AKS: From Zero to Secure Production.
A free community series in 10 live sessions on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), from your first container to a signed, policy-checked workload running in production shape.
When
Saturdays, 10:00–12:00 IST
04:30–06:30 UTC
Runs
9 Jan – 12 Jun 2027
10 live sessions
Where
Microsoft Teams
Every session recorded
Price
Free to join
Lab costs stated up front
01How it works
One app, built and rebuilt across six months
Build. Operate. Secure. The series starts from nothing, why containers exist and what goes into an image, and finishes with a scanned, signed image that cluster policy checks before it runs.
One app grows through the whole series. You watch it change each session, and you rebuild it yourself in the labs. The app is payments-api, a small Go service with a naive and a hardened Dockerfile.
Ask questions in the Teams Q&A panel during the session; moderators answer or pass them to the instructor. After the session, labs are self-paced, and each full lab is published at least one week before its session.
Every session · 120 minutes
- 10 minRecap and your questions
- 30 minConcepts and architecture
- 50 minLive demo and guided lab: follow along, or watch now and do it later
- 25 minTroubleshooting and Q&A
- 5 minAssignment and next steps
02Schedule· Saturdays · 10:00–12:00 IST
Ten sessions, from your laptop to production
01
Sat 9 Jan 2027
Containerise the course app and run it on a Kubernetes cluster on your own laptop.
Why containersImagesPodsDeploymentsServiceskindFree. Nothing in this session touches Azure
02
Sat 23 Jan 2027
Your First AKS Cluster
Lab readyCreate an AKS cluster, put the app's image in Azure Container Registry, serve it on a public IP, then delete it all.
SubscriptionsNode poolsAKS Standard vs AutomaticTiersAzure Container RegistryAbout US$1 if you finish within 2 hours and delete
03
Sat 13 Feb 2027
Deploying Applications Properly
Outline · lab a week beforeConfigure the app with ConfigMaps and Secrets, give it probes and resource requests, and roll out and roll back with zero failed requests.
ConfigMapsSecretsProbesRequests and limitsRollbacksKustomizeCourse cluster, about US$0.30/hour
04
Sat 27 Feb 2027
AKS Networking Explained
Outline · lab a week beforeServe the app over HTTPS through Gateway API, and troubleshoot traffic between pods, Services and DNS.
Azure CNI overlayCiliumCoreDNSGateway APIcert-managerCourse cluster plus one public IP, about US$0.30/hour
05
Sat 13 Mar 2027
Storage and Stateful Workloads
Outline · lab a week beforeKeep the app's payments across pod restarts and replacements on an Azure Disk, and know when to use Azure Files instead.
PersistentVolumesAzure Disk vs FilesStatefulSetsZonesSnapshots and backupsCourse cluster plus a small disk and file share, a few cents
06
Sat 27 Mar 2027
From Commit to Cluster
Outline · lab a week beforePush a commit and watch it get built, tested, published to ACR and deployed to AKS, with no passwords stored in GitHub.
ACRHelmGitHub Actions OIDCGitOps with FluxCourse cluster and registry; Actions minutes are free on public repositories
07
Sat 10 Apr 2027
Observability and Troubleshooting
Outline · lab a week beforeDiagnose a failed deployment and a slow application using kubectl, logs, metrics and traces.
Break-fix drillsContainer InsightsManaged PrometheusManaged GrafanaOpenTelemetryCourse cluster plus Azure Monitor and Managed Grafana; estimate published with the lab
08
Sat 24 Apr 2027
Reliability, Scaling and Cost
Outline · lab a week beforeLoad-test the app, watch pods and nodes scale out and back in, survive a node drain and an upgrade without dropped requests, and read what it cost.
HPAKEDACluster autoscalerPodDisruptionBudgetsSpot poolsCost analysisHigher than usual: 3–4 nodes under load, about US$0.50/hour
09
Sat 8 May 2027
AKS Security: Identity and Isolation
Outline · lab a week beforeControl who can reach the cluster, let the app read a Key Vault secret with no stored credentials, and allow only the pod traffic it needs.
Entra IDAzure RBACWorkload identityKey VaultNetwork policiesPod SecurityCourse cluster plus a Key Vault (cents)
10
Sat 12 Jun 2027
Secure Software Supply Chain + Capstone
Outline · lab a week beforeShip only scanned, signed images you can trace back to a commit, enforce that when pods are admitted, and present your secured deployment.
Image scanningSBOMsDigest pinningSigning and provenanceAdmission policyDefender for ContainersCourse cluster plus Key Vault; Defender shown with its 30-day free trial
Sat 3 Jul 2027
Capstone submissions due
Deploy a secured application on AKS, end to end: payments-api from the course, or a small app of your own.
The 2nd and 4th Saturday from January to April, then the 2nd Saturday in May and in June. The longer gaps leave time for the security labs and the capstone. The calendar of record is SCHEDULE.md in the course repository.
03Before you start
What you need, and what it costs
Tools and accounts
- A laptop that runs Docker
- Docker, kind, kubectl and git for Session 1
- From Session 2: an Azure subscription where you're Owner (a free account works) and the Azure CLI
About Azure costs
Session 1 is free. Every lab after that creates Azure resources that cost money while they exist. Each lab states its cost and ends with teardown steps. Set a budget alert, use a personal or free subscription rather than your employer's production one, and delete everything when you finish.
04Completion
Finish the series, earn the certificate
Attend or watch 8 of the 10 sessions and submit a capstone that passes review.
A community certificate of completion. It is not a Microsoft certification.
Capstones are due Sat 3 Jul 2027, three weeks after Session 10. A few projects are showcased in a short bonus session.
How the capstone is reviewed · 100 points
- Build and supply chain20
- Deployment20
- Networking15
- Identity and secrets20
- Observability15
- Cost and cleanup10
Pass: 60 points or more, and no secrets anywhere in the repository or its history.
05Recordings & help
Miss a session? Catch up in 48 hours
Recordings
Within 48 hours, each recording is posted to the session's channel in the Team (with slides, lab links and the assignment) and to the series' YouTube playlist, for anyone.
Help between sessions
Stuck on a lab? Ask in GitHub Discussions, or in the Team's Help and Discussion channel once you've joined it.
GitHub DiscussionsGo deeper
Field notes on running AKS in production: networking, node pools, tenancy, cost and day-2 operations.
Azure & AKS notesEveryone in the series follows the code of conduct. What registration data is used, and for how long: privacy notice.
Saturdays · 10:00–12:00 IST · 9 Jan – 12 Jun 2027
Build. Operate. Secure.
Each session has its own free registration on Microsoft Teams. The registration form also lets you join the series' Team, which holds the session channels, materials, recordings and discussion. Registration for Sessions 1 and 2 opens on 23 Nov 2026.