]If you’re aiming to learn OpenShift without having a Red Hat subscription and want to deploy it on Azure using Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO), you’re in a great spot. ARO doesn’t require a separate Red Hat license — everything is billed through Azure pay-as-you-go. Let’s walk through it step by step.

✅ Prerequisites

📦 Step 1: Install Required Tools

A. Install Azure CLI

brew install azure-cli

B. Login to Azure

az login

C. Install ARO CLI Extension

az extension add --name aro
az extension update --name aro

📍 Step 2: Set Up Azure Resources

A. Set variables (use your own values)

RESOURCEGROUP=aro-rg
LOCATION=eastus
VNET=aro-vnet
CLUSTER=aro-cluster
ARO_SUBNET=aro-subnet
WORKER_SUBNET=worker-subnet

B. Create Resource Group

az group create --name $RESOURCEGROUP --location $LOCATION
Code language: PHP (php)

C. Create Virtual Network and Subnets

az network vnet create \
  --resource-group $RESOURCEGROUP \
  --name $VNET \
  --address-prefixes 10.0.0.0/22 \
  --subnet-name $ARO_SUBNET \
  --subnet-prefix 10.0.0.0/23

az network vnet subnet create \
  --resource-group $RESOURCEGROUP \
  --vnet-name $VNET \
  --name $WORKER_SUBNET \
  --address-prefixes 10.0.2.0/23
Code language: PHP (php)

🔐 Step 3: Register Required Azure Providers

az provider register -n Microsoft.RedHatOpenShift
az provider register -n Microsoft.Authorization
az provider register -n Microsoft.Network
az provider register -n Microsoft.Compute
az provider register -n Microsoft.Storage
Code language: CSS (css)

Wait for a few minutes until all are registered.

🚀 Step 4: Create the ARO Cluster

az aro create \
  --resource-group $RESOURCEGROUP \
  --name $CLUSTER \
  --vnet $VNET \
  --master-subnet $ARO_SUBNET \
  --worker-subnet $WORKER_SUBNET
Code language: PHP (php)

This will take 35–45 minutes.

🔐 Step 5: Get Cluster Credentials and Access Console

Get Admin Credentials:

az aro list-credentials --name $CLUSTER --resource-group $RESOURCEGROUP
Code language: PHP (php)

Get Console URL:

az aro show --name $CLUSTER --resource-group $RESOURCEGROUP --query "consoleProfile.url" -o tsv
Code language: PHP (php)

You can now log in with the kubeadmin username and the password provided.

✅ Clean Up (After 12 hours)

To delete the cluster and avoid cost:

az aro delete --name $CLUSTER --resource-group $RESOURCEGROUP
az group delete --name $RESOURCEGROUP --yes --no-wait
Code language: PHP (php)

💰 ARO Cost Estimate for 12 Hours

✅ Red Hat licensing is included automatically in Azure pricing.

🧠 Bonus: No Red Hat Account Needed

• You do not need to register with Red Hat or bring a license
• You do not need to download a pull secret
• ARO is fully managed and billed by Azure

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.