The other main way to run Kubernetes in the Amazon cloud is to use AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service or EKS. EKS is a managed service run by Amazon. EKS depends on EC2 instances to serve as Kubernetes nodes; however, EKS sets up and manages those nodes for you, which is part of what makes this approach different from running a self-managed Kubernetes cluster on EC2. In addition, Amazon automatically manages some aspects of the Kubernetes control plane when you choose EKS.
The main advantage of EKS is that it’s easier to work with than setting up your own cluster. That makes it ideal if you are newer to Kubernetes. The tradeoff is that EKS provides fewer configuration options and less control over the underlying infrastructure than you get when you manage all aspects of a cluster yourself. In addition, as noted above, you pay higher fees to use EKS.
To create a Kubernetes cluster using EKS, navigate to https://console.aws.amazon.com/eks/home#/clustersin the AWS console and select the Create cluster button. Alternatively, you can set up a cluster using a command such as the following via eksctl, AWS’s CLI tool for interacting with EKS:
It typically takes several minutes for your cluster to start, so don’t be surprised if it seems like it’s hanging. It’s not; it should become responsive after a few minutes. Once the cluster is fully operational, you can begin managing it and deploying workloads using kubectl, the standard Kubernetes CLI management tool.
Note, however, that you’ll need to create a nodegroup – as detailed below, before the cluster can begin hosting workloads.
The main advantage of EKS is that it’s easier to work with than setting up your own cluster. That makes it ideal if you are newer to Kubernetes. The tradeoff is that EKS provides fewer configuration options and less control over the underlying infrastructure than you get when you manage all aspects of a cluster yourself. In addition, as noted above, you pay higher fees to use EKS.
To create a Kubernetes cluster using EKS, navigate to https://console.aws.amazon.com/eks/home#/clustersin the AWS console and select the Create cluster button. Alternatively, you can set up a cluster using a command such as the following via eksctl, AWS’s CLI tool for interacting with EKS:
eksctl create cluster \ --name my-cluster \ --version 1.21 \ --without-nodegroup
It typically takes several minutes for your cluster to start, so don’t be surprised if it seems like it’s hanging. It’s not; it should become responsive after a few minutes. Once the cluster is fully operational, you can begin managing it and deploying workloads using kubectl, the standard Kubernetes CLI management tool.
Note, however, that you’ll need to create a nodegroup – as detailed below, before the cluster can begin hosting workloads.