eksctl Cluster Creation Process

eksctl Cluster Creation Process A workflow diagram generated by Archify. 01 / eksctl Run 02 / AWS Resource Creation User · eksctl create · eksctl Run User eksctl create CloudFormation · Creates stacks · eksctl Run CloudFormation Creates stacks VPC · subnets · Network · AWS Resource Creation VPC · subnets Network IAM · SGs · Roles · rules · AWS Resource Creation IAM · SGs Roles · rules Control plane · API endpoint · AWS Resource Creation Control plane API endpoint Node group · EC2 · kubeconfig · AWS Resource Creation Node group EC2 · kubeconfig 1 run 2 network 3 permissions 4 cluster 5 nodes Legend Nodes Permissions AWS Resource User

Creation order

  • • eksctl creates everything as CloudFormation stacks, which makes tracking and rollback possible
  • • Order: VPC and subnets → IAM roles and security groups → control plane → node group
  • • It refreshes kubeconfig at the end, so kubectl works immediately

Timing and checks

  • • The control plane usually takes about 10 minutes; with the node group, 15-20 minutes
  • • aws cloudformation describe-stack-events shows where it stalled
  • • eksctl utils write-kubeconfig regenerates the kubeconfig

Using a config file

  • • eksctl create cluster -f cluster.yaml keeps the definition declarative and reproducible
  • • A config file covers add-ons, IRSA, and logging in one place, unlike command-line flags
  • • Keep the config file in Git so the cluster definition lives as code