Enable EKS Auto Mode on an existing cluster - Amazon EKS
Amazon Management ConsoleAmazon CLIRequired Add-on VersionsNext Steps
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Enable EKS Auto Mode on an existing cluster

This topic describes how to enable Amazon EKS Auto Mode on your existing Amazon EKS clusters. Enabling Auto Mode on an existing cluster requires updating IAM permissions and configuring core EKS Auto Mode settings. Once enabled, you can begin migrating your existing compute workloads to take advantage of Auto Mode’s simplified operations and automated infrastructure management.

Important

Verify you have the minimum required version of certain Amazon EKS Add-ons installed before enabling EKS Auto Mode. For more information, see Required Add-on Versions.

Before you begin, ensure you have administrator access to your Amazon EKS cluster and permissions to modify IAM roles. The steps in this topic guide you through enabling Auto Mode using either the Amazon Management Console or Amazon CLI.

Amazon Management Console

You must be logged into the Amazon console with permission to manage IAM, EKS, and EC2 resources.

Note

The Cluster IAM role of an EKS Cluster cannot be changed after the cluster is created. EKS Auto Mode requires additional permissions on this role. You must attach additional policies to the current role.

Update Cluster IAM Role

  1. Open your cluster overview page in the Amazon Management Console.

  2. Under Cluster IAM role ARN, select View in IAM.

  3. From the Add Permissions dropdown, select Attach Policies.

  4. Use the Search box to find and select the following policies:

    • AmazonEKSComputePolicy

    • AmazonEKSBlockStoragePolicy

    • AmazonEKSLoadBalancingPolicy

    • AmazonEKSNetworkingPolicy

    • AmazonEKSClusterPolicy

  5. Select Add permissions

  6. From the Trust relationships tab, select Edit trust policy

  7. Insert the following Cluster IAM Role trust policy, and select Update policy 

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Principal": {
        "Service": "eks.amazonaws.com"
      },
      "Action": [
        "sts:AssumeRole",
        "sts:TagSession"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Enable EKS Auto Mode

  1. Open your cluster overview page in the Amazon Management Console.

  2. Under EKS Auto Mode select Manage

  3. Toggle EKS Auto Mode to on.

  4. From the EKS Node Pool dropdown, select the default node pools you want to create.

  5. If you have previously created an EKS Auto Mode Node IAM role this Amazon account, select it in the Node IAM Role dropdown. If you have not created this role before, select Create recommended Role and follow the steps.

Amazon CLI

Prerequisites

  • The Cluster IAM Role of the existing EKS Cluster must include sufficent permissiosn for EKS Auto Mode, such as the following policies:

    • AmazonEKSComputePolicy

    • AmazonEKSBlockStoragePolicy

    • AmazonEKSLoadBalancingPolicy

    • AmazonEKSNetworkingPolicy

    • AmazonEKSClusterPolicy

  • The Cluster IAM Role must have an updated trust policy including the sts:TagSession action. For more information on creating a Cluster IAM Role, see Create an EKS Auto Mode Cluster with the Amazon CLI.

  • aws CLI installed, logged in, and a sufficent version. You must have permission to manage IAM, EKS, and EC2 resources. For more information, see Set up to use Amazon EKS.

Procedure

Use the following commands to enable EKS Auto Mode on an existing cluster.

Note

The compute, block storage, and load balancing capabilities must all be enabled or disabled in the same request.

aws eks update-cluster-config \
 --name $CLUSTER_NAME \
 --compute-config enabled=true \
 --kubernetes-network-config '{"elasticLoadBalancing":{"enabled": true}}' \
 --storage-config '{"blockStorage":{"enabled": true}}'

Required Add-on Versions

If you’re planning to enable EKS Auto Mode on an existing cluster, you may need to update certain add-ons. Please note:

  • This applies only to existing clusters transitioning to EKS Auto Mode.

  • New clusters created with EKS Auto Mode enabled don’t require these updates.

If you have any of the following add-ons installed, ensure they are at least at the specified minimum version:

Add-on Name Minimum Required Version

Amazon VPC CNI plugin for Kubernetes

v1.19.0-eksbuild.1

Kube-proxy

  • v1.25.16-eksbuild.22

  • v1.26.15-eksbuild.19

  • v1.27.16-eksbuild.14

  • v1.28.15-eksbuild.4

  • v1.29.10-eksbuild.3

  • v1.30.6-eksbuild.3

  • v1.31.2-eksbuild.3

Amazon EBS CSI driver

v1.37.0-eksbuild.1

CSI snapshot controller

v8.1.0-eksbuild.2

EKS Pod Identity Agent

v1.3.4-eksbuild.1

For more information, see Update an Amazon EKS add-on.

Next Steps