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Deploying Self-Hosted Step Runners on Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Services (AKS)

A how-to guide on deploying Torq step runners into an AKS cluster.

Updated this week

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) manages your hosted Kubernetes environment, making it quick and easy to deploy and manage containerized applications without container orchestration expertise. It also eliminates the burden of ongoing operations and maintenance by provisioning, upgrading, and scaling resources on demand, without taking your applications offline.

If you don’t have an Azure Kubernetes cluster deployed, you’ll need to create one. If you already have one set up, you can skip to the Deploy Torq Step Runner section.

Create an Azure Kubernetes Cluster

  1. Log in to the Azure Portal, and navigate to Kubernetes services.

  2. Click Create and select Kubernetes Cluster.

  3. Walk through the configuration details, selecting applicable values:

    1. Basics

      1. Subscription: Select your applicable Azure subscription.

      2. Resource Group: Unless you have an existing resource group, click Create New and give it a name (such as "torq-runner-rg").

      3. Cluster Preset Configuration: Select a configuration that best meets your needs.

      4. Kubernetes Cluster Name: Give the cluster a name (such as "torq-runner").

      5. Region: Select the region in which you wish to run.

      6. Availability zones: Select one or more AZs.

      7. Kubernetes version, Automatic upgrade, Node security channel type, and Authentication and Authorization may be left as default.

      8. Click Next.

    2. Node Pools

      1. Ensure that a pool is defined. You should see an OS SKU of "Ubuntu." You may optionally adjust the node count to meet your requirements (such as reducing from the default 2-5 to 1-2 for dev deployments).

      2. Leave Enable virtual nodes and Node pool OS disk encryption at default.

      3. Click Next.

    3. Networking

      1. Configure to your requirements (or leave as default).

      2. Click Next.

    4. Integrations

      1. You can leave this with the default settings.

      2. Click Next.

    5. Monitoring

      1. Configure Monitoring to your requirements. We recommend enabling container logs.

      2. Click Next.

    6. Security

      1. You can leave this with the default settings.

      2. Click Next.

    7. Advanced

      1. You can leave this with the default settings.

      2. Click Next.

    8. Tags

      1. You may leave this with the default settings.

      2. Click Next.

    9. Review + create

      1. At this point, the wizard will check the settings. If it detects an issue, it will present a validation failure.

        • A common failure observed is Message: The zone(s) '1' for resource 'agentpool' is not supported. The supported zones for location 'eastus' are ''. Details:

          If you see this message, go back to the Basics page, click Availability Zones, uncheck then recheck the selected Availability zones, then click the Review + create button. It will reprocess your configuration and likely find no issues.

      2. Click Create. It will begin the deployment. Expect the deployment to take 5-10 minutes (or so).

  4. Once the deployment is complete, proceed to the next operation - deploying the Torq Step Runner.

Deploy Torq Step Runner

  1. Perform these steps in Torq:

    1. Navigate to Build > Integrations, then select Step Runner.

    2. Click Add Instance.

    3. Give the runner a name (and optional description). Ensure that the Kubernetes radio button is selected, then click Add.

    4. This will produce the step runner configuration command. You can copy the command and use it as-is, or customize your configuration per our advanced deployment instructions.

  2. In the Microsoft Azure Portal, navigate to Kubernetes services, then select the cluster onto which you wish to deploy the Torq step runner.

  3. Click Connect, ensure Cloud shell is selected, then click Open Cloud Shell.

  4. This will open a terminal window at the bottom of your browser window. Wait until the automatic actions complete before proceeding.

  5. Paste the command from step 1.d above (or your customized configuration).

    • This creates the requisite elements for the Step Runner deployment and activates your new Step Runner.

  6. Navigate back to Torq, and you should find the new Step Runner up and healthy.

Additional Resources

Related Articles
Explore Torq Steps: Workflow Building Blocks
Deploy Self-Hosted Step Runners for On-Premises Environments in Torq
Microsoft Sentinel
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