From Zero to Hero: 6 Steps to Deploying Your First Cluster on EKS

Kubernetes is powerful, no doubt. But if you’re here, you’re probably wondering how to take your containerized applications and deploy them to a scalable, managed service on AWS. That’s where Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) comes in. In this guide, we’re going from zero to hero, walking you through deploying your first EKS cluster in a way that’s accessible and rewarding.

Why EKS? A Quick Look at the Benefits

EKS is AWS’s managed Kubernetes service, and it takes a lot of the stress out of running Kubernetes in production. With EKS, AWS handles the heavy lifting on the backend, such as managing the Kubernetes control plane, security patches, and high availability, leaving you free to focus on your applications. This lets you harness the full power of Kubernetes without getting bogged down in its complexity.

Step 1: Setting Up the Basics

Before we dive into creating our cluster, you’ll need to get a few things in order. If you don’t already have an AWS account, head over to AWS and create one—it’s free to start with, and AWS provides a generous free tier for EKS. Once you’re signed up, make sure to set up IAM permissions so you can interact with EKS.

Tools You’ll Need

To work with EKS, you’ll need to install a few tools on your local machine:

1. AWS CLI: The AWS Command Line Interface allows you to communicate with AWS from your terminal.
2. kubectl: This is Kubernetes’ command-line tool, which you’ll use to interact with your EKS cluster.
3. eksctl: This is a CLI tool specifically designed for EKS. It simplifies the process of setting up and managing EKS clusters, making it ideal for our first deployment.

You can install these tools by following the official instructions from AWS, which guide you through each step.

Step 2: Configuring eksctl and Creating Your Cluster

Once your tools are ready, it’s time to create your first cluster. You’re going to love how easy eksctl makes this!

Open Your Terminal: Launch your terminal and configure AWS CLI with your credentials. Run:

aws configure 

It’ll prompt you for your AWS access key, secret key, region, and output format.

Use eksctl to Create the Cluster: With everything configured, creating your EKS cluster is a one-liner:

eksctl create cluster --name my-first-cluster --region us-west-2 --nodegroup-name standard-nodes --nodes 2 --nodes-min 1 --nodes-max 3 --managed

--name: The name of your cluster. Here, it’s called “my-first-cluster.”

--region: Specifies the AWS region where you want to deploy.

--nodegroup-name: Names the node group, which is a group of EC2 instances where your application pods will run.

--nodes: The number of initial nodes.

--managed: This tells AWS to manage the lifecycle of your EC2 instances, so they stay updated with the latest patches.

Sit Back and Relax: This might take a few minutes. eksctl is setting up everything, from the control plane to the worker nodes and networking. You’ll see the output in your terminal as it progresses.

Step 3: Connecting to Your Cluster

After eksctl finishes setting up your cluster, you’ll want to connect to it. Run the following command to check if kubectl can access the cluster:

kubectl get svc

If everything’s working, you should see a list of services running in your new Kubernetes environment.

Step 4: Deploying Your First Application

With your EKS cluster up and running, it’s time to deploy an application. Let’s keep things simple by deploying a basic Nginx web server.

Create a Deployment: Run this command to deploy Nginx:

kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx 

This command tells Kubernetes to create a deployment using the official Nginx container image.

Expose the Deployment: Now, let’s make the Nginx server accessible from outside the cluster by exposing it as a service.

kubectl expose deployment nginx --type=LoadBalancer --port=80 

This command creates a LoadBalancer service, which assigns a public IP address to the Nginx service, making it accessible from the internet.

Get the External IP: Use the following command to check the external IP:

kubectl get services 

Once you see an external IP listed, copy it and paste it into your browser’s address bar. You should see the Nginx welcome page—a sign that your application is successfully running on your EKS cluster!

Step 5: Scaling Your Application

One of the beauties of Kubernetes is its ability to scale applications seamlessly. Let’s say you expect a spike in traffic and want to scale your Nginx deployment.

Scale the Deployment: Run the following command to scale the number of replicas (instances) to 3:

kubectl scale deployment nginx --replicas=3

Check Your Deployment: You can verify the scaling by running:

kubectl get pods 

You should see three Nginx pods running now, providing high availability and load distribution across multiple instances.

Step 6: Cleaning Up

When you’re done experimenting, it’s a good idea to clean up to avoid unwanted charges.

Delete the Service: Remove the LoadBalancer service you created:

kubectl delete service nginx

Delete the Cluster: To tear down your EKS cluster entirely, run:

kubectl delete cluster --name my-first-cluster

This command deletes everything created by eksctl, so you’re not left with any lingering resources.

Final Thoughts

Deploying your first cluster on EKS might feel like a big step, but once you get going, it’s surprisingly approachable. EKS takes care of the complex aspects of running Kubernetes, letting you focus on deploying and scaling applications. This guide only scratches the surface, but now that you’re familiar with the basics, you’re ready to dive deeper into Kubernetes and make the most of EKS.

Now it’s your turn! Try deploying a more complex application, play with different scaling settings, or explore EKS features like Fargate for serverless nodes. The possibilities are vast, and with each step, you’ll become more skilled in harnessing the full power of Kubernetes on AWS. Happy deploying!