eks_skill

Overview

This skill provides AWS EKS Kubernetes management for clusters, node groups, and workloads. It helps create and configure EKS clusters, manage node groups (managed, self-managed, Fargate), set up IRSA, install add-ons, and deploy applications. Use it to integrate Kubernetes workloads with AWS IAM, networking, and storage best practices.

How this skill works

The skill issues AWS CLI and eksctl commands and generates Kubernetes manifests to create clusters, node groups, service accounts, and add-ons. It automates IRSA by associating the OIDC provider and creating IAM roles for service accounts, and it can produce kubeconfig updates and deployment/service YAML for app rollout. It inspects cluster and node status, add-on state, and common failure points to guide troubleshooting.

When to use it

• Creating a new EKS cluster with recommended defaults (eksctl)
• Adding or updating managed or self-managed node groups
• Configuring IRSA for pod-level AWS permissions
• Installing or updating EKS add-ons (CoreDNS, VPC CNI, EBS CSI, kube-proxy)
• Deploying Kubernetes applications with load balancer services
• Troubleshooting connectivity, node join issues, or pod AWS access

Best practices

• Prefer eksctl for simple, repeatable cluster creation and managed node groups
• Use IRSA for least-privilege AWS access from pods instead of node IAM roles
• Enable secrets encryption with KMS and enable audit logging to CloudWatch
• Deploy across multiple AZs and use pod disruption budgets for availability
• Use Spot instances or Fargate for cost-sensitive workloads and autoscaling for right-sizing

Example use cases

• Create a production-ready EKS cluster with managed node groups and KMS secrets encryption
• Add an autoscaling managed node group with Spot capacity for batch workloads
• Configure IRSA and a Kubernetes service account for an app that reads from S3
• Install the EBS CSI driver and deploy a stateful application using persistent volumes
• Troubleshoot nodes not joining and fix aws-auth or node IAM role issues