Scales an AKS node pool, Windows pools included, by adding or removing VMs as the demand from pods rises and falls.
Read more: Microsoft Learn
In the Ultra Transcenders books
Each book explains Cluster autoscaler in context, with comparison tables and the common traps.
Terms in this definition
- AKS
Short for Azure Kubernetes Service, a managed Kubernetes offering that gives full control of clusters and node pools. Scaling uses the cluster autoscaler and Horizontal Pod Autoscaler; user sign-in is not built in.
- Node pool
AKS nodes grouped by a common OS and VM size. Applications run in user pools, while system pools carry CoreDNS and similar system pods; each pool has its own cluster autoscaler settings.
- Virtual machines
Infrastructure-as-a-service compute giving complete control of the operating system, making it a fit for lift-and-shift moves and for software relying on OS-level pieces like COM.
Related terms
- kubectl
Command-line tool for working with workloads in a Kubernetes cluster, installed by running
az aks install-cli. Cluster-level AKS settings like the cluster autoscaler are set through Azure instead.