Create Amazon EKS Cluster using eksctl

Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for container orchestration, and Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) is one of the most popular managed Kubernetes services available. While you can manually create and configure an EKS cluster using the AWS Management Console or the AWS CLI, eksctl simplifies this process significantly. In this blog, we'll explore how to create a Kubernetes cluster using eksctl, what eksctl does in the background, its architecture, and how to set it up.

What is eksctl?

eksctl is a command-line tool that simplifies the process of creating and managing Kubernetes clusters on Amazon EKS. Developed by Weaveworks, eksctl is designed to provide a simple and easy way to work with EKS clusters. With just a few commands, you can create, update, and delete clusters, making it an invaluable tool for developers and operations teams alike.

Key Features of eksctl:

• Cluster Creation: Create fully configured EKS clusters with a single command.

• Node Management: Easily manage the worker nodes in your cluster.

• Add-ons Management: Install common Kubernetes add-ons like the AWS Load Balancer Controller.

• Cluster Upgrades: Upgrade the EKS cluster and its node groups with minimal effort.

• Configuration Management: Use YAML configuration files for reproducibility and version control.

Setting Up eksctl

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

1. AWS CLI: The AWS Command Line Interface must be configured with appropriate IAM permissions.

2. kubectl: The Kubernetes command-line tool to interact with your cluster.

3. eksctl: Install eksctl by following the instructions on the official eksctl GitHub repository.

Creating a Kubernetes Cluster

With eksctl, creating a Kubernetes cluster is straightforward. Here’s a step-by-step guide:

1. Configure AWS CLI: Make sure you have configured your AWS CLI with aws configure. Enter your Access Key ID, Secret Access Key, region, and output format. Remember you would need IAM Role with below minimum permission,

   | AWS Service | Access Level | | --- | --- | | CloudFormation | Full Access | | EC2 | Full: Tagging Limited: List, Read, Write | | EC2 Auto Scaling | Limited: List, Write | | EKS | Full Access | | IAM | Limited: List, Read, Write, Permissions Management | | Systems Manager | Limited: List, Read |

2. Install KUBECTL: Install kubectl usin below command, to set up eksctl

    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl gnupg
    curl -fsSL https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.31/deb/Release.key | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg
    sudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg
    echo 'deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/kubernetes-apt-keyring.gpg] https://pkgs.k8s.io/core:/stable:/v1.31/deb/ /' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list
    sudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kubernetes.list   
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install -y kubectl
   

   You can check kubectl installed version using below command,

   

3. Install EKSCTL: Install eksctl using below command, to set up eksctl

    ARCH=amd64
    PLATFORM=$(uname -s)_$ARCH
   
    curl -sLO "https://github.com/eksctl-io/eksctl/releases/latest/download/eksctl_$PLATFORM.tar.gz"
    curl -sL "https://github.com/eksctl-io/eksctl/releases/latest/download/eksctl_checksums.txt" | grep $PLATFORM | sha256sum --check
   
    tar -xzf eksctl_$PLATFORM.tar.gz -C /tmp && rm eksctl_$PLATFORM.tar.gz
    sudo mv /tmp/eksctl /usr/local/bin
   

   Once done, check if installation is completed using eksctl version command.

4. Create a Cluster: You can create a cluster using a single command. Here’s an example:

    eksctl create cluster -n test-cluster -r ap-south-1 --nodegroup-name test-ng -t t2.micro -m 2 -M 3 --vpc-cidr 10.10.0.0/16
   

   This command does the following:

   • Creates an EKS cluster named test-cluster.

   • Deploys it in the ap-south-1 region.

   • Sets up a node group name test-ng with min 2 and max 3 nodes.

   • Create VPC range from 10.10.0.0/16

   • Node type set to t2.micro

5. Wait for Completion: The command will take several minutes as eksctl provisions the necessary resources in AWS. You can monitor the progress in your terminal.

   

   If you want to update kubectl file type below command,

    aws eks update-kubeconfig --region ap-south-1 --name test-cluster
   

6. Configure kubectl: After the cluster is created, eksctl automatically configures your kubectl context. You can verify your connection with:

    kubectl get all
   

   

   Using this command, you can get list of all resources

7. Deploy Application: You can deploy your application on EKS now. We will cover this in next blog.

8. Delete the Cluster: If you wish to delete the cluster later, use:

    eksctl delete cluster --name test-cluster --region ap-south-1
   

   

What Happens in the Background?

When you run the eksctl create cluster command, several things happen under the hood:

1. VPC Creation: eksctl creates a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) for your cluster, complete with subnets and security groups.

2. EKS Control Plane: It provisions the EKS control plane, which is the brain of the Kubernetes cluster, responsible for managing the state of your cluster.

3. Node Group Creation: eksctl provisions EC2 instances for the node groups, ensuring they are properly configured to connect to the control plane.

4. IAM Roles: It creates IAM roles and policies necessary for the nodes to interact with AWS services securely.

5. Cluster Configuration: The tool sets up the necessary Kubernetes resources, including ConfigMaps and RBAC settings.

Conclusion

Using eksctl to create and manage Kubernetes clusters on Amazon EKS is a game-changer for developers and DevOps teams. It abstracts much of the complexity involved in setting up a Kubernetes cluster, allowing you to focus on deploying and managing your applications instead of dealing with infrastructure. With its powerful features and straightforward command-line interface, eksctl is a must-have tool in any cloud-native developer's toolkit. Whether you’re spinning up a quick development cluster or managing a production environment, eksctl simplifies the entire process, making Kubernetes accessible to everyone.

Thanks.