EKS Cluster Configuration Generator POC

Tbh...eksctl YAML configs are a mess. I built this so you don't have to suffer through another copy-paste disaster.

🚀 Why This Exists

Look, we've all been there. It's 2 AM, you're trying to spin up an EKS cluster for a demo, and you're drowning in YAML syntax errors. The existing tools either assume you have a PhD in Kubernetes or they're so dumbed down they're useless for actual production workloads...I suppose you could use the management console, but where's the fun in that?!

So I built this. A clean web interface that generates actually good EKS configurations. No more Stack Overflow archaeology. No more "why is my node group not scaling" debugging sessions at midnight.

What You Actually Get

• 🎯 Smart defaults that work - based ona blend of experience and documentation
• 🔧 Configurable without being overwhelming - the options you need, not every possible flag
• 📦 Complete setup configurations - cluster config and storage classes ready to deploy
• 💡 Modern AWS best practices - private networking, proper IAM, current add-on versions
• 🛠️ Both GUI and CLI - use what works for your workflow
• 📄 Clean YAML output - properly formatted configurations you can actually use

⚡ Get Started (Seriously, It's Fast)

Option 1: Web Interface (Perfect for Quick Setups)

# Grab the interface
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/your-repo/eks-cluster-poc/main/index.html
open index.html

Fill out the form, hit download, deploy with eksctl. That's it. Cluster ready in 20 minutes.

Option 2: Command Line (For the Automation Lovers)

git clone https://github.com/DanielleWashington/k8s-config.git
cd k8s-config

# Edit the config to match your needs
cp configs/sample-cluster.yaml configs/my-cluster.yaml
nano configs/my-cluster.yaml  # or vim, I don't judge

# Generate everything
./generate.sh configs/my-cluster.yaml

# Deploy with eksctl
cd generated
eksctl create cluster -f my-cluster-config.yaml
kubectl apply -f storage-classes.yaml

🛠️ What You Need Installed

Don't worry, this isn't one of those projects with 50-11 dependencies. Just the essentials:

Required:

• AWS CLI (bestie, pls have creds that can actually create things)
• eksctl
• kubectl (you probably already have this)

For CLI usage:

• gomplate (for the template magic)
• yq (YAML processing that actually works)

Quick Install

macOS:

brew install awscli eksctl kubectl gomplate yq

Linux:

# AWS CLI
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip && sudo ./aws/install

# eksctl
curl --silent --location "https://github.com/weaveworks/eksctl/releases/latest/download/eksctl_$(uname -s)_amd64.tar.gz" | tar xz -C /tmp
sudo mv /tmp/eksctl /usr/local/bin

# kubectl
curl -LO "https://dl.k8s.io/release/$(curl -L -s https://dl.k8s.io/release/stable.txt)/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl"
sudo install -o root -g root -m 0755 kubectl /usr/local/bin/kubectl

# gomplate & yq (for CLI usage)
curl -sSL https://github.com/hairyhenderson/gomplate/releases/download/v3.11.7/gomplate_linux-amd64 -o gomplate
chmod +x gomplate && sudo mv gomplate /usr/local/bin/
sudo wget -qO /usr/local/bin/yq https://github.com/mikefarah/yq/releases/latest/download/yq_linux_amd64
sudo chmod +x /usr/local/bin/yq

Set up AWS:

aws configure
# You know the drill - access key, secret, region, json

📁 How It's Organized

k8s-config/
├── index.html                     # The web interface
├── generate.sh                    # CLI generation script
├── README                             
├── configs/
│   └── sample-cluster.yaml        # Example config
├── templates/                     # Gomplate templates
│   ├── eksctl-config.yaml.tmpl    # Main cluster config
│   └── storage-class.yaml.tmpl    # Storage setup
└── generated/                     # Generated files go here

⚙️ Configuration Options

Core Cluster Settings

• Cluster Name - keep it simple, keep it memorable
• AWS Region - pick based on latency and compliance needs
• Node Group Name - I usually go with {env}-workers or {app}-nodes

Node Group Config

• Instance Type - starts at t3.medium, scales up based on workload
• Capacity Settings - desired/min/max nodes (auto-scaling friendly)
• Storage - volume size and type (gp3 is the sweet spot for most workloads)
• Networking - private networking is default (as it should be)
• Labels - for organization and cost tracking

Add-ons (The Important Stuff)

• VPC CNI - container networking (always enable this)
• CoreDNS - DNS resolution (also always enable)
• Kube Proxy - network proxy (you need this)
• EBS CSI Driver - persistent volumes

💻 Real Example Config

apiVersion: eksctl.io/v1alpha5
kind: ClusterConfig
metadata:
  name: <your-cluster-name>
  region: <your-region>
  version: "1.31"
  
managedNodeGroups:
  - name: node-group-name
    labels: { role: worker }
    instanceType: t3.large     # Choose your instance type
    desiredCapacity: 3         # Number of nodes
    minSize: 2                 # Minimum number of nodes for autoscaling
    maxSize: 5                 # Maximum number of nodes for autoscaling
    privateNetworking: true    # Use private networking
    volumeSize: 80             # Root volume size in GB
    volumeType: gp3            # Root volume type

addons:
  - name: vpc-cni
    version: latest
    attachPolicyARNs:
      - arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonEKS_CNI_Policy
  - name: coredns
    version: latest
  - name: kube-proxy
    version: latest
  - name: aws-ebs-csi-driver
    version: latest
    wellKnownPolicies:
      ebsCSIController: true   # Enable EBS CSI driver

📦 What Gets Generated

1. {cluster-name}-config.yaml

Complete eksctl configuration with:

• Properly configured managed node groups
• IAM roles and policies that actually work
• Add-ons with current versions

2. storage-classes.yaml

Three storage classes for different needs:

• gp3-storage - general purpose, set as default
• gp3-high-performance - when you need more IOPS
• io1-storage - for workloads that demand the best

Deployment

Use the generated files with standard eksctl commands:

eksctl create cluster -f my-cluster-config.yaml
kubectl apply -f storage-classes.yaml

✅ Verify Everything Works

After deployment:

# Basic cluster health
kubectl get nodes
kubectl get pods -A

# Check your storage classes
kubectl get storageclass

🔧 Houston, we have a problem: What to do when things go wrong

You've Got AWS permissions issues

# Check your identity
aws sts get-caller-identity

# Verify EKS permissions
aws eks list-clusters

Common IAM permissions needed:

• AmazonEKSClusterPolicy
• AmazonEKSWorkerNodePolicy
• AmazonEKS_CNI_Policy
• AmazonEC2ContainerRegistryReadOnly

You've got a cluster stuck in its creation era

not very demure

• EKS clusters take about 15-20 minutes (grab a matcha)
• Check the CloudFormation console for detailed status
• Verify EC2 service limits in your region

You've got template generation errors

# Verify tools are installed
gomplate --version
yq --version

# Check YAML syntax
yq eval . configs/your-config.yaml

Useful Commands for Later

# Update kubeconfig
aws eks update-kubeconfig --region us-east-1 --name your-cluster

# Scale your node group
eksctl scale nodegroup --cluster=<your-cluster-name> --nodes=6 --name=<node-group-name>

# Get cluster info
eksctl get cluster
kubectl cluster-info

# Delete cluster (careful with this one)
eksctl delete cluster --name=<your-cluster-name> --region=<us-east-1>

📄 License

MIT License - use it, modify it, make it better.

🙏 Credits

• eksctl - the best EKS management tool
• Gomplate - a template engine that doesn't suck
• AWS EKS - managed Kubernetes done right

💬 Questions?

1. Check the troubleshooting section first
2. AWS EKS docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/eks/
3. eksctl docs: https://eksctl.io/
4. Open an issue if you're still stuck

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TL;DR:

1. Install AWS CLI, eksctl, kubectl ✓
2. Use web interface OR edit config file ✓
3. Generate with ./generate.sh ✓
4. Deploy with eksctl create cluster -f config.yaml ✓
5. Apply storage classes with kubectl apply -f storage-classes.yaml ✓
6. Wait 20 minutes ✓
7. Start shipping features ✓

This tool exists because good infrastructure shouldn't be hard. Now let's build something awesome. 🚀