Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) simplifies deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications using Kubernetes. With EKS, you get a fully managed Kubernetes control plane while maintaining full flexibility for workload management. In this article, we’ll demonstrate how to set up an AWS EKS cluster step by step.

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What Is Amazon EKS?

Amazon EKS is a managed Kubernetes service that:

• Handles Kubernetes control plane operations.
• Ensures high availability with multi-AZ deployment.
• Integrates seamlessly with AWS services like IAM, CloudWatch, and Elastic Load Balancing (ELB).

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AWS EKS Cluster Setup Example

Objective

We’ll create an EKS cluster, configure a worker node group, and deploy a sample application to the cluster.

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Step 1: Prerequisites

eksctl: Install the eksctl tool:

curl --silent --location "https://github.com/weaveworks/eksctl/releases/latest/download/eksctl_$(uname -s)_amd64.tar.gz" | tar xz -C /usr/local/bin

kubectl: Install the Kubernetes command-line tool:

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
chmod +x kubectl
sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

AWS CLI: Install and configure the AWS CLI:

aws configure

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Step 2: Create an EKS Cluster

Using eksctl

• Cluster Name: example-cluster.
• Region: us-east-1.
• Node Group: Creates a managed node group with t3.medium instances.
1. Wait for the cluster creation to complete. The process includes provisioning the control plane and worker nodes.

Run the following command to create a cluster:

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

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Step 3: Configure kubectl

• You should see a list of the worker nodes in the Ready state.

Verify the cluster connection:

kubectl get nodes

Update the Kubernetes configuration:

aws eks update-kubeconfig --region us-east-1 --name example-cluster

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Step 4: Deploy a Sample Application

Create a Deployment

Verify the deployment:

kubectl get deployments

Apply the deployment:

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Create a YAML file (e.g., deployment.yaml) with the following content:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: nginx-deployment
spec:
  replicas: 2
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: nginx
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: nginx
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: nginx
        image: nginx:1.21
        ports:
        - containerPort: 80

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Expose the Application

• Access the application using the external URL provided by the LoadBalancer.

Get the LoadBalancer URL:

kubectl get services

Apply the service:

kubectl apply -f service.yaml

Create a service YAML file (e.g., service.yaml):

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: nginx-service
spec:
  type: LoadBalancer
  selector:
    app: nginx
  ports:
  - protocol: TCP
    port: 80
    targetPort: 80

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Step 5: Monitor the Cluster

1. View Cluster Metrics:
   • Use CloudWatch Container Insights to monitor resource usage.
2. Check Logs:
4. Scale the Deployment:

Scale the number of replicas:

kubectl scale deployment nginx-deployment --replicas=4

Access application logs:

kubectl logs <pod-name>

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Best Practices for AWS EKS

1. Use Managed Node Groups:
   • Simplify lifecycle management with auto-scaling and patching.
2. Secure Cluster Access:
   • Restrict IAM roles and use Kubernetes Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).
3. Enable Logging:
   • Enable control plane logging to troubleshoot Kubernetes API issues.
4. Monitor Costs:
   • Use AWS Cost Explorer to track EKS usage and optimize costs.

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Conclusion

AWS EKS provides a scalable, managed Kubernetes environment that simplifies the deployment of containerized applications. This example demonstrated how to set up an EKS cluster, deploy a sample application, and monitor the cluster. With EKS, you can focus on managing workloads while AWS handles the underlying infrastructure.