Using eksctl

How to build a cluster for the lab exercises using the eksctl tool.

This is the easiest way to get started, and is recommended for most learners.

The eksctl utility has been pre-installed in your Amazon Cloud9 Environment, so we can immediately create the cluster. This is the configuration that will be used to build the cluster:

apiVersion: eksctl.io/v1alpha5
kind: ClusterConfig
availabilityZones:
  - ${AWS_REGION}a
  - ${AWS_REGION}b
  - ${AWS_REGION}c
metadata:
  name: ${EKS_CLUSTER_NAME}
  region: ${AWS_REGION}
  version: "1.30"
  tags:
    karpenter.sh/discovery: ${EKS_CLUSTER_NAME}
    created-by: eks-workshop-v2
    env: ${EKS_CLUSTER_NAME}
iam:
  withOIDC: true
vpc:
  cidr: 10.42.0.0/16
  clusterEndpoints:
    privateAccess: true
    publicAccess: true
addons:
  - name: vpc-cni
    version: 1.16.0
    configurationValues: '{"env":{"ENABLE_PREFIX_DELEGATION":"true", "ENABLE_POD_ENI":"true", "POD_SECURITY_GROUP_ENFORCING_MODE":"standard"},"enableNetworkPolicy": "true", "nodeAgent": {"enablePolicyEventLogs": "true"}}'
    resolveConflicts: overwrite
managedNodeGroups:
  - name: default
    desiredCapacity: 3
    minSize: 3
    maxSize: 6
    instanceType: m5.large
    privateNetworking: true
    releaseVersion: "1.30.0-20240625"
    updateConfig:
      maxUnavailablePercentage: 50
    labels:
      workshop-default: "yes"

Based on this configuration eksctl will:

  • Create a VPC across three availability zones
  • Create an EKS cluster
  • Create an IAM OIDC provider
  • Add a managed node group named default
  • Configure the VPC CNI to use prefix delegation

Apply the configuration file like so:

$ export EKS_CLUSTER_NAME=eks-workshop
$ curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/VAR::MANIFESTS_OWNER/VAR::MANIFESTS_REPOSITORY/VAR::MANIFESTS_REF/cluster/eksctl/cluster.yaml | \
envsubst | eksctl create cluster -f -

This process will take around 20 minutes.

Next Steps

Now that the cluster is ready, head to the Navigating the labs section or skip ahead to any module in the workshop with the top navigation bar. Once you’re completed with the workshop, follow the steps below to clean-up your environment.

Cleaning Up (steps once you are done with the Workshop)

The following demonstrates how you will later clean up resources once you are done using the EKS cluster you created in previous steps to complete the modules.

Before deleting the Cloud9/VSCode IDE environment we need to clean up the cluster that we set up in previous steps.

First, use delete-environment to ensure that the sample application and any left-over lab infrastructure is removed:

$ delete-environment

Next delete the cluster with eksctl:

$ eksctl delete cluster $EKS_CLUSTER_NAME --wait