Create local cluster

EKS Anywhere docker provider deployments

EKS Anywhere supports a Docker provider for development and testing use cases only. This allows you to try EKS Anywhere on your local system before deploying to a supported provider.

To install the EKS Anywhere binaries and see system requirements please follow the installation guide .

Steps

1. Generate a cluster config

   CLUSTER_NAME=dev-cluster
   eksctl anywhere generate clusterconfig $CLUSTER_NAME \
      --provider docker > $CLUSTER_NAME.yaml
   

The command above creates a file named eksa-cluster.yaml with the contents below in the path where it is executed. The configuration specification is divided into two sections:

• Cluster

• DockerDatacenterConfig

  apiVersion: anywhere.eks.amazonaws.com/v1alpha1
  kind: Cluster
  metadata:
  name: dev-cluster
  spec:
  clusterNetwork:
     cni: cilium
     pods:
        cidrBlocks:
        - 192.168.0.0/16
     services:
        cidrBlocks:
        - 10.96.0.0/12
  controlPlaneConfiguration:
     count: 1
  datacenterRef:
     kind: DockerDatacenterConfig
     name: dev-cluster
  externalEtcdConfiguration:
     count: 1
  kubernetesVersion: "1.21"
  managementCluster:
     name: dev-cluster
  workerNodeGroupConfigurations:
  - count: 1
     name: md-0
  ---
  apiVersion: anywhere.eks.amazonaws.com/v1alpha1
  kind: DockerDatacenterConfig
  metadata:
  name: dev-cluster
  spec: {}
  

  Some key considerations and configuration parameters:

  • Apart from the base configuration, you can add additional optional configuration to enable supported functionalities
    • OIDC
    • etcd
    • proxy
    • gitops

For full EKS Anywhere configuration reference for a VMware vSphere cluster and explanation on each parameter in the configuration generated above refer vSphere configuration

1. Create a cluster

   eksctl anywhere create cluster -f $CLUSTER_NAME.yaml
   

   Example command output

   Performing setup and validations
   ✅ validation succeeded {"validation": "docker Provider setup is valid"}
   Creating new bootstrap cluster
   Installing cluster-api providers on bootstrap cluster
   Provider specific setup
   Creating new workload cluster
   Installing networking on workload cluster
   Installing cluster-api providers on workload cluster
   Moving cluster management from bootstrap to workload cluster
   Installing EKS-A custom components (CRD and controller) on workload cluster
   Creating EKS-A CRDs instances on workload cluster
   Installing AddonManager and GitOps Toolkit on workload cluster
   GitOps field not specified, bootstrap flux skipped
   Deleting bootstrap cluster
   🎉 Cluster created!
   

2. Use the cluster

   Once the cluster is created you can use it with the generated KUBECONFIG file in your local directory

   export KUBECONFIG=${PWD}/${CLUSTER_NAME}/${CLUSTER_NAME}-eks-a-cluster.kubeconfig
   kubectl get ns
   

   Example command output

   NAME                                STATUS   AGE
   capd-system                         Active   21m
   capi-kubeadm-bootstrap-system       Active   21m
   capi-kubeadm-control-plane-system   Active   21m
   capi-system                         Active   21m
   capi-webhook-system                 Active   21m
   cert-manager                        Active   22m
   default                             Active   23m
   eksa-system                         Active   20m
   kube-node-lease                     Active   23m
   kube-public                         Active   23m
   kube-system                         Active   23m
   

   You can now use the cluster like you would any Kubernetes cluster. Deploy the test application with:

   kubectl apply -f "https://anywhere.eks.amazonaws.com/manifests/hello-eks-a.yaml"
   

   Verify the test application in the deploy test application section . See the Cluster management section with more information on common operational tasks like scaling and deleting the cluster.