Get Started with Kubernetes on AWS using CloudFormation

A simple CloudFormation template and AMI builder for running Kubernetes on AWS EC2.

The AMI is built with Packer and includes the Kubernetes packages for installation with kubeadm.

Design

The CloudFormation template creates the following key components:

• Kubernetes master EC2 instance
• Auto Scaling Group for the Kubernetes minions
• Security Group for Kubernetes & pod network comms

Parameters

Required parameters:

• KubeCommunityAMI (AMI identifier)
• KeyName (EC2 SSH key pair identifier)
• NetworkAddon (Can be Weave or NONE, more to be added)

Optional parameters:

• MasterInstanceType (default m4.large)
• NodeInstanceType (default m4.xlarge)
• Nodes (default 3)

Outputs

Once the cluster is running, you need to login to it!

• MasterIP
• LoginToMasterCommand
• GetKubeconfigCommand

Manual Deployment Instructions

There are AMIs published in in all EC2 regions, please consult cloudformation.json for image IDs.

You will need to have an EC2 key in the region where you would like to deploy the cluster.

To create a stack, first clone this repo:

git clone https://github.com/weaveworks/kubernetes-ami
cd kubernetes-ami

Next, copy the command shown above and replace <YOUR_EC2_KEY_NAME> with the name of your SSH key in us-west-2 region.

aws cloudformation create-stack \
    --stack-name KubernetesGettingStarted \
    --region us-west-2 \
    --template-body "file://cloudformation.json" \
    --parameters \
      ParameterKey=KeyName,ParameterValue=<YOUR_EC2_KEY_NAME>

By default a 3-node cluster will be deployed, which takes a few minutes... You can run the following command to check the status of the stack.

> aws --region us-west-2 cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name KubernetesGettingStarted
{
    "Stacks": [
        {
            "StackId": "arn:aws:cloudformation:us-west-2:992485676579:stack/KubernetesGettingStarted/802a0dad-ad8f-4273-b240-a0f313e1b288",
            "Description": "Getting Started with Kubernetes",
            "Parameters": [
                {
                    "ParameterValue": "<YOUR_EC2_KEY_NAME>",
                    "ParameterKey": "KeyName"
                },
                {
                    "ParameterValue": "m4.large",
                    "ParameterKey": "MasterInstanceType"
                },
                {
                    "ParameterValue": "m4.xlarge",
                    "ParameterKey": "NodeInstanceType"
                },
                {
                    "ParameterValue": "Weave",
                    "ParameterKey": "NetworkAddon"
                },
                {
                    "ParameterValue": "3",
                    "ParameterKey": "Nodes"
                }
            ],
            "Tags": [],
            "Outputs": [
                {
                    "OutputKey": "GetKubeconfigCommand",
                    "OutputValue": "scp -i <YOUR_EC2_KEY_NAME>.pem [email protected]:kubeconfig ./kubeconfig"
                },
                {
                    "OutputKey": "LoginToMasterCommand",
                    "OutputValue": "ssh -i <YOUR_EC2_KEY_NAME>.pem [email protected]"
                },
                {
                    "OutputKey": "MasterIP",
                    "OutputValue": "52.36.245.255"
                }
            ],
            "CreationTime": "2017-02-10T16:14:26.733Z",
            "StackName": "KubernetesGettingStarted",
            "NotificationARNs": [],
            "StackStatus": "CREATE_COMPLETE",
            "DisableRollback": false
        }
    ]
}

As you can see the Outputs section provides a few handy commands you can use to access the cluster.

Have fun using Kubernetes on AWS!

Getting Help

If you have any questions about, feedback for or problems with kubernetes-ami:

• Invite yourself to the Weave Users Slack.
• Ask a question on the #general slack channel.
• File an issue.

Your feedback is always welcome!