ECS for Kubernetes (EKS) - Hello World!
In this tutorial, we’ll launch a new Managed Kubernetes cluster in Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes (EKS) on AWS. The code for this tutorial is available on GitHub.
Prerequisites
- Install Pulumi
- Install Node.js
- Install a package manager for Node.js, such as npm or Yarn.
- Configure AWS credentials
- Install AWS IAM Authenticator for Kubernetes
Create a new EKS cluster
In a new folder
eks-hello-world
, create an empty project withpulumi new
.This will create a base Pulumi program in TypeScript, and is great recommendation to begin your journey.
$ mkdir eks-hello-world && cd eks-hello-world $ pulumi new aws-typescript
- Enter in a Pulumi project name, and description to detail what this Pulumi program does
- Enter in a name for the Pulumi stack, which is an instance of our Pulumi program, and is used to distinguish amongst different development phases and environments of your work streams.
Add the required dependencies:
This installs the dependent packages needed for our Pulumi program.
$ npm install --save @pulumi/eks @pulumi/kubernetes
Open the existing file
index.ts
, and replace the contents with the following:The
index.ts
occupies the role as the main entrypoint in our Pulumi program. In it, we are going to declare:- The resources we want in AWS to provision the EKS cluster based on our cluster configuration settings,
- The
kubeconfig
file to access the cluster, and - The initialization of a Pulumi Kubernetes provider with the
kubeconfig
, so that we can deploy Kubernetes resources to the cluster once its ready in the next steps.
import * as pulumi from "@pulumi/pulumi"; import * as awsx from "@pulumi/awsx"; import * as eks from "@pulumi/eks"; import * as k8s from "@pulumi/kubernetes"; const name = "helloworld"; // Create an EKS cluster with non-default configuration const vpc = new awsx.ec2.Vpc("vpc", { }); const cluster = new eks.Cluster(name, { vpcId: vpc.vpcId, subnetIds: vpc.publicSubnetIds, desiredCapacity: 2, minSize: 1, maxSize: 2, storageClasses: "gp2", }); // Export the clusters' kubeconfig. export const kubeconfig = cluster.kubeconfig
To preview and deploy changes, run
pulumi up
and select “yes.”The
up
sub-command shows a preview of the resources that will be created and prompts on whether to proceed with the deployment. Note that the stack itself is counted as a resource, though it does not correspond to a physical cloud resource.You can also run
pulumi up --diff
to see and inspect the diffs of the overall changes expected to take place.Running
pulumi up
will deploy the EKS cluster. Note, provisioning a new EKS cluster takes between 10-15 minutes.$ pulumi up Previewing update (eks-demo): Type Name Plan + pulumi:pulumi:Stack eks-hello-world-eks-demo create + ├─ eks:index:Cluster helloworld create + │ ├─ eks:index:ServiceRole helloworld-eksRole create + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:Role helloworld-eksRole-role create + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-eksRole-90eb1c99 create + │ │ └─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-eksRole-4b490823 create + │ ├─ eks:index:ServiceRole helloworld-instanceRole create + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:Role helloworld-instanceRole-role create + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-instanceRole-03516f97 create + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-instanceRole-e1b295bd create + │ │ └─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-instanceRole-3eb088f2 create + │ ├─ pulumi-nodejs:dynamic:Resource helloworld-cfnStackName create + │ ├─ aws:ec2:SecurityGroup helloworld-eksClusterSecurityGroup create + │ ├─ aws:iam:InstanceProfile helloworld-instanceProfile create + │ ├─ aws:eks:Cluster helloworld-eksCluster create + │ ├─ pulumi-nodejs:dynamic:Resource helloworld-vpc-cni create + │ ├─ pulumi:providers:kubernetes helloworld-eks-k8s create + │ ├─ aws:ec2:SecurityGroup helloworld-nodeSecurityGroup create + │ ├─ kubernetes:core:ConfigMap helloworld-nodeAccess create + │ ├─ kubernetes:storage.k8s.io:StorageClass helloworld-gp2 create + │ ├─ aws:ec2:SecurityGroupRule helloworld-eksClusterIngressRule create + │ ├─ aws:ec2:LaunchConfiguration helloworld-nodeLaunchConfiguration create + │ ├─ aws:cloudformation:Stack helloworld-nodes create + │ └─ pulumi:providers:kubernetes helloworld-provider create ... Resources: + 42 to create clusterng (eks-demo): Type Name Status Info + pulumi:pulumi:Stack eks-hello-world-eks-demo created + ├─ eks:index:Cluster helloworld created + │ ├─ eks:index:ServiceRole helloworld-eksRole created + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:Role helloworld-eksRole-role created + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-eksRole-90eb1c99 created + │ │ └─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-eksRole-4b490823 created + │ ├─ eks:index:ServiceRole helloworld-instanceRole created + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:Role helloworld-instanceRole-role created + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-instanceRole-3eb088f2 created + │ │ ├─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-instanceRole-03516f97 created + │ │ └─ aws:iam:RolePolicyAttachment helloworld-instanceRole-e1b295bd created + │ ├─ pulumi-nodejs:dynamic:Resource helloworld-cfnStackName created + │ ├─ aws:iam:InstanceProfile helloworld-instanceProfile created + │ ├─ aws:ec2:SecurityGroup helloworld-eksClusterSecurityGroup created + │ ├─ aws:eks:Cluster helloworld-eksCluster created + │ ├─ pulumi:providers:kubernetes helloworld-eks-k8s created + │ ├─ pulumi-nodejs:dynamic:Resource helloworld-vpc-cni created + │ ├─ aws:ec2:SecurityGroup helloworld-nodeSecurityGroup created + │ ├─ kubernetes:core:ConfigMap helloworld-nodeAccess created + │ ├─ kubernetes:storage.k8s.io:StorageClass helloworld-gp2 created + │ ├─ aws:ec2:SecurityGroupRule helloworld-eksClusterIngressRule created + │ ├─ aws:ec2:LaunchConfiguration helloworld-nodeLaunchConfiguration created + │ ├─ aws:cloudformation:Stack helloworld-nodes created + │ └─ pulumi:providers:kubernetes helloworld-provider created ... Diagnostics: pulumi:pulumi:Stack (eks-hello-world-eks-demo): Outputs: kubeconfig: { apiVersion : "v1" clusters : [ [0]: { cluster: { certificate-authority-data: "<CERT_DATA>" server : "https://<SERVER_ADDR>.us-west-2.eks.amazonaws.com" } name : "kubernetes" } ] contexts : [ [0]: { context: { cluster: "kubernetes" user : "aws" } name : "aws" } ] current-context: "aws" kind : "Config" users : [ [0]: { name: "aws" user: { exec: { apiVersion: "client.authentication.k8s.io/v1alpha1" args : [ [0]: "token" [1]: "-i" [2]: "helloworld-eksCluster-e9e1711" ] command : "aws-iam-authenticator" } } } ] } Resources: + 42 created Duration: 13m7s Permalink: https://app.pulumi.com/metral/eks-hello-world/eks-demo/updates/1
Access the Kubernetes Cluster using Pulumi Providers
Now that we have an instance of Kubernetes running, we may want to create API resources in Kubernetes to manage our workloads through Pulumi.
We can do this by configuring a Pulumi provider for our newly created cluster, and instantiating a new Kubernetes resource object in our Pulumi program. The concept of a provider allows us to abstract away Kubernetes clusters in Pulumi that are indendent of their underyling cloud provider, so that you can operate on and work with your Kubernetes clusters in a standard manner.
Create a new Kubernetes Namespace and Deployment:
This declares a new Kubernetes Namespace, Deployment and Service to be created using the Pulumi Kubernetes provider to our cluster.
Open the existing file
index.ts
, and append the following:// Create a Kubernetes Namespace const ns = new k8s.core.v1.Namespace(name, {}, { provider: cluster.provider }); // Export the Namespace name export const namespaceName = ns.metadata.apply(m => m.name); // Create a NGINX Deployment const appLabels = { appClass: name }; const deployment = new k8s.apps.v1.Deployment(name, { metadata: { namespace: namespaceName, labels: appLabels, }, spec: { replicas: 1, selector: { matchLabels: appLabels }, template: { metadata: { labels: appLabels, }, spec: { containers: [ { name: name, image: "nginx:latest", ports: [{ name: "http", containerPort: 80 }] } ], } } }, }, { provider: cluster.provider, } ); // Export the Deployment name export const deploymentName = deployment.metadata.apply(m => m.name); // Create a LoadBalancer Service for the NGINX Deployment const service = new k8s.core.v1.Service(name, { metadata: { labels: appLabels, namespace: namespaceName, }, spec: { type: "LoadBalancer", ports: [{ port: 80, targetPort: "http" }], selector: appLabels, }, }, { provider: cluster.provider, } ); // Export the Service name and public LoadBalancer Endpoint export const serviceName = service.metadata.apply(m => m.name); export const serviceHostname = service.status.apply(s => s.loadBalancer.ingress[0].hostname)
Run
pulumi up
, note the preview diff, and select “yes” to preview and deploy the changes.As part of the update, you’ll see some new objects in the output: a
Namespace
in Kubernetes to deploy into, aDeployment
resource for the NGINX app, and a LoadBalancerService
to publicly access NGINX.Pulumi understands which changes to a given cloud resource can be made in-place, and which require replacement, and computes the minimally disruptive change to achieve the desired state. The CLI will also output incremental status updates, as the Kubernetes changes progress.
Note: Pulumi auto-generates a suffix for all objects. See the Pulumi Programming Model for more info.
... deploymentName : "helloworld-tlsr4sg5" ... namespaceName : "helloworld-pz4u5kyq" serviceHostname: "a71f5ab3f2a6e11e3ac39200f4a9ad5d-1297981966.us-west-2.elb.amazonaws.com" serviceName : "helloworld-l61b5dby"
If you visit the FQDN listed in
serviceHostname
you should land on the NGINX welcome page. Note, that it may take a minute or so for the LoadBalancer to become active on AWS.
Access the Kubernetes Cluster using kubectl
To access your new Kubernetes cluster using kubectl
, we need to setup the
kubeconfig
file and download kubectl
. We can leverage the Pulumi stack
output in the CLI, as Pulumi faciliates exporting these objects for us.
$ pulumi stack output kubeconfig > kubeconfig
$ export KUBECONFIG=`pwd`/kubeconfig
$ export KUBERNETES_VERSION=1.11.5 && sudo curl -s -o /usr/local/bin/kubectl https://storage.googleapis.com/kubernetes-release/release/v${KUBERNETES_VERSION}/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl && sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/kubectl
$ kubectl version
$ kubectl cluster-info
$ kubectl get nodes
We can also use the stack output to query the cluster for our newly created Deployment:
$ kubectl get deployment $(pulumi stack output deploymentName) --namespace=$(pulumi stack output namespaceName)
$ kubectl get service $(pulumi stack output serviceName) --namespace=$(pulumi stack output namespaceName)
We can also create another NGINX Deployment into the default
namespace using
kubectl
natively:
$ kubectl create deployment my-nginx --image=nginx
$ kubectl get pods
$ kubectl delete deployment my-nginx
Of course, by doing so, resources are outside of Pulumi’s purview, but this simply
demonstrates that all the kubectl
commands you’re used to will work.
Experimentation
From here on, feel free to experiment with Pulumi. Simply making edits and
running pulumi up
afterwords, will incrementally update your stack.
Running Off-the-Shelf Guestbook YAML
For example, if you wish to pull existing Kubernetes YAML manifests into
Pulumi to aid in your transition, append the following code block to the existing
index.ts
file and run pulumi up
.
This is an example of how to create the standard Kubernetes Guestbook manifests in Pulumi using the Guestbook YAML manifests. We take the additional steps of transforming its properties to use the same Namespace and metadata labels that the NGINX stack uses, and also make its frontend service use a LoadBalancer typed Service to expose it publicly.
// Create resources for the Kubernetes Guestbook from its YAML manifests
const guestbook = new k8s.yaml.ConfigFile("guestbook",
{
file: "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/pulumi/pulumi-kubernetes/master/tests/sdk/nodejs/examples/yaml-guestbook/yaml/guestbook.yaml",
transformations: [
(obj: any) => {
// Do transformations on the YAML to use the same namespace and
// labels as the NGINX stack above
if (obj.metadata.labels) {
obj.metadata.labels['appClass'] = namespaceName
} else {
obj.metadata.labels = appLabels
}
// Make the 'frontend' Service public by setting it to be of type
// LoadBalancer
if (obj.kind == "Service" && obj.metadata.name == "frontend") {
if (obj.spec) {
obj.spec.type = "LoadBalancer"
}
}
}
],
},
{
providers: { "kubernetes": cluster.provider },
},
);
// Export the Guestbook public LoadBalancer endpoint
export const guestbookPublicHostname =
guestbook.getResourceProperty("v1/Service", "frontend", "status").apply(s => s.loadBalancer.ingress[0].hostname);
Clean up
Run the following command to tear down the resources that are part of our stack.
Run
pulumi destroy
to tear down all resources. You’ll be prompted to make sure you really want to delete these resources.To delete the stack itself, run
pulumi stack rm
. Note that this command deletes all deployment history from the Pulumi Cloud and cannot be undone.
Summary
In this tutorial, we saw how to use Pulumi programs to create and launch a Managed Kubernetes cluster on AWS EKS.
For a follow-up example on how to use Pulumi programs to create a Kubernetes apps on your new cluster, see Kubernetes Tutorial: Getting Started With Pulumi.
We also encourage you to watch Joe Beda, co-founder of Kubernetes and Heptio, take Pulumi for a spin in an episode of TGIK8s.