Create Cluster Template

A Cluster Template is a preset configuration that can be used to replicate infrastructure resources. The controller allows the Infra Admin to create Cluster Templates, enabling to abstracts the details of the resource creation by exposing limited configuration. Both Infra Admin and Cluster Admin can use these templates when creating AKS clusters

Explore our blog for deeper insights on Cluster Templates, available here!

Automation Options¶

The below matrix presents a breakdown of actions like creation, updating, and deletion of AKS Cluster Template across multiple deployment methods: Interactive UI, Declarative RCTL commands, API-driven automation, and Terraform.

Actions	UI	CLI	API	Terraform
Create Cluster Template	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Share/Edit	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Delete	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

Step 1: New Cluster Template¶

To create a new cluster template, perform the below procedure:

Login to the controller and click Cluster Templates
Click New Template
Enter the Cluster Name and optionally provide the Description
Click Create

New Cluster Template

The cluster templates are version-controlled so that the lifecycle can be properly managed. In this example, the admin has not yet configured anything. So, no versions are available yet.

Cluster Template No Versions

Step 2. New Version¶

Click New Version and use the wizard to provide details
Provide a version number/name

General (Mandatory)¶

Select the Resource Group and Azure cloud credentials from the drop-down
Select a region and K8s Version
Select a Blueprint and Version

Cluster Template General

Override Options

Use the Override option if required

Override	Description
Allowed	Allows the users to provide any value
Not Allowed	Users are not allowed to override the existing values
Allow Limited	Allows adding one or more region(s) to the restricted list. On adding these regions, the user can only select the region values defined in the restricted list when creating a cluster using template

Cluster Settings (Optional)¶

Make changes to the required fields if required
Optionally, click Add Key-Value Tag to add Tag keys and Values to the template

Cluster Settings

Node Groups Settings¶

Enter the Node Group Name and provide the other details if required

Node Group Settings

Advanced (Optional)¶

Optionally, enable the Proxy Configuration and provide the required proxy details

NG and Advanced Settings

Click SAVE & CUSTOMIZE to customize the cluster template configuration or SAVE CHANGES to complete the cluster template creation

View Versions¶

The entire history of cluster template versions is maintained on the Controller. Admins can view details about the versions of cluster templates

Template Version List

As an Admin, login to the Controller.

Select Project
Navigate to Infrastructure -> Cluster Templates. The dashboard shows the list of templates available within this project. A cluster template can be used for creating one or more cluster(s)
Click the share icon to share a cluster template to all projects or a specific project
- Users cannot share a cluster template from a project to other project(s) if the cluster template name is identical in any other project(s)
- Once a cluster template is mapped to a cluster, it cannot be unassigned/unshared from that cluster specific project
- When sharing a cluster template to a project, user must also share the blueprint and cloud credential associated with that specific cluster template
To edit an existing template and add a new version, click Edit icon
Click Delete icon to delete an existing template

Templates List

Note: Users cannot share/edit/delete a cluster template that are inherited from other project. Also, cannot delete a cluster template which is associated with a cluster

Click the Clusters count to view the list of clusters and their respective cluster template version