Access a private Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) cluster using the command invoke or Run command feature

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When you access a private AKS cluster, you need to connect to the cluster from the cluster virtual network, a peered network, or a configured private endpoint. These approaches require configuring a VPN, Express Route, deploying a jumpbox within the cluster virtual network, or creating a private endpoint inside of another virtual network.

With the Azure CLI, you can use command invoke to access private clusters without the need to configure a VPN or Express Route. command invoke allows you to remotely invoke commands, like kubectl and helm, on your private cluster through the Azure API without directly connecting to the cluster. The Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters/runcommand/action and Microsoft.ContainerService/managedclusters/commandResults/read actions control the permissions for using command invoke.

With the Azure portal, you can use the Run command feature to run commands on your private cluster. The Run command feature uses the same command invoke functionality to run commands on your cluster.

Before you begin

Before you begin, make sure you have the following resources and permissions:

  • An existing private cluster. If you don't have one, see Create a private AKS cluster.
  • The Azure CLI version 2.24.0 or later. Run az --version to find the version. If you need to install or upgrade, see Install Azure CLI.
  • Access to the Microsoft.ContainerService/managedClusters/runcommand/action and Microsoft.ContainerService/managedclusters/commandResults/read roles on the cluster.

Limitations

The pod created by the run command provides helm and the latest compatible version of kubectl for your cluster with kustomize.

command invoke runs the commands from your cluster, so any commands run in this manner are subject to your configured networking restrictions and any other configured restrictions. Make sure there are enough nodes and resources in your cluster to schedule this command pod.

Note

The output for command invoke is limited to 512kB in size.

Run commands on your AKS cluster

Use command invoke to run a single command

  • Run a command on your cluster using the az aks command invoke --command command. The following example command runs the kubectl get pods -n kube-system command on the myPrivateCluster cluster in myResourceGroup.

    az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name myPrivateCluster \
  --command "kubectl get pods -n kube-system"

Use command invoke to run multiple commands

  • Run multiple commands on your cluster using the az aks command invoke --command command. The following example command runs three helm commands on the myPrivateCluster cluster in myResourceGroup.

    az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name myPrivateCluster \
  --command "helm repo add bitnami https://charts.bitnami.com/bitnami && helm repo update && helm install my-release bitnami/nginx"

Use command invoke to run commands with an attached file or directory

  • Run commands with an attached file or directory using the az aks command invoke --command command with the --file parameter. The following example command runs kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml -n default on the myPrivateCluster cluster in myResourceGroup. The deployment.yaml file is attached from the current directory on the development computer where az aks command invoke was run.

    az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name myPrivateCluster \
  --command "kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml -n default" \
  --file deployment.yaml

Use command invoke to run commands with all files in the current directory attached

  • Run commands with all files in the current directory attached using the az aks command invoke --command command with the --file parameter. The following example command runs kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml configmap.yaml -n default on the myPrivateCluster cluster in myResourceGroup. The deployment.yaml and configmap.yaml files are part of the current directory on the development computer where az aks command invoke was run.

    az aks command invoke \
  --resource-group myResourceGroup \
  --name myPrivateCluster \
  --command "kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml configmap.yaml -n default" \
  --file .

Troubleshooting

For information on the most common issues with az aks command invoke and how to fix them, see Resolve az aks command invoke failures.

Next steps

In this article, you learned how to access a private cluster and run commands on that cluster. For more information on AKS clusters, see the following articles: