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This simplified microservices reference project is intended as a learning guide: run the application locally with Docker Compose or Kubernetes, then work through what changes when preparing a deployment to Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). The project description presents it as a reference repository; verify its own README and manifests for the exact services, ports, and commands before running them.
What the project is for
A reference project is most useful when it makes the same application easy to follow across environments. Start by understanding how its components communicate and what configuration each runtime expects; then choose a local path that matches what you want to learn.
The project description characterizes this repository as a learning/reference project and mentions gateway, service-discovery, and messaging patterns. Those details should be treated as claims from the project description, not as independently verified features. Consult the repository’s own documentation to confirm its architecture and prerequisites.
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Choose a local run path
Docker Compose for a quick local workflow
Compose is a practical starting point when the goal is to build and test a multi-container application without first managing Kubernetes resources. Microsoft’s AKS preparation tutorial uses Docker Compose to run its own sample locally before moving on to registry and cluster deployment steps: Microsoft Learn: Tutorial—Prepare an application for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
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Use the Compose file and commands supplied by this project rather than assuming Microsoft’s sample layout applies. The Microsoft tutorial’s example includes RabbitMQ, order and product services, and a storefront; that is a separate sample, not evidence of this repository’s component list.
Kubernetes for learning cluster resources locally
Choose a local Kubernetes environment if you want to work with Kubernetes manifests and observe how services are deployed and connected using Kubernetes concepts. That path can expose differences from Compose earlier, but it also adds Kubernetes setup and resource management to the local workflow.
Compose and Kubernetes serve different orchestration contexts: Microsoft describes Compose as suitable for simple local orchestration and AKS as a managed Kubernetes service. See Azure Architecture Center: Microservices architecture on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Microsoft’s container orchestration guidance.
Move from local execution toward AKS
Running successfully on a developer machine is a useful milestone, not proof that the same configuration is ready for a cluster. Microsoft’s tutorial separates local build and test from the later steps that upload images to Azure Container Registry (ACR) and deploy to AKS. Treat these as distinct stages in the project workflow.
- Build and test locally. Use the project’s Compose or local Kubernetes instructions, then confirm the application behaves as expected.
- Prepare images for cluster use. Follow the project’s deployment instructions for publishing images to a registry such as ACR; verify that Kubernetes manifests refer to images the cluster can access.
- Review Kubernetes configuration. Check service exposure, health probes, secrets, storage, and image references against the target cluster rather than assuming local settings transfer unchanged.
- Deploy and validate on AKS. Follow the repository’s AKS-specific steps and test application behavior in the deployed environment.
Microsoft’s tutorial discusses tools including Kompose, Move2Kube, Docker Compose Bridge, and Podman for generating Kubernetes starting points from Compose-oriented configurations. Generated YAML is scaffolding: inspect and validate it, then adapt it for the intended cluster. A conversion does not establish that the result is secure, durable, or ready for production.
What to check when adapting configuration
- Storage: Decide how persistent data will be provided in the cluster. Microsoft’s AKS architecture guidance warns that node-local storage ties data to a node, which is a poor fit for persistent data in a microservices architecture.
- Secrets: Review how credentials and other sensitive values are supplied; do not assume local development settings are suitable for AKS.
- Service exposure: Confirm which services need to be reachable from outside the cluster and configure exposure accordingly.
- Health probes: Check that readiness and liveness behavior matches each service’s startup and failure behavior.
- Image references: Ensure the cluster can retrieve the intended image from the configured registry.
Which route fits your goal?
| Route | Best suited to | Main consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Docker Compose locally | Quick local build and test of the multi-container application | Compose configuration is not a finished AKS deployment |
| Local Kubernetes | Learning Kubernetes resources and deployment behavior before cloud deployment | Requires managing Kubernetes-specific resources during local iteration |
| Conversion tooling | Creating an initial Kubernetes manifest baseline from a Compose-oriented setup | Generated manifests still need review and environment-specific validation |
| AKS | Deploying the application to a managed Azure Kubernetes cluster | Requires cluster-appropriate registry, storage, secrets, probes, and exposure configuration |
Use the project as a learning path
For the shortest path to understanding application behavior, begin with the repository’s Compose instructions. To learn Kubernetes concepts as part of local iteration, use its Kubernetes path instead. In either case, keep the AKS work explicit: local execution, image publication, cluster-specific configuration, deployment, and validation are related steps, but they are not interchangeable.
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