Kubernetes on EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service)

OPTION 1: Using eksctl (Recommended for Beginners)

Prerequisites

• AWS CLI configured (aws configure)
• eksctl installed → https://eksctl.io
• kubectl installed → Kubernetes CLI

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Step-by-Step

🔹 Step 1: Install eksctl (if not already)

🔹 Step 2: Create an EKS Cluster

eksctl create cluster \
  --name my-cluster \
  --region us-east-2 \
  --nodegroup-name linux-nodes \
  --node-type t3.medium \
  --nodes 2 \
  --nodes-min 1 \
  --nodes-max 3 \
  --managed

With autoscaling:

eksctl create cluster \
  --name my-cluster --version 1.33 \
  --region us-east-2 --nodegroup-name my-workers \
  --node-type t3.medium --nodes 2 --nodes-min 1 --nodes-max 3 \
  --managed --asg-access

It automatically sets up:

• EKS control plane
• EC2 worker nodes (managed node group)
• VPC, subnets, IAM roles
• Auth for kubectl

Step 3: Verify the Cluster

kubectl get nodes
kubectl get svc

You should see your nodes in Ready status.

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OPTION 2: Using AWS Console (UI)

Best for those who prefer GUI

1. Go to AWS Console → EKS → “Create cluster”

2. Configure:

   • Cluster name
   • Kubernetes version
   • Role (create one if needed)
   • VPC/Subnet settings

3. Create a Node Group (managed)

4. Connect using aws eks update-kubeconfig command to kubectl

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OPTION 3: Using Terraform (Infrastructure as Code)

Create EKS using Terraform (more complex, good for production/CI/CD).

What Gets Created?

• EKS Control Plane

  • Managed By: AWS (serverless)

• EC2 Nodes

  • Managed By: Your AWS account

• VPC, subnets

  • Managed By: Default or custom

• IAM roles & policies

  • Managed By: Needed for EKS and nodes

• kubectl access config

  • Managed By: Mapped in aws-auth ConfigMap

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IAM Permissions Required

You (or your CLI user) should have:

• eks:*
• ec2:*
• iam:*
• cloudformation:*
• autoscaling:*

Or use the pre-built AdministratorAccess policy.

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Cleanup

eksctl delete cluster --name my-cluster --region us-east-2