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Azure Container Instances (ACI): A Complete Guide

Name: Azure Container Instances (ACI): A Complete Guide
Rating: 4.8 (55 reviews)

A Comprehensive and Practical Course: Containers, Networking, Security, Storage, Monitoring, HA, AKS, ACR and others

Highest Rated

Created bycourscape.com by Andrei Barbu | Microsoft employee working daily with AKS, ARO, ACI, ACR

Last updated 8/2025

English

What you'll learn

Containerization basics
What Azure Container Instances (ACI) is, related terminologies and general best practices
How to deploy and configure containers running in ACI
How to configure the networking, security, identity, governance and storage in ACI
Integration with other Azure services like AKS and ACR
How to monitor and troubleshoot ACI
Configuration for reliability and high availability (HA)

Course content

12 sections • 81 lectures • 8h 25m total length

Introduction about instructor and course8:12
Introduce the instructor and outline the Azure Container Instances course, covering containers vs virtual machines, docker basics, registries, container groups, and deployment options with the Azure CLI and Azure Portal.
Good to know / Recommended background2:58
Explore the essential background for mastering Azure container instances, covering containerization basics, registries, images, Docker, Linux fundamentals, networking including DNS, and Azure basics, with a start-and-adapt approach.
Connect with me

What is a container and how is it different from a VM?9:03
Microservices architecture2:10
Install Docker and Azure CLI on an Ubuntu VM and other considerations7:45
What are Docker, Dockerfile, and Docker Hub?7:14
Explore how Docker enables containerized apps through Dockerfile-driven image builds and container runtimes, and how Docker Hub serves as a registry for storing and sharing images.
Create our 1st container (web app), push it to Docker Hub and run it7:12
Create and containerize a simple web site using Nginx Alpine. Build and push the image to Docker Hub, then run it locally with port 80 mapping and verify with curl.
Create our 2nd container (troubleshooting app), push it to Docker Hub and run it6:32
Understand registry and image related terminologies8:56
Explore registry, repository, image, artifact, tag, layer, manifest, digest, and their interrelations, including namespaces and how containers are built from layered images.
Why we need a serverless solution, like Azure Container Instances (ACI)4:03

What are Azure Container Instances (ACI)?4:56
Container groups in Azure Container Instances5:53
Resource availability, quota limits and other considerations for ACI6:56
Azure free account and ACI pricing6:21
Container registries that are available and compatible for deploying to ACI5:33
Available options to deploy an ACI and discover Azure Cloud Shell6:24
Deploy an ACI with a quick image using the Azure Portal3:28
Deploy an Azure Container Instances container using the portal with a quickstart image, creating a resource group, selecting a hello world image, and configuring a public IP and port 80.
Deploy an ACI with an image from a Docker Hub repo using the Azure CLI3:08
Deploy an Azure container instance container group with a Docker Hub image using the Azure CLI, configure a DNS name label and port 80, and view details in the portal.
Deploy an ACI with an image from a private Docker Hub repo using Azure Bicep5:41
Docker - ACI integration deprecation0:18
Deploy an ACI with an image from MCR using the Docker CLI3:23
Log in to Azure via Docker CLI, create a Docker context, and deploy an ACI from an MCR image with port 80 mapped; monitor via the portal IP.
Image updated for the next lesson: Deploy a multi-container group using YAML0:15
Deploy a multi-container group using YAML1:47
Deploy a multi-container group using an ARM template1:45
Explore an Azure Container Instance3:09
Navigate the Azure container instances blades to inspect container groups, view general information and metrics, manage access with RBAC, view logs, and use templates and Logic Apps for automation.
Explore container logs and events in ACI8:04
Connect to or execute a command in a container5:41
Stop, start, and restart ACI6:28
Stop, start, and restart a container group to manage workloads and costs. Restart policy settings determine behavior, and you cannot start only one container in a multi-container group.
Understand and use restart policies in ACI14:25
Understand ACI states8:35
Identify container group states in Azure container instances, including running, stopped, pending, and succeeded, across various restart policies. Learn to read the JSON view for current, previous, and provisioning states.
Understand Windows support and deploy a Windows ACI5:21
Deploy a GPU ACI6:22
Export a container group's configuration in YAML or JSON format3:08
Starting with Azure Container Instances (ACI) - Quiz

What is Azure Container Registry (ACR)?4:37
Create an Azure Container Registry (ACR) and push/import images into it3:48
Deploy from ACR using the admin user5:04
Deploy an application to Azure container instances using the Azure admin user credentials, enabling admin access in the registry to pull images from ECR, though not the most secure method.
Deploy from ACR using an AAD service principal6:50
Deploy from ACR using an AAD service principal with credentials in Key Vault5:30
Deploy from ACR using a Managed Identity7:52
Automate ACI deployments and updates with ACR Task, ACR Webhook and Logic Apps19:21
Deploy from Azure Container Registry (ACR) - Quiz

Understand ACI deployment in an Azure Virtual Network / Subnet10:16
Deploy ACI in Azure Virtual Network / Subnet8:04
Understand and use VNET peering6:08
Control outbound and inbound traffic using a Network Security Group (NSG)11:14
Default outbound access in Azure2:45
Configure a NAT gateway for static IP address for ACI outbound traffic9:52
Configure Azure nat gateway to provide a static outbound ip for aci outbound traffic, enabling secure egress for the container group while hiding internal ips from the public internet.
Set a single public IP for outbound and inbound ACI traffic with Azure Firewall15:04
Expose a static IP address for ACI with Application Gateway9:03
Expose an application running in a public ACI using your own domain6:10
Expose a simple website in a public Azure container instance by linking your own domain through a DNS zone, GoDaddy name servers, and an A record to the public IP.
Expose a private ACI on HTTPS via Application Gateway using your own domain8:02
Understand and use DNS name reuse policy9:46
Networking in Azure Container Instances (ACI) - Quiz

Use managed identities with ACI6:48
Demonstrate using a system assigned managed identity in Azure Container Instances to authenticate via Azure AD, grant storage blob data reader access, and download a file from a storage account.
Understand dedicated hosts in ACI2:29
Understand and deploy a confidential ACI5:47
Scan container images using Microsoft Defender for Containers11:38
Learn how Microsoft Defender for Containers scans container images for vulnerabilities stored in Azure Container Registry, using the Qualys scanner, with remediation recommendations and hardening guidance.
Implement policies for ACI with Azure Policy7:45
Identity, Security and Governance in Azure Container Instances (ACI) - Quiz

Activity logs in ACI4:16
Metrics Explorer in ACI4:19
Store ACI logs and events in Azure Monitor using Log Analytics Workspace7:36
Store ACI logs and events in Azure Monitor using a Log Analytics workspace to enable scalable querying, visualization, and troubleshooting for performance analysis across container groups.
Understand Alerts in Azure2:01
Create a metrics-based alert5:19
Create a log-based alert5:08
Monitor and troubleshoot Azure Container Instances (ACI) - Quiz

Requirements

It is good to have basic knowledge of Containerization, Linux, Networking, and Azure, but I am explaining most of the concepts at specific points during the course

Description

Welcome to the comprehensive and practical course on Azure Container Instances (ACI)! In this course, you will learn all about Azure's lightweight and serverless container solution that allows you to run Docker containers without the need to manage underlying infrastructure.

Whether you are new to containerization or an experienced developer, this course will provide you with a solid understanding of ACI's core concepts, deployment options, and integration with other Azure services. You will delve into topics such as container deployment, configuration, integration with other services like Azure Container Registry (ACR) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), networking, identity, security, governance, storage, monitoring, troubleshooting, reliability, and high availability within the ACI environment.

By the end of this course, you will have the knowledge and skills to leverage Azure Container Instances effectively, enabling you to deploy and manage containers quickly and professionally in the cloud. Join us now and take a leap forward in your journey towards mastering containerization with Azure.

Key Topics Covered:

Starting with Azure Container Instances (ACI)

Deploying and managing containers in ACI

Networking and security options in ACI including Azure VNET, NSG, NAT Gateway, Azure Firewall, Application Gateway, Azure Front Door

Exposing applications running in ACI using built-in and custom domains and via HTTPS

Monitoring and troubleshooting ACI

Storage and volumes in ACI

Integrating ACI with other Azure services like Azure Container Registry (ACR) and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Reliability and High Availability in ACI

Enroll now and unlock the power of Azure Container Instances for your container deployments!

Who this course is for:

Anyone that is new to container world
Developers or users looking for a simple, serverless solution to run containerized applications in Azure
Cloud architects who want to understand the benefits and limitations of Azure Container Instances and how it fits into their cloud architecture or how to integrate it with other Azure services, like Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) or Azure Container Registry (ACR)
IT professionals or administrators that want to learn how to configure networking, security, storage, HA and others in Azure Container Instances
Anyone who is interested in learning about containerization and how to deploy containerized applications on Azure using Azure Container Instances, regardless of their technical background
Anyone who is looking to learn a new skill

Azure Container Instances (ACI): A Complete Guide

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction3 lectures • 11min

Understanding containers, images and registries8 lectures • 53min

Starting with Azure Container Instances (ACI)23 lectures • 1hr 57min

Other configurations for containers in Azure Container Instances (ACI)7 lectures • 44min

Deploy from Azure Container Registry (ACR)7 lectures • 53min

Networking in Azure Container Instances (ACI)11 lectures • 1hr 36min

Identity, Security and Governance in Azure Container Instances (ACI)5 lectures • 34min

Storage and volumes in Azure Container Instances (ACI)4 lectures • 26min

Monitor and troubleshoot Azure Container Instances (ACI)6 lectures • 29min

Use ACI in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): Virtual nodes addon3 lectures • 18min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: