I'm unable to create a AKS Cluster as I'm using free student subscription.

Hello @Ragul Kumar,

This is a known limitation of the Azure for Students subscription.

For free Student subscriptions Microsoft does not allow quota increase requests. You get ∼4 vCPUs per region total, and if you try to create a default AKS cluster which needs 6 vCPUs [3 nodes x 2 vCPUs] it will fail instantly in every region.

You can't fix it by requesting quota, you have to make your AKS fit inside the quota you already have.

Here is how to get it working:

1. Create AKS with the smallest possible size Don't use the Portal defaults. Use CLI with 1 node and a burstable VM which is allowed on student subscriptions. Create a new Resource Group in the clean region you found: az group create -n rg-aks-student -l eastus az aks create \ --resource-group rg-aks-student \ --name aks-student-cluster \ --location eastus \ --node-count 1 \ --node-vm-size Standard_B2s \ --tier free \ --generate-ssh-keys \ --os-sku AzureLinux

Why this works:

• --node-count 1 = Only 2 vCPUs needed instead of 6
• --node-vm-size Standard_B2s = 2 vCPU, 4GB RAM, allowed on student sub. Do NOT use D2s_v3 or D4s_v3, they get blocked more often.
• --tier free = Free control plane, so you don't pay for management
• --os-sku AzureLinux = Lighter OS

If Standard_B2s still says Quota exceeded, try these sizes in order: Standard_B2ls_v2, Standard_B2s_v2, Standard_B1s - but B1s can fail for AKS because AKS needs minimum 2 vCPUs per node.

2. If it still fails
3. In Portal > Create AKS > Node pools > Change node count from 3 to 1
4. Change VM size to B2s manually
5. Disable auto-scaling

Since you can't increase quota on Student Free:

Option A: Run K3s inside 1 VM. Create 1 VM Standard_B2s and install k3s on it. It costs almost nothing and counts as 1 VM, not an AKS scale set.

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

Hope you can try with this options.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Up-Vote for the same. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

Refer to https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/discussions/microsoft-learn-for-educators/sku-quota-and-policy-restrictions-on-azure-for-students-and-free-subscriptions/4525160

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin