How to Use Pulumi to Build a Kubernetes Cluster on AWS

Are you ready to take your cloud infrastructure to the next level? Do you want to build a Kubernetes cluster on AWS, but don't know where to start? Look no further than Pulumi!

Pulumi is a powerful tool that allows you to write infrastructure as code in your favorite programming language. With Pulumi, you can easily create and manage cloud resources, including Kubernetes clusters, on AWS.

In this article, we'll walk you through the steps to build a Kubernetes cluster on AWS using Pulumi. We'll cover everything from setting up your environment to deploying your cluster. So, let's get started!

Prerequisites

Before we dive into building our Kubernetes cluster, there are a few prerequisites that you'll need to have in place.

First, you'll need an AWS account. If you don't already have one, you can sign up for a free account here.

Next, you'll need to install Pulumi. You can download Pulumi here.

Finally, you'll need to have some basic knowledge of Kubernetes and AWS. If you're new to either of these technologies, we recommend checking out some of the resources available online to get up to speed.

Setting up your environment

Once you have your prerequisites in place, it's time to set up your environment. The first step is to create a new Pulumi project.

To create a new project, open up your terminal and navigate to the directory where you want to create your project. Then, run the following command:

pulumi new aws-typescript --name my-kubernetes-cluster

This command will create a new Pulumi project using the AWS provider and TypeScript as the programming language. You can replace my-kubernetes-cluster with whatever name you want to give your project.

Next, you'll need to configure your AWS credentials. To do this, run the following command:

pulumi config set aws:accessKey <your-access-key>
pulumi config set aws:secretKey <your-secret-key> --secret

Replace <your-access-key> and <your-secret-key> with your actual AWS access key and secret key. Note that we're using the --secret flag for the secretKey configuration option to ensure that your secret key is encrypted and stored securely.

Creating your Kubernetes cluster

Now that your environment is set up, it's time to create your Kubernetes cluster. To do this, we'll use the @pulumi/kubernetes package, which provides a set of TypeScript classes and functions for creating Kubernetes resources.

First, we'll create a new kubernetes.Provider resource, which will allow us to interact with our Kubernetes cluster. Add the following code to your index.ts file:

import * as k8s from "@pulumi/kubernetes";

const provider = new k8s.Provider("my-k8s-provider", {
    kubeconfig: pulumi.output(k8sConfig).apply(JSON.stringify),
});

This code creates a new kubernetes.Provider resource named my-k8s-provider and sets the kubeconfig property to the Kubernetes configuration that we'll create in the next step.

Next, we'll create a new kubernetes.core.v1.ConfigMap resource, which will contain our Kubernetes configuration. Add the following code to your index.ts file:

const k8sConfig = new k8s.core.v1.ConfigMap("my-k8s-config", {
    metadata: {
        name: "my-k8s-config",
    },
    data: {
        "apiVersion": "v1",
        "kind": "Config",
        "clusters": [
            {
                "name": "my-k8s-cluster",
                "cluster": {
                    "server": pulumi.interpolate`https://${myCluster.endpoint}`,
                    "certificate-authority-data": myCluster.certificateAuthorityData,
                },
            },
        ],
        "users": [
            {
                "name": "my-k8s-user",
                "user": {
                    "client-certificate-data": myCluster.clientCertificateData,
                    "client-key-data": myCluster.clientKeyData,
                },
            },
        ],
        "contexts": [
            {
                "name": "my-k8s-context",
                "context": {
                    "cluster": "my-k8s-cluster",
                    "user": "my-k8s-user",
                },
            },
        ],
        "current-context": "my-k8s-context",
    },
});

This code creates a new kubernetes.core.v1.ConfigMap resource named my-k8s-config and sets the data property to a Kubernetes configuration object. Note that we're using pulumi.interpolate to interpolate the myCluster object, which we'll create in the next step.

Now, it's time to create our Kubernetes cluster. We'll use the aws.eks.Cluster resource from the @pulumi/eks package to create our cluster. Add the following code to your index.ts file:

import * as eks from "@pulumi/eks";

const myCluster = new eks.Cluster("my-k8s-cluster", {
    vpcId: myVpc.id,
    subnetIds: mySubnets.ids,
    instanceType: "t2.micro",
    desiredCapacity: 2,
    minSize: 1,
    maxSize: 3,
    storageClasses: "gp2",
    deployDashboard: true,
    enabledClusterLogTypes: [
        "api",
        "audit",
        "authenticator",
        "controllerManager",
        "scheduler",
    ],
});

export const kubeconfig = pulumi.all([myCluster, myCluster.core]).apply(([cluster, core]) => {
    const kubeconfig = core.kubeconfig;
    return kubeconfig;
});

This code creates a new aws.eks.Cluster resource named my-k8s-cluster and sets a number of properties, including the VPC ID, subnet IDs, instance type, and desired capacity. We're also enabling the Kubernetes dashboard and a number of cluster log types.

Finally, we're exporting the kubeconfig property, which we'll use in the next step to deploy our Kubernetes resources.

Deploying your Kubernetes resources

Now that we've created our Kubernetes cluster, it's time to deploy our Kubernetes resources. To do this, we'll use the @pulumi/kubernetes package again.

First, we'll create a new kubernetes.apps.v1.Deployment resource, which will deploy our application to our Kubernetes cluster. Add the following code to your index.ts file:

const deployment = new k8s.apps.v1.Deployment("my-k8s-deployment", {
    metadata: {
        name: "my-k8s-deployment",
    },
    spec: {
        replicas: 2,
        selector: {
            matchLabels: {
                app: "my-k8s-app",
            },
        },
        template: {
            metadata: {
                labels: {
                    app: "my-k8s-app",
                },
            },
            spec: {
                containers: [
                    {
                        name: "my-k8s-container",
                        image: "nginx:latest",
                        ports: [
                            {
                                containerPort: 80,
                            },
                        ],
                    },
                ],
            },
        },
    },
});

This code creates a new kubernetes.apps.v1.Deployment resource named my-k8s-deployment and sets a number of properties, including the number of replicas, selector, and container image.

Next, we'll create a new kubernetes.core.v1.Service resource, which will expose our application to the internet. Add the following code to your index.ts file:

const service = new k8s.core.v1.Service("my-k8s-service", {
    metadata: {
        name: "my-k8s-service",
    },
    spec: {
        selector: {
            app: "my-k8s-app",
        },
        ports: [
            {
                port: 80,
                targetPort: 80,
            },
        ],
        type: "LoadBalancer",
    },
});

export const serviceUrl = service.status.loadBalancer.ingress[0].hostname;

This code creates a new kubernetes.core.v1.Service resource named my-k8s-service and sets a number of properties, including the selector and port. We're also exporting the serviceUrl property, which will give us the URL for our application.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully built a Kubernetes cluster on AWS using Pulumi. With Pulumi, you can easily create and manage cloud resources, including Kubernetes clusters, using your favorite programming language.

In this article, we've covered everything from setting up your environment to deploying your Kubernetes resources. We hope that you've found this article helpful and that you're now ready to take your cloud infrastructure to the next level with Pulumi.

If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to leave a comment below. Happy coding!

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