In the past year, I have been working on improving our documentation and learning content for Windows containers – in addition to the blog posts you have seen here. Today, I wanted to spend some time on the new content available for Windows containers on Microsoft Learn:
New learning path: Deploy, manage, and monitor Windows containers on Azure Kubernetes Service
Learning paths are collections of Learn module designed to provide a guided learning experience on a specific topic. This new learning path is the first one dedicated to Windows containers. The path is composed of the following modules:
- Introduction to Docker containers
- Run containers on Windows Server
- Build a containerized web application with Docker
- Introduction to Kubernetes
- Introduction to Azure Kubernetes Service
- Manage Azure Kubernetes Service on Azure Stack HCI
- Deploy a containerized application on Azure Kubernetes Service
The above content can provide a learning experience for someone new to containers and Kubernetes to a place where they feel comfortable getting started, and get a good understanding of how the platform works. The modules include Windows containers and also the platform components so the learner gain a comprehensive understanding of how everything fits together. Note that we’ll continue to update the existing modules to include more Windows container goodness.
New learning module: Troubleshooting Windows Containers
This new module is fresh off the oven, and focus on post-deployment. While troubleshooting content is usually regarded as Level 300-400, this module is an entry level guidance on how troubleshooting applications and environments with Windows containers works. It assumes a reader knows how to troubleshoot Windows applications on VMs and takes the learner into the journey of understanding how troubleshooting Windows apps on Windows containers, Docker, and Kubernetes works. It also gives the reader the pointers to use native Azure services to troubleshoot Windows on Azure Kubernetes Service. The module is composed of the following units:
- Introduction
- Understanding the Windows container platform
- Troubleshooting Windows containers on Windows hosts
- Troubleshooting Windows containers on Docker
- Troubleshooting Windows containers on Azure Kubernetes Service
- Troubleshooting Windows containers with Azure Monitor
At the end of the module, we have a Knowledge Check that gives you XPs for your Microsoft Learn account.
Windows containers documentation
Overall, the Windows containers documentation has been getting updates constantly. In the past year, there are a few things that are worth checking out:
- Lift and Shift to Windows containers: This is a documentation page dedicated to customers planning their containerization process with Windows containers. If you have a Windows application that you are considering moving to container, this is your one stop shop for technical information. It covers what can and cannot be containerized, what are the considerations for containerization with Windows containers, and much more.
- What’s new for Windows Server 2022: Containers allow for a much simpler upgrade process, so it’s always good to know what’s new in the latest release of Windows containers. This page covers platform improvements, application compatibility, improved Kubernetes experience, and Windows container tooling.
- Prep Windows for containers: This is the main page on our documentation, but the reason I put it here is because there has been changes in the past year. Mainly, we now provide a new experience to install Docker CE/Moby, Mirantis Container Runtime, or ContainerD on Windows Server and Windows.
Tell us what you’d like to see!
This documentation and content effort is based on your feedback. If you’re working with Windows containers and would like to see more learning content, or a new set of documentation, please let us know! You can write to us in the comments below, or on the Windows containers GitHub repo.
