS Automatic clusters have a hardened default configuration, with many cluster, application, and networking security settings enabled by default. AKS automatically patches your nodes and cluster components while adhering to any planned maintenance schedules.

• Code to Kubernetes in minutes: Go from a container image to a deployed application that adheres to best practices patterns within minutes, with access to the comprehensive capabilities of the Kubernetes API and its rich ecosystem.

AKS Automatic and Standard feature comparison

The following table provides a comparison of options that are available, preconfigured, and default in both AKS Automatic and AKS Standard. For more information on whether specific features are available in Automatic, you may need to check the documentation for that feature.

Pre-configured features are always enabled and you can't disable or change their settings. Default features are configured for you but can be changed. Optional features are available for you to configure and are not enabled by default.

Application deployment, monitoring, and observability

Application deployment can be streamlined using automated deployments from source control, which creates Kubernetes manifest and generates CI/CD workflows. Additionally, the cluster is configured with monitoring tools such as Managed Prometheus for metrics, Managed Grafana for visualization and Container Insights for log collection.

Node management, scaling, and cluster operations

Node management is automatically handled without the need for manual node pool creation. Scaling is seamless, with nodes created based on workload requests. Additionally, features for workload scaling like Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA), Kubernetes Event Driven Autoscaling (KEDA), and Vertical Pod Autoscaler (VPA) are enabled. Clusters are configured for automatic node repair, automatic cluster upgrades, and detection of deprecated Kubernetes standard API usage. You can also set a planned maintenance schedule for upgrades if needed.

Security and policies

Cluster authentication and authorization use Azure Role-based Access Control (RBAC) for Kubernetes authorization and applications can use features like workload identity with Microsoft Entra Workload ID and OpenID Connect (OIDC) cluster issuer to have secure communication with Azure services. Deployment safeguards enforce Kubernetes best practices through Azure Policy controls and the built-in image cleaner removes unused images with vulnerabilities, enhancing image security.

Networking

AKS Automatic clusters use managed Virtual Network powered by Azure CNI Overlay with Cilium for high-performance networking and robust security. Ingress is handled by managed NGINX using the application routing add-on, integrating seamlessly with Azure DNS and Azure Key Vault. Egress uses a managed NAT gateway for scalable outbound connections. Additionally, you have the flexibility to enable Azure Service Mesh (Istio) ingress or bring your own service mesh.

Next steps

To learn more about AKS Automatic, follow the quickstart to create a cluster.