AWS EKS CLI (eksctl)

The Amazon EKS CLI, eksctl, is a command line tool to create and manage Kubernetes clusters in Amazon Kubernetes Service (EKS). It simplifies cluster creation and saves time compared to using the AWS console. For additional information refer to the EKS CLI official documentation .

The EKS CLI is available for a variety of operating systems and Linux distributions and there are multiple ways to install it. It runs on both Arm Linux distributions and Windows on Arm.

Before you begin

This install guide provides a quick solution to install eksctl on Arm Linux and Windows on Arm.

1. Confirm you have an Arm machine

For Linux, confirm you are using an Arm machine by running:

    

        
        
            uname -m
        
    

The output should be:

    

        
        aarch64

        
    

If you see a different result, you are not using an Arm computer running 64-bit Linux.

For Windows, confirm the Arm architecture by typing “Settings” in the Windows search box.

When the settings appear, click System on the left side and then About at the bottom.

In the Device specifications section look for “ARM-based processor” in the System type area.

2. Install kubectl

Install the Kubernetes command-line tool, kubectl, using the Kubectl install guide .

Download and install on Linux

1. Download the eksctl package using curl:

    

        
        
            curl -sLO "https://github.com/eksctl-io/eksctl/releases/latest/download/eksctl_Linux_arm64.tar.gz"
        
    

2. Install eksctl with:

    

        
        
            tar -xzf eksctl_Linux_arm64.tar.gz -C /tmp && rm eksctl_Linux_arm64.tar.gz
sudo mv /tmp/eksctl /usr/local/bin
        
    

3. Confirm eksctl is installed:

    

        
        
            eksctl version
        
    

The output will be similar to:

    

        
        0.160.0

        
    

Download and install on Windows

1. Use a browser to download the EKS CLI latest release .

2. Unzip the downloaded file.

3. Confirm eksctl.exe is installed:

    

        
        
            eksctl.exe version
        
    

The output will be similar to:

    

        
        0.160.0

        
    

Configure the AWS CLI

eksctl relies on the AWS CLI being installed and configured. Use the AWS CLI install guide to install the AWS CLI. The CLI provides the aws command.

You will also need to configure the AWS CLI using the aws configure or the aws configure sso command. There are multiple ways to configure the CLI, including environment variables, command-line options, and credentials files. Refer to the Configure the AWS CLI for more details.

Create a simple EKS cluster

With your AWS account configured, run eksctl to create a cluster with 2 nodes with AWS Graviton processors:

    

        
        
            eksctl create cluster  \
--name cluster-1  \
--region us-east-1 \
--node-type t4g.small \
--nodes 2 \
--nodegroup-name node-group-1 
        
    

Use the AWS console to look at the resources associated with the cluster and monitor progress of cluster creation.

When the cluster is created, use kubectl to get the status of the nodes in the cluster.

    

        
        
            kubectl get nodes -o wide
        
    

The output is similar to:

    

        
        NAME                             STATUS   ROLES    AGE     VERSION                INTERNAL-IP      EXTERNAL-IP      OS-IMAGE         KERNEL-VERSION                   CONTAINER-RUNTIME
ip-192-168-38-144.ec2.internal   Ready    <none>   2m31s   v1.25.13-eks-43840fb   192.168.38.144   35.153.206.210   Amazon Linux 2   5.10.192-183.736.amzn2.aarch64   containerd://1.6.19
ip-192-168-4-142.ec2.internal    Ready    <none>   2m31s   v1.25.13-eks-43840fb   192.168.4.142    54.175.254.219   Amazon Linux 2   5.10.192-183.736.amzn2.aarch64   containerd://1.6.19

        
    

Delete the cluster

To delete the resources associated with the cluster run:

    

        
        
            eksctl delete cluster --region=us-east-1 --name=cluster-1
        
    

You can now use eksctl to create, manage, and delete more complex infrastructures.