Using WSL 2 on Windows Server 2022 to run Linux containers
Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 (WSL 2) is one of the most popular features for developers on Windows 10 and 11. It has recently been made available on Windows Server 2022. With this addition, you can now run Linux containers on WSL 2 on Windows Server 2022 for development and testing purposes.Announcing the ITOpsTalk GitHub repo – A central location for IT/Ops related samples
Today we’re happy to announce the launch of the ITOpsTalk GitHub repo – a place on which the Modern Infrastructure Cloud Advocates team will host Infrastructure samples for anything related to Azure Infrastructure, Hybrid, Windows Server, Containers, etc. GitHub has become the central location for open-source projects, samples, and even content – but primarily focused on developers. This new repository will focus on you: The ITPro/Ops person managing the environment in your company, keeping the lights on, supporting end-users or other IT teams.Everything you need to know about containerizing existing apps on Windows
It’s been almost 7 years since we released the first version of Windows containers on Windows Server 2016. I was there to watch the launch and remember even the early adopter versions. So much has changed since then. However, there’s one thing customers have asked since then that we haven’t really addressed in writing – A complete guide on what can be containerized on Windows containers.Reducing costs for Windows workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service with Azure Hybrid Benefits
Happy new year everyone! What better way to get the year started than saving some money, right? Last year, as customers continued to move their Windows workloads to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and evolve these deployments, they started to explore cost saving strategies. Granted, there are many ways to save costs when running in the cloud and especially when it comes to AKS as you can scale up or down and in or out, reduce the size of your deployment, replicas, node size, and more. However, for Windows workloads, one of the simplest ways to save is by leveraging the Azure Hybrid Benefit.5 tips for IIS on containers: Bonus – IIS remote management
While the intent with the Microsoft Ignite session and this blog series was to provide 5 tips for running IIS workloads on Windows containers, we could not leave this one out – so here’s a bonus blog post for you! Many times when containerizing an existing application with Windows containers, you’ll get caught on the process of writing a Docker file, to then build a container image, to then run a new container, to then test if the application work… and if it fails, you have to start all over: re-write your Docker file, then build a container image, then run a new container, then test if the application work. Depending on how complex your application is structured, this will be a tedious process. To solve that, sometimes all you need is to open the IIS MMC console and check how the configuration of your website is showing up. However, the IIS remote management is not available on Windows containers. Since this is just an additional feature, all you have to do is to enable it. Before we get started though, keep in mind this is something you can use while developing/testing your application. This should not be used in production.5 tips for IIS on containers: #3 Hardcoded configuration
We’re getting into the third topic of our blog post series about IIS on Windows containers. In case you missed, check out the blog on SSL certificate lifecycle management and IIS app pools and websites. Today, we’re covering hardcoded configurations on IIS. This blog post covers the concept on IIS, but the idea is that any type of workload going into a container and running at scale on a Kubernetes environment should follow these best practices.Upgrading your container app from Windows Server 2019 to 2022 on Azure Kubernetes Service
If you’ve been playing with containers, the thought of upgrading to a new OS version might seem way too simple: Isn’t it just change the FROM statement on my docker file? You’d think so, right? In reality, moving from one version of Windows to the next on a managed K8s cluster, such as Azure Kubernetes Service, requires you to look at many other aspects. From a Kubernetes standpoint you need to ensure docker file, node pool, node selector, and yaml files are correctly configured. However, from an application lifecycle standpoint, there’s much more to look at: Active Directory (gMSA) integration, node pool access on other resources, Azure Key Vault integration, just to name a few. In this blog post we will cover some of these aspects so you can properly plan your upgrade from Windows Server 2019 to Windows Server 2022 on AKS.
