# Setting up ExternalDNS for Services on Azure

This tutorial describes how to setup ExternalDNS for usage within a Kubernetes cluster on Azure.

Make sure to use **>=0.5.7** version of ExternalDNS for this tutorial.

This tutorial uses [Azure CLI 2.0](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli) for all
Azure commands and assumes that the Kubernetes cluster was created via Azure Container Services and `kubectl` commands
are being run on an orchestration master.

## Creating an Azure DNS zone

The Azure provider for ExternalDNS will find suitable zones for domains it manages; it will
not automatically create zones.

For this tutorial, we will create a Azure resource group named 'externaldns' that can easily be deleted later:

```
$ az group create -n externaldns -l eastus
```

Substitute a more suitable location for the resource group if desired.

Next, create a Azure DNS zone for "example.com":

```
$ az network dns zone create -g externaldns -n example.com
```

Substitute a domain you own for "example.com" if desired.

If using your own domain that was registered with a third-party domain registrar, you should point your domain's
name servers to the values in the `nameServers` field from the JSON data returned by the `az network dns zone create` command.
Please consult your registrar's documentation on how to do that.

## Permissions to modify DNS zone
External-DNS needs permissions to make changes in the Azure DNS server. These permissions are defined in a Service Principal that should be made available to External-DNS as a configuration file.

The Azure DNS provider expects, by default, that the configuration file is at `/etc/kubernetes/azure.json`.  This can be overridden with the `--azure-config-file` option when starting ExternalDNS.

### Creating configuration file
The preferred way to inject the configuration file is by using a Kubernetes secret. The secret should contain an object named azure.json with content similar to this: 

```json
{
  "tenantId": "01234abc-de56-ff78-abc1-234567890def",
  "subscriptionId": "01234abc-de56-ff78-abc1-234567890def",
  "resourceGroup": "MyDnsResourceGroup",
  "aadClientId": "01234abc-de56-ff78-abc1-234567890def",
  "aadClientSecret": "uKiuXeiwui4jo9quae9o"
}
```

You can find the `tenantId` by running `az account show --query "tenantId"` or by selecting Azure Active Directory in the Azure Portal and checking the _Directory ID_ under Properties.

You can find the `subscriptionId` by running `az account show --query "id"` or by selecting Subscriptions in the Azure Portal.

The `resourceGroup` is the Resource Group created in a previous step. 

The `aadClientID` and `aaClientSecret` are assoiated with the Service Principal, that you need to create next.

### Creating service principal
A Service Principal with a minimum access level of `contributor` to the DNS zone(s) and `reader` to the resource group containing the Azure DNS zone(s) is necessary for ExternalDNS to be able to edit DNS records. However, other more permissive access levels will work too (e.g. `contributor` to the resource group or the whole subscription). 

This is an Azure CLI example on how to query the Azure API for the information required for the Resource Group and DNS zone you would have already created in previous steps.

``` bash
> az login
```

Find the relevant subscription and make sure it is selected (the same subscriptionId should be set into azure.json)

``` bash
> az account list
{
    "cloudName": "AzureCloud",
    "id": "<subscriptionId GUID>",
    "isDefault": false,
    "name": "My Subscription",
    "state": "Enabled",
    "tenantId": "AzureAD tenant ID",
    "user": {
      "name": "name",
      "type": "user"
}

# select the subscription
> az account set -s <subscriptionId GUID>
...
```
Create the service principal

``` bash
> az ad sp create-for-rbac -n ExternalDnsServicePrincipal
{
  "appId": "appId GUID",  <-- aadClientId value
  ...
  "password": "password",  <-- aadClientSecret value
  "tenant": "AzureAD Tenant Id"  <-- tenantId value
}
```

Assign the rights for the service principal

```
# find out the resource ids of the resource group where the dns zone is deployed, and the dns zone itself
> az group show --name externaldns
{
  "id": "/subscriptions/id/resourceGroups/externaldns",
  ...
}

> az network dns zone show --name example.com -g externaldns
{
  "id": "/subscriptions/.../resourceGroups/externaldns/providers/Microsoft.Network/dnszones/example.com",
  ...
}
```
```
# assign the rights to the created service principal, using the resource ids from previous step

# 1. as a reader to the resource group
> az role assignment create --role "Reader" --assignee <appId GUID> --scope <resource group resource id>  

# 2. as a contributor to DNS Zone itself
> az role assignment create --role "Contributor" --assignee <appId GUID> --scope <dns zone resource id>  

```

Now you can create a file named 'azure.json' with values gathered above and with the structure of the example above. Use this file to create a Kubernetes secret:

```
$ kubectl create secret generic azure-config-file --from-file=/local/path/to/azure.json
```

### Azure Managed Service Identity (MSI)

If [Azure Managed Service Identity (MSI)](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/managed-service-identity/overview) is enabled for virtual machines, then there is no need to create separate service principal.

The contents of `azure.json` should be similar to this:

```json
{
  "tenantId": "01234abc-de56-ff78-abc1-234567890def",
  "subscriptionId": "01234abc-de56-ff78-abc1-234567890def",
  "resourceGroup": "MyDnsResourceGroup",
  "useManagedIdentityExtension": true
}
```

If you have all the information necessary: create a file called azure.json containing the json structure above and substitute the values. Otherwise create a service principal as previously shown before creating the Kubernetes secret.

Then add the secret to the Kubernetes cluster before continuing:
```
kubectl create secret generic azure-config-file --from-file=azure.json
```


## Deploy ExternalDNS

This deployment assumes that you will be using nginx-ingress. When using nginx-ingress do not deploy it as a Daemon Set. This causes nginx-ingress to write the Cluster IP of the backend pods in the ingress status.loadbalancer.ip property which then has external-dns write the Cluster IP(s) in DNS vs. the nginx-ingress service external IP.

Ensure that your nginx-ingress deployment has the following arg: added to it:

```
- --publish-service=namespace/nginx-ingress-controller-svcname
```

For more details see here: [nginx-ingress external-dns](https://github.com/kubernetes-incubator/external-dns/blob/master/docs/faq.md#why-is-externaldns-only-adding-a-single-ip-address-in-route-53-on-aws-when-using-the-nginx-ingress-controller-how-do-i-get-it-to-use-the-fqdn-of-the-elb-assigned-to-my-nginx-ingress-controller-service-instead)

Connect your `kubectl` client to the cluster you want to test ExternalDNS with.
Then apply one of the following manifests file to deploy ExternalDNS.

### Manifest (for clusters without RBAC enabled)
```yaml
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: external-dns
spec:
  strategy:
    type: Recreate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: external-dns
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: external-dns
        image: registry.opensource.zalan.do/teapot/external-dns:latest
        args:
        - --source=service
        - --source=ingress
        - --domain-filter=example.com # (optional) limit to only example.com domains; change to match the zone created above.
        - --provider=azure
        - --azure-resource-group=externaldns # (optional) use the DNS zones from the tutorial's resource group
        volumeMounts:
        - name: azure-config-file
          mountPath: /etc/kubernetes
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
      - name: azure-config-file
        secret:
          secretName: azure-config-file
```

### Manifest (for clusters with RBAC enabled, cluster access)
```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: external-dns
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: ClusterRole
metadata:
  name: external-dns
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["services"]
  verbs: ["get","watch","list"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods"]
  verbs: ["get","watch","list"]
- apiGroups: ["extensions"] 
  resources: ["ingresses"] 
  verbs: ["get","watch","list"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["nodes"]
  verbs: ["list"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: ClusterRoleBinding
metadata:
  name: external-dns-viewer
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: ClusterRole
  name: external-dns
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: external-dns
  namespace: default
---
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: external-dns
spec:
  strategy:
    type: Recreate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: external-dns
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: external-dns
      containers:
      - name: external-dns
        image: registry.opensource.zalan.do/teapot/external-dns:latest
        args:
        - --source=service
        - --source=ingress
        - --domain-filter=example.com # (optional) limit to only example.com domains; change to match the zone created above.
        - --provider=azure
        - --azure-resource-group=externaldns # (optional) use the DNS zones from the tutorial's resource group
        volumeMounts:
        - name: azure-config-file
          mountPath: /etc/kubernetes
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
      - name: azure-config-file
        secret:
          secretName: azure-config-file
```

### Manifest (for clusters with RBAC enabled, namespace access)
This configuration is the same as above, except it only requires privileges for the current namespace, not for the whole cluster.
However, access to [nodes](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/architecture/nodes/) requires cluster access, so when using this manifest,
services with type `NodePort` will be skipped!

```yaml
apiVersion: v1
kind: ServiceAccount
metadata:
  name: external-dns
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: Role
metadata:
  name: external-dns
rules:
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["services"]
  verbs: ["get","watch","list"]
- apiGroups: [""]
  resources: ["pods"]
  verbs: ["get","watch","list"]
- apiGroups: ["extensions"]
  resources: ["ingresses"]
  verbs: ["get","watch","list"]
---
apiVersion: rbac.authorization.k8s.io/v1beta1
kind: RoleBinding
metadata:
  name: external-dns
roleRef:
  apiGroup: rbac.authorization.k8s.io
  kind: Role
  name: external-dns
subjects:
- kind: ServiceAccount
  name: external-dns
---
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: external-dns
spec:
  strategy:
    type: Recreate
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: external-dns
    spec:
      serviceAccountName: external-dns
      containers:
      - name: external-dns
        image: registry.opensource.zalan.do/teapot/external-dns:latest
        args:
        - --source=service
        - --source=ingress
        - --domain-filter=example.com # (optional) limit to only example.com domains; change to match the zone created above.
        - --provider=azure
        - --azure-resource-group=externaldns # (optional) use the DNS zones from the tutorial's resource group
        volumeMounts:
        - name: azure-config-file
          mountPath: /etc/kubernetes
          readOnly: true
      volumes:
      - name: azure-config-file
        secret:
          secretName: azure-config-file
```

Create the deployment for ExternalDNS:

```
$ kubectl create -f externaldns.yaml
```

## Deploying an Nginx Service

Create a service file called 'nginx.yaml' with the following contents:

```yaml
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx
spec:
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
      - image: nginx
        name: nginx
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginx-svc
spec:
  ports:
  - port: 80
    protocol: TCP
    targetPort: 80
  selector:
    app: nginx
  type: ClusterIP
  
---
apiVersion: extensions/v1beta1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: nginx
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: nginx
spec:
  rules:
  - host: server.example.com
    http:
      paths:
      - backend:
          serviceName: nginx-svc
          servicePort: 80
        path: /
```

When using external-dns with ingress objects it will automatically create DNS records based on host names specified in ingress objects that match the domain-filter argument in the external-dns deployment manifest. When those host names are removed or renamed the corresponding DNS records are also altered.

Create the deployment, service and ingress object:

```
$ kubectl create -f nginx.yaml
```

Since your external IP would have already been assigned to the nginx-ingress service, the DNS records pointing to the IP of the nginx-ingress service should be created within a minute. 

## Verifying Azure DNS records

Run the following command to view the A records for your Azure DNS zone:

```
$ az network dns record-set a list -g externaldns -z example.com
```

Substitute the zone for the one created above if a different domain was used.

This should show the external IP address of the service as the A record for your domain ('@' indicates the record is for the zone itself).

## Delete Azure Resource Group

Now that we have verified that ExternalDNS will automatically manage Azure DNS records, we can delete the tutorial's
resource group:

```
$ az group delete -n externaldns
```