🌐 Create an Internet-Accessible Managed OpenShift Cluster Using the Azure Portal

🌐 Create an Internet-Accessible Managed OpenShift Cluster Using the Azure Portal

Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO) gives you a fully managed, enterprise-grade OpenShift cluster running natively on Microsoft Azure. It combines the power of OpenShift with the reliability and scalability of Azure—all while being supported jointly by Microsoft and Red Hat.

In this article, we’ll walk through how to create an internet-accessible OpenShift cluster using the Azure portal, and how to inspect the Azure resources that make it work behind the scenes.


🚀 What You'll Accomplish

  • Deploy an ARO cluster using the Azure portal (no CLI required)
  • Ensure public (internet) accessibility to the OpenShift console and APIs
  • Review and understand the Azure components provisioned during the deployment


🛠️ Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

  • An active Microsoft Azure subscription
  • Owner or Contributor access to a resource group
  • Resource provider registration for Microsoft.RedHatOpenShift
  • A virtual network (or permission to create one)

You don’t need to install the Azure CLI or OpenShift CLI for this walkthrough.


📦 Step 1: Create the ARO Cluster via Azure Portal

  1. Log into the Azure portal: https://portal.azure.com
  2. Navigate to Create a resource → Containers → Azure Red Hat OpenShift.
  3. Fill in the basic details:
  4. Choose Public under API Server Visibility and Ingress Visibility to make your cluster internet-accessible.
  5. Configure Node pools:
  6. Use an existing virtual network or let Azure create one for you.
  7. Review and create:


🌍 Access the OpenShift Console

Once deployed, go to the ARO cluster overview page in the Azure portal.

  • Copy the API server URL and Console URL
  • Click the OpenShift Console link (it opens in a new tab)
  • Log in using the cluster admin credentials Azure generated during setup


🔍 Inspecting Azure Resources Behind the Cluster

ARO provisions several Azure resources in the background. Here's what gets created:

1. Virtual Network and Subnets

  • ARO needs separate subnets for master and worker nodes.
  • Inspect this via Virtual networks → Subnets in the Azure portal.

2. Route Tables and Network Security Groups

  • To control traffic routing and firewall rules
  • Useful if you need to allow/deny specific IP ranges

3. Managed Resource Group

  • ARO creates a separate managed resource group (usually named like aro-xxxxx)
  • This contains:

You should not modify resources in the managed group directly, as it's controlled by ARO.

4. Monitoring & Logs

  • Azure Monitor integrates automatically with the cluster
  • Logs from worker nodes, networking, and system events are available


🧠 Good to Know

  • Billing: You're billed for both the ARO service and Azure infrastructure (VMs, disks, network).
  • Scaling: You can scale worker nodes up/down from the ARO console in Azure.
  • Security: Azure manages the control plane; you focus on workloads and access policies.


✅ Summary

With just a few clicks, you can deploy a secure, highly available, internet-facing OpenShift cluster in Azure using ARO. It's fully managed, production-ready, and integrated with Azure services. By exploring the underlying resources, you gain better visibility into how OpenShift operates in the cloud.

📌 Make your skill assessment here : https://lnkd.in/gPeRwj6T

📌 Get your free RHLS today : https://lnkd.in/gWnsbHRi

📌 To Register : https://lnkd.in/gTDVhwy9

📌 Visit Us : www.hawkstack.com


To view or add a comment, sign in

Others also viewed

Explore topics