In the preceding section, we created the simplest kind of Kubernetes cluster using EKS. However, if you want to automate infrastructure management, even more, you may wish to take advantage of two optional features in EKS: Nodegroups and Fargate.
When you use nodegroups, EKS automatically provisions and manages the lifecycles of your EC2 instances. To use this feature, you have to create a nodegroup prior to creating your EKS cluster using a command such as:
eksctl create nodegroup --cluster=cluster_name --name=nodegroup_name
Then, create your cluster using the eksctl create cluster command, being sure not to specify the --without-nodegroup argument.
A second way to minimize the effort required in managing EC2 infrastructure for your EKS cluster is to use Fargate mode. With Fargate, the nodes are essentially abstracted entirely from the user. You can simply deploy containers into your cluster, and EKS automatically decides how to allocate them to nodes in a totally transparent way.
To use Fargate mode, simply specify it when creating your cluster:
With that option specified, your cluster will automatically operate in Fargate mode.
Note that Fargate is available in most, but not all, AWS regions, and the details about Fargate availability change from time to time. Thus, be sure to confirm that AWS supports Fargate in the region where you want to host your cluster before choosing this option.
When you use nodegroups, EKS automatically provisions and manages the lifecycles of your EC2 instances. To use this feature, you have to create a nodegroup prior to creating your EKS cluster using a command such as:
eksctl create nodegroup --cluster=cluster_name --name=nodegroup_name
Then, create your cluster using the eksctl create cluster command, being sure not to specify the --without-nodegroup argument.
A second way to minimize the effort required in managing EC2 infrastructure for your EKS cluster is to use Fargate mode. With Fargate, the nodes are essentially abstracted entirely from the user. You can simply deploy containers into your cluster, and EKS automatically decides how to allocate them to nodes in a totally transparent way.
To use Fargate mode, simply specify it when creating your cluster:
eksctl create cluster --fargate
With that option specified, your cluster will automatically operate in Fargate mode.
Note that Fargate is available in most, but not all, AWS regions, and the details about Fargate availability change from time to time. Thus, be sure to confirm that AWS supports Fargate in the region where you want to host your cluster before choosing this option.