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airunway-aks-setup

Set up AI Runway on AKS — from bare cluster to running model. Covers cluster verification, controller install, GPU assessment, provider setup, and first deployment. WHEN: "setup AI Runway", "onboard AKS cluster", "install AI Runway", "airunway setup", "deploy model to AKS", "GPU inference on AKS", "KAITO setup on AKS", "run LLM on AKS", "vLLM on AKS", "set up model serving on AKS", "AI Runway controller".

Published by microsoft ↗microsoft/azure-skills

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airunway-aks-setup

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Use airunway-aks-setup to onboard [AKS cluster/context] to serve [model] with AI Runway, including GPU assessment and a provider recommendation; confirm cost implications before GPU provisioning and obtain confirmation before every install or deployment action.

Required inputs

  • [AKS cluster/context]
  • [model]

User-approved starter prompt based on a pinned source version; check current skill requirements before running. Task evidence ↗

SKILL.md

name: airunway-aks-setupdescription: "Set up AI Runway on AKS — from bare cluster to running model. Covers cluster verification, controller install, GPU assessment, provider setup, and first deployment. WHEN: \"setup AI Runway\", \"onboard AKS cluster\", \"install AI Runway\", \"airunway setup\", \"deploy model to AKS\", \"GPU inference on AKS\", \"KAITO setup on AKS\", \"run LLM on AKS\", \"vLLM on AKS\", \"set up model serving on AKS\", \"AI Runway controller\"."license: MITmetadata:   author: Microsoft  version: "1.1.2"argument-hint: "[skip-to-step N]"

AI Runway AKS Setup

This skill walks users from a bare Kubernetes cluster to a running AI model deployment. Follow each step in sequence unless the user provides skip-to-step N to resume from a specific phase.

Cost awareness: GPU node pools incur significant compute charges (A100-80GB can cost $3–5+/hr). Confirm the user understands cost implications before provisioning GPU resources.

Prerequisites

This skill assumes an AKS cluster already exists. If the user does not have a cluster, hand off to the azure-kubernetes skill first to provision one (with a GPU node pool unless CPU-only inference is acceptable), then return here.

Quick Reference

PropertyValue
Best forEnd-to-end AI Runway onboarding on AKS
CLI toolskubectl, make, curl
MCP toolsNone
Related skillsazure-kubernetes (cluster setup), azure-diagnostics (baseline troubleshooting), optional aks-gpu-inference (existing GPU/inference Day-2 incidents only)

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:

  • Set up AI Runway on an existing AKS cluster from scratch
  • Install the AI Runway controller and CRDs
  • Assess GPU hardware compatibility for model deployment
  • Choose and install an inference provider (KAITO, Dynamo, KubeRay)
  • Deploy their first AI model to AKS via AI Runway
  • Resume a partially-complete AI Runway setup from a specific step

GPU setup versus Day-2 incidents

Keep initial GPU node-pool, provider, controller, and model setup in this skill. For an incident affecting an existing GPU or inference deployment, load optional-gpu-day2.md before deciding whether to offer the focused optional add-on.

MCP Tools

This skill uses no MCP tools. All cluster operations are performed directly via kubectl and make.

Rules

  1. Execute steps in sequence — load the reference for each step as you reach it
  2. Report cluster state at each step: ✓ healthy, ✗ missing/failed
  3. Ask for user confirmation before any install or deployment action
  4. If a step is already complete, report status and skip to the next step
  5. If the user provides skip-to-step N, start at step N; assume prior steps are complete

Steps

#StepReference
1Cluster Verification — context check, node inventory, GPU detectionstep-1-verify.md
2Controller Installation — CRD + controller deploymentstep-2-controller.md
3GPU Assessment — detect GPU models, flag dtype/attention constraintsstep-3-gpu.md
4Provider Setup — recommend and install inference providerstep-4-provider.md
5First Deployment — pick a model, deploy, verify Readystep-5-deploy.md
6Summary — recap, smoke test, next stepsstep-6-summary.md

Error Handling

Error / SymptomLikely CauseRemediation
No kubeconfig contextNot connected to a clusterRun az aks get-credentials or equivalent
Controller in CrashLoopBackOffConfig or RBAC issuekubectl logs -n airunway-system -l control-plane=controller-manager --previous
Provider not readyImage pull or RBAC issuekubectl logs <pod-name> -n <namespace> for the provider pod
ModelDeployment stuck in PendingGPU scheduling failure or provider not readykubectl describe modeldeployment <name> -n <namespace> events
bfloat16 errors at inferenceT4 or V100 lacks bfloat16 supportAdd --dtype float16 to serving args

For full error handling and rollback procedures, see troubleshooting.md.