Weaveworks and AWS Collaborate to Enhance the Official CLI for EKS (eksctl)
The CLI tool for EKS cluster creation and management, eksctl, has a new GitHub home. Explore its features and learn more about its new home and future outlook in this blog here.
Overview
eksctl is a powerful CLI tool developed jointly by Weaveworks and AWS. It is the officially supported CLI tool for Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS). With eksctl, users can easily create and manage EKS clusters with automation and simplicity.
Written in Go and leveraging AWS CloudFormation, eksctl streamlines the process of setting up Kubernetes on AWS, making it accessible to developers of all skill levels. It offers comprehensive support for native EKS features, allowing users to create production-ready clusters with just a single command. Whether new to EKS or an experienced user, eksctl is an invaluable tool for deploying and managing your Kubernetes workloads on AWS.
A New GitHub Home
With a growing number of code contributions and the promotion of EKS contributors to project maintainers, the eksctl GitHub will be changed.
As of Wednesday, July 12, the eksctl project has been moved from the Weaveworks GitHub organization to a new top-level GitHub organization https://github.com/eksctl-io which will be jointly maintained by Weaveworks and AWS moving forward. The eksctl project can now be found at https://github.com/eksctl-io/eksctl. All issues, pull requests, releases, etc., have been moved over, and the previous URL (https://github.com/weaveworks/eksctl) automatically redirects to the new location, so any automation requiring the old address should continue to work.
The Evolution of eksctl
Over the years, eksctl has evolved into a powerful tool for running Kubernetes on AWS. From its inception, eksctl has embraced community contributions and played a crucial role in introducing new features before integrating them into the EKS APIs. For instance, it enabled the creation of AWS Auto Scaling groups of worker nodes. It also facilitated the management of core cluster add-ons, ensuring they were up to date before EKS launched EKS add-ons.
One of the prominent features of eksctl is its ability to enhance usability through usability improvements even before they are incorporated into the EKS APIs. An example is the integration of GitOps principles, advocated by Weaveworks and recommended by the EKS team. eksctl provides functionality for automating the setup of EKS clusters with Flux CD, a CNCF project, allowing seamless synchronization with Git repositories.
Some of the features of eksctl include:
- GitOps eksctl cluster management
- Extensible production-ready cluster
- Automatic scalability
- Simple, flexible VPC networking
To learn more about eksctl, its features, and how it works, visit Weaveworks page or the official documentation.
New Organization and Future Roadmap for eksctl:
The eksctl project has been migrated to the eksctl-io GitHub organization. Container images have also been moved from eksctl on Docker Hub to ECR Public, while official binary releases remain on GitHub. Users are encouraged to participate in community discussions and seek support through the official Kubernetes Slack channel.
The move to a new organization does not impact eksctl's functionality, and development efforts are ongoing to introduce further enhancements and features. AWS support agreements and community support channels remain accessible for users requiring assistance.
The collaboration between Weaveworks and AWS continues to drive the evolution of eksctl, ensuring an optimal user experience for developers, even those who are not AWS experts. With a shared vision and a roadmap filled with exciting enhancements, eksctl remains a reliable and powerful tool for managing EKS clusters. Users are encouraged to contribute to the project by utilizing eksctl, reporting issues, and submitting pull requests. Learn more on the AWS open source blog.
Jumpstart your EKS & GitOps Journey
If you’re looking to manage and operate your Kubernetes platform on EKS effortlessly, Weaveworks can help. Our EKS accelerator program helps organizations supercharge their DevOps journey on Amazon EKS and EKS-A. Contact us to learn more.
