Creating Kubernetes Cluster on AWS EKS for OpsMate

Business Scenario

Manager:
We have successfully managed OpsMate deployments and configurations in Kubernetes. However, we need a production-ready Kubernetes environment on AWS to host our application reliably.

DevOps Engineer:
For that, we can create a Kubernetes cluster using Amazon EKS. EKS provides a fully managed Kubernetes control plane and simplifies cluster management.

Manager:
How will EKS benefit our deployment?

DevOps Engineer:
EKS offers high availability, scalability, security, and seamless integration with AWS services, making it ideal for running OpsMate in production.

Manager:
What will be our implementation plan?

DevOps Engineer:
We will create an EKS cluster, configure worker nodes, connect kubectl to the cluster, and deploy the OpsMate application using Kubernetes manifests.

DevOps Engineer to Team:
Team, we will provision an Amazon EKS cluster, verify node connectivity, configure kubectl access, and deploy OpsMate services, Deployments, ConfigMaps, and Secrets to the cluster.

Team:
Understood. We will create the AWS EKS cluster and deploy OpsMate on a scalable, secure, and production-ready Kubernetes platform.

Pre-Lab Preparation

  • AWS Account

  • IAM User with AdministratorAccess (for learning purposes)

  • Ubuntu EC2 Instance (t3.medium or higher)

  • AWS CLI installed

  • Internet connectivity

Task 1: Launch Ubuntu EC2 Instance

Login to AWS Console.

Navigate:

EC2 → Launch Instance

Configure Instance

Name: Opsmate-eks-server

AMI: Ubuntu Server

Instance Type: T3.medium

Storage: 25 GB

Security Group

Allow: SSH 22 , HTTP 80 , HTTP 443

Source: 0.0.0.0/0

Launch the instance

Connect to Instance

ssh -i opsmate-key.pem ubuntu@PUBLIC-IP
ssh -i "ops.pem" ubuntu@ec2-15-206-125-161.ap-south-1.compute.amazonaws.com

Task 2: Install AWS CLI

Verify AWS CLI: sudo apt update

sudo apt install awscli -y 

aws --version

Task 3 : Attach IAM role with admin Access

Create a iam role with admin access

Now lets attach the role to aws server

Now lets attach your role

Now lets update it

Verify identity:

aws sts get-caller-identity

Task 4: Install kubectl

Download kubectl:

curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s 
https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"

Make executable:

chmod +x kubectl

Move binary:

sudo mv kubectl /usr/local/bin/

Verify installation:

kubectl version --client

Task 5: Install eksctl

eksctl is the official CLI tool for creating EKS clusters.

Download:

curl --silent --location "https://github.com/weaveworks/eksctl/releases/
latest/download/eksctl_Linux_amd64.tar.gz" | tar xz -C /tmp

Move binary:

sudo mv /tmp/eksctl /usr/local/bin

Verify installation:

eksctl version

Task 6:Create OpsMate EKS Cluster

Create cluster:

eksctl create cluster \
--name opsmate-cluster \
--region us-east-1 \
--version 1.35 \
--nodegroup-name opsmate-workers \
--node-type t3.medium \
--nodes 2
--nodes-min 1 \
--nodes-max 4 \
--asg-access

What this command creates:

  • VPC

  • Subnets

  • Security Groups

  • EKS Control Plane

  • Managed Node Group

  • Worker Nodes

Cluster creation may take: 15 – 25 Minutes

Wait until the process completes successfully.

Task 7: Verify Cluster Creation

View EKS clusters:

aws eks list-clusters

Describe cluster:

aws eks describe-cluster \
--name opsmate-cluster \
--region us-east-1

Task 8: Connect kubectl to EKS Cluster

Update kubeconfig:

aws eks update-kubeconfig \
--region us-east-1 \
--name opsmate-cluster

Verify current context:

kubectl config current-context

View cluster information:

kubectl cluster-info

Task 9: Verify Worker Nodes

View nodes:

kubectl get nodes

View all nodes:

kubectl get nodes -o wide

Check namespaces:

kubectl get ns

Task 10: Deploy Validation Application

Create deployment:

kubectl create deployment opsmate-nginx --image=nginx

Verify deployment:

kubectl get deployments

Verify Pods:

kubectl get pods

Describe deployment:

kubectl describe deployment opsmate-nginx

Task 11: Expose Application

Expose deployment:

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

Verify Service:

kubectl get svc

Open in browser: http://EXTERNAL-IP

You should see the Nginx welcome page

Cleanup Resources

Delete Service:

kubectl delete svc opsmate-nginx

Delete Deployment:

kubectl delete deployment opsmate-nginx

 

Great job!

  • Installed AWS CLI

  • Configured AWS credentials

  • Installed kubectl

  • Installed eksctl

  • Created Amazon EKS cluster

  • Connected kubectl to EKS

  • Verified worker nodes

  • Deployed validation workload

  • Exposed application using LoadBalancer Service

Checkpoint