End-to-End Guide: Build, Push & Deploy a Docker App on Azure (ACR + AKS)

 

This blog walks you through a complete DevOps workflow:

• Login to Azure
• Create Azure Container Registry (ACR)
• Build & push a Docker image
• Deploy it to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

We’ll use a simple web server app instead of Python.

---

🧭 Architecture Overview

Local (azure-client)
        ↓
Docker Build
        ↓
Azure Container Registry (ACR)
        ↓
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
        ↓
Public Web App (via Service)

---

🔐 Step 1: Login to Azure

Using Azure CLI

az login

If multiple subscriptions:

az account set --subscription "Your-Subscription-Name"

---

Using Azure Portal

1. Go to https://portal.azure.com
2. Search → Resource Groups

3. Select your resource group (example):

   demo-rg-devops
   

---

📦 Step 2: Create Azure Container Registry (ACR)

Option 1: Azure CLI

az acr create \
  --resource-group demo-rg-devops \
  --name devopsregistry01 \
  --sku Basic \
  --location eastus

---

Option 2: Azure Portal

1. Search → Container Registries
2. Click Create
3. Fill:
   • Registry Name: devopsregistry01
   • Region: East US
   • Pricing Tier: Basic
4. Click Review + Create

---

🔐 Step 3: Login to ACR

az acr login --name devopsregistry01

---

🌐 Step 4: Create Simple Web App (Docker)

Move to your working directory:

cd /root/webapp

---

📄 Create index.html

<h1>Welcome to DevOps Demo App 🚀</h1>
<p>Deployed using ACR & AKS</p>

---

📄 Create Dockerfile

# Simple Nginx Web Server
FROM nginx:alpine

COPY index.html /usr/share/nginx/html/index.html

EXPOSE 80

---

🐳 Step 5: Build Docker Image

docker build -t devopsregistry01:latest .

---

🏷️ Step 6: Tag Image for ACR

docker tag devopsregistry01:latest devopsregistry01.azurecr.io/devops-webapp:latest

---

📤 Step 7: Push Image to ACR

docker push devopsregistry01.azurecr.io/devops-webapp:latest

---

☸️ Step 8: Create AKS Cluster

az aks create \
  --resource-group demo-rg-devops \
  --name devops-aks-cluster \
  --node-count 1 \
  --enable-addons monitoring \
  --generate-ssh-keys \
  --attach-acr devopsregistry01

---

🔑 Step 9: Connect to AKS

az aks get-credentials \
  --resource-group demo-rg-devops \
  --name devops-aks-cluster

Verify:

kubectl get nodes

---

🚀 Step 10: Deploy Application to Kubernetes

📄 Create Deployment

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: webapp-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: webapp
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: webapp
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: webapp
        image: devopsregistry01.azurecr.io/devops-webapp:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

Apply:

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

---

📄 Create Service

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: webapp-service
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: webapp
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 80

Apply:

kubectl apply -f service.yaml

---

🌍 Step 11: Access the Application

Get external IP:

kubectl get svc webapp-service

Example output:

EXTERNAL-IP: 20.xx.xx.xx

Open in browser:

http://<EXTERNAL-IP>

🎉 You should see:

Welcome to DevOps Demo App 🚀
Deployed using ACR & AKS

---

📊 Final Summary

Component	Name
Resource Group	demo-rg-devops
ACR	devopsregistry01
Image	devops-webapp:latest
AKS Cluster	devops-aks-cluster
Deployment	webapp-deployment
Service	webapp-service

---

⚠️ Common Issues & Fixes

❌ Image Pull Error

kubectl describe pod <pod-name>

✔ Fix: Ensure ACR is attached to AKS

---

❌ External IP Pending

✔ Wait 2–5 minutes (Azure LoadBalancer provisioning)

---

❌ Push Failed

✔ Ensure:

az acr login --name devopsregistry01

---

💡 Pro Tips

• Use az acr build to skip local Docker
• Enable autoscaling in AKS for production
• Use Helm charts for better deployments
• Integrate CI/CD (Azure DevOps / GitHub Actions)

---

🎯 Conclusion

You’ve successfully:

• Built a Docker image
• Stored it in ACR
• Deployed it to AKS
• Exposed it to the internet

This is the core DevOps pipeline used in real-world production environments.