This documentation is for the current version of GKE on AWS, released in November 2021. See the Release notes for more information.

Create an AWS VPC

GKE on AWS runs in an AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). This page explains how to set up a new VPC for your cluster.

GKE on AWS creates and manages resources within the VPC that you specify. You must also create several subnets inside the VPC:

Up to three subnets for the control plane nodes
A subnet for the node pool
Subnets for Kubernetes Service load balancers

Sample VPC

Follow these steps to set up the VPC illustrated below. For your own production use cases, you can choose different IP ranges, availability zones, subnets, and network access control lists suited to your workloads.

The following diagram shows the sample VPC you create when following these steps:

Sample VPC

This example uses three availability zones— Availability Zone 1, Availability Zone 2, Availability Zone 3. For example, to create a VPC in the us-east-1 region, these could be set to us-east-1a, us-east-1b, us-east-1c.
Within each of the three availability zones there is one public subnet and one private subnet.
Control plane replicas and load balancer endpoints, as well as node pools are created in the private subnets.
Public subnets provide outbound internet access for the private subnets and public load balancer endpoints.
All of these subnets are tagged for subnet auto-discovery. Internal load balancers will be provisioned in the private subnets, and internet-facing load balancers in the public subnets.

Create your VPC

Choose a prefix and edit the page variable AMC_PREFIX in the command below to set it to the prefix you've chosen. The sample commands below will then automatically attach this prefix to all references to your VPC and its resources.
Create an AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC):
```
aws --region AWS_REGION ec2 create-vpc \
    --cidr-block 10.0.0.0/16 \
    --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=vpc, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXVPC}]'
```
Replace the following:
- AWS_REGION: the name of the Supported AWS region to create the VPC in
- AMC_PREFIX: the VPC name prefix you've chosen for your VPC and its resources

Save your VPC ID to an environment variable and enable AWS-provided DNS support for the VPC:

VPC_ID=$(aws ec2 describe-vpcs \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXVPC' \
  --query "Vpcs[].VpcId" --output text)
aws ec2 modify-vpc-attribute --enable-dns-hostnames --vpc-id $VPC_ID
aws ec2 modify-vpc-attribute --enable-dns-support --vpc-id $VPC_ID

You can also use different DNS settings for your VPC. For more information, see AWS VPC DNS.

Control plane subnets

You can configure up to three subnets for control plane replicas. If you specify fewer than three subnets, GKE on AWS creates three control plane replicas and distributes them across the specified subnets.

Clusters are private to your VPC. Direct inbound access to clusters from the internet is not permitted. GKE on AWS requires limited outbound internet access to create and manage clusters. This example uses an internet Gateway for outbound access.

Subnet requirements

Subnets must

Be able to resolve DNS addresses
Be able to establish outbound TCP connections on port 443 to routable IP addresses
Be able to connect to the following endpoints:

Endpoint	Purpose
storage.googleapis.com	To download from Cloud Storage during installation
*.gcr.io	To download from Container Registry during installation
gkeconnect.googleapis.com	To connect to the management service
oauth2.googleapis.com	For cluster authentication
sts.googleapis.com	For cluster authentication
logging.googleapis.com	For sending logs to Cloud Logging
monitoring.googleapis.com	For sending metrics to Cloud Monitoring
opsconfigmonitoring.googleapis.com`	For sending resource metadata to Cloud Monitoring
servicecontrol.googleapis.com	For Cloud Audit Logging

If you don't have subnets for your control plane instances, use the following commands to create them.

Create private subnets

Create three private subnets in their corresponding availability zones:

   aws ec2 create-subnet \
     --availability-zone AWS_ZONE_1 \
     --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
     --cidr-block 10.0.1.0/24 \
     --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=subnet, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPrivateSubnet1}]'
   aws ec2 create-subnet \
     --availability-zone AWS_ZONE_2 \
     --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
     --cidr-block 10.0.2.0/24 \
     --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=subnet, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPrivateSubnet2}]'
   aws ec2 create-subnet \
     --availability-zone AWS_ZONE_3 \
     --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
     --cidr-block 10.0.3.0/24 \
     --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=subnet, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPrivateSubnet3}]'

Replace the following:

AWS_ZONE_1: Availability Zone 1
AWS_ZONE_2: Availability Zone 2
AWS_ZONE_3: Availability Zone 3

Create public subnets

Create three public subnets. These will be used to provide outbound internet access for the private subnets.

aws ec2 create-subnet \
  --availability-zone AWS_ZONE_1 \
  --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --cidr-block 10.0.101.0/24 \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=subnet, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPublicSubnet1}]'
aws ec2 create-subnet \
  --availability-zone AWS_ZONE_2 \
  --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --cidr-block 10.0.102.0/24 \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=subnet, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPublicSubnet2}]'
aws ec2 create-subnet \
  --availability-zone AWS_ZONE_3 \
  --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --cidr-block 10.0.103.0/24 \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=subnet, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPublicSubnet3}]'

Replace the following:

AWS_ZONE_1
AWS_ZONE_2
AWS_ZONE_3

Mark the subnets as public:

PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_1=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPublicSubnet1' \
  --query "Subnets[].SubnetId" --output text)
PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_2=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPublicSubnet2' \
  --query "Subnets[].SubnetId" --output text)
PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_3=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPublicSubnet3' \
  --query "Subnets[].SubnetId" --output text)
aws ec2 modify-subnet-attribute \
  --map-public-ip-on-launch \
  --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_1
aws ec2 modify-subnet-attribute \
  --map-public-ip-on-launch \
  --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_2
aws ec2 modify-subnet-attribute \
  --map-public-ip-on-launch \
  --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_3

Create an internet gateway

Create an internet gateway so the public subnets have access to the internet:

aws --region AWS_REGION  ec2 create-internet-gateway \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=internet-gateway, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXInternetGateway}]'

Replace AWS_REGION: the name of the AWS region where your VPC was created.

Attach the internet gateway to your VPC:

INTERNET_GW_ID=$(aws ec2 describe-internet-gateways \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXInternetGateway' \
  --query "InternetGateways[].InternetGatewayId" --output text)
aws ec2 attach-internet-gateway \
  --internet-gateway-id $INTERNET_GW_ID \
  --vpc-id $VPC_ID

Configure the routing tables for public subnets

Create a route table for each of the public subnets.

aws ec2 create-route-table --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=route-table, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPublicRouteTbl1}]'
aws ec2 create-route-table --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=route-table, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPublicRouteTbl2}]'
aws ec2 create-route-table --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=route-table, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPublicRouteTbl3}]'

Associate the public route tables with the public subnets:

PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_1=$(aws ec2 describe-route-tables \
    --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPublicRouteTbl1' \
    --query "RouteTables[].RouteTableId" --output text)
PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_2=$(aws ec2 describe-route-tables \
    --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPublicRouteTbl2' \
    --query "RouteTables[].RouteTableId" --output text)
PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_3=$(aws ec2 describe-route-tables \
    --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPublicRouteTbl3' \
    --query "RouteTables[].RouteTableId" --output text)
aws ec2 associate-route-table \
  --route-table-id $PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_1 \
  --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_1
aws ec2 associate-route-table \
  --route-table-id $PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_2 \
  --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_2
aws ec2 associate-route-table \
  --route-table-id $PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_3 \
  --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_3

Create default routes to the internet gateway:

aws ec2 create-route --route-table-id $PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_1 \
  --destination-cidr-block 0.0.0.0/0 --gateway-id $INTERNET_GW_ID
aws ec2 create-route --route-table-id $PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_2 \
  --destination-cidr-block 0.0.0.0/0 --gateway-id $INTERNET_GW_ID
aws ec2 create-route --route-table-id $PUBLIC_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_3 \
  --destination-cidr-block 0.0.0.0/0 --gateway-id $INTERNET_GW_ID

Allocate an Elastic IP (EIP) address for each NAT gateway:

aws ec2 allocate-address \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=elastic-ip, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXNatEip1}]'
aws ec2 allocate-address \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=elastic-ip, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXNatEip2}]'
aws ec2 allocate-address \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=elastic-ip, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXNatEip3}]'

Create NAT gateways

Create a NAT gateway in each of the three public subnets:

   NAT_EIP_ALLOCATION_ID_1=$(aws ec2 describe-addresses \
     --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXNatEip1' \
     --query "Addresses[].AllocationId" --output text)
   NAT_EIP_ALLOCATION_ID_2=$(aws ec2 describe-addresses \
     --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXNatEip2' \
     --query "Addresses[].AllocationId" --output text)
   NAT_EIP_ALLOCATION_ID_3=$(aws ec2 describe-addresses \
     --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXNatEip3' \
     --query "Addresses[].AllocationId" --output text)
   aws ec2 create-nat-gateway \
     --allocation-id $NAT_EIP_ALLOCATION_ID_1 \
     --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_1 \
     --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=natgateway, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXNatGateway1}]'
   aws ec2 create-nat-gateway \
     --allocation-id $NAT_EIP_ALLOCATION_ID_2 \
     --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_2 \
     --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=natgateway, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXNatGateway2}]'
   aws ec2 create-nat-gateway \
     --allocation-id $NAT_EIP_ALLOCATION_ID_3 \
     --subnet-id $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_3 \
     --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=natgateway, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXNatGateway3}]'

Configure the routing tables for private subnets

Create a route table for each private subnet:

aws ec2 create-route-table --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=route-table, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPrivateRouteTbl1}]'
aws ec2 create-route-table --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=route-table, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPrivateRouteTbl2}]'
aws ec2 create-route-table --vpc-id $VPC_ID \
  --tag-specifications 'ResourceType=route-table, Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=AMC_PREFIXPrivateRouteTbl3}]'

Associate the private route tables with the private subnets:

PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_1=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPrivateSubnet1' \
  --query "Subnets[].SubnetId" --output text)
PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_2=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPrivateSubnet2' \
  --query "Subnets[].SubnetId" --output text)
PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_3=$(aws ec2 describe-subnets \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPrivateSubnet3' \
  --query "Subnets[].SubnetId" --output text)
PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_1=$(aws ec2 describe-route-tables \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPrivateRouteTbl1' \
  --query "RouteTables[].RouteTableId" --output text)
PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_2=$(aws ec2 describe-route-tables \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPrivateRouteTbl2' \
  --query "RouteTables[].RouteTableId" --output text)
PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_3=$(aws ec2 describe-route-tables \
  --filters 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXPrivateRouteTbl3' \
  --query "RouteTables[].RouteTableId" --output text)
aws ec2 associate-route-table --route-table-id $PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_1 \
  --subnet-id $PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_1
aws ec2 associate-route-table --route-table-id $PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_2 \
  --subnet-id $PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_2
aws ec2 associate-route-table --route-table-id $PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_3 \
  --subnet-id $PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_3

Create the default routes to NAT gateways:

NAT_GW_ID_1=$(aws ec2 describe-nat-gateways \
 --filter 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXNatGateway1' \
 --query "NatGateways[].NatGatewayId" --output text)
NAT_GW_ID_2=$(aws ec2 describe-nat-gateways \
 --filter 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXNatGateway2' \
 --query "NatGateways[].NatGatewayId" --output text)
NAT_GW_ID_3=$(aws ec2 describe-nat-gateways \
 --filter 'Name=tag:Name,Values=AMC_PREFIXNatGateway3' \
 --query "NatGateways[].NatGatewayId" --output text)
aws ec2 create-route --route-table-id $PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_1  \
  --destination-cidr-block 0.0.0.0/0 --gateway-id $NAT_GW_ID_1
aws ec2 create-route --route-table-id $PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_2  \
  --destination-cidr-block 0.0.0.0/0 --gateway-id $NAT_GW_ID_2
aws ec2 create-route --route-table-id $PRIVATE_ROUTE_TABLE_ID_3 \
  --destination-cidr-block 0.0.0.0/0 --gateway-id $NAT_GW_ID_3

Node pool subnets

Each node pool is placed in a single subnet. You can place multiple node pools in a subnet. The number of nodes and node pools you can create is limited by the IP address range available in the subnet.

Each node pool subnet must:

Satisfy the same outbound internet access requirements as your control plane subnets
Have enough IP address space to cover the size of the node pool
Not have "Auto-assign public IPs" enabled

The private subnets created earlier satisfy the requirements for both control plane subnets, and node pool subnets.

Service load balancer subnets

If you are creating network load balancers or HTTP load balancers, tag load balancer subnets for auto-discovery.

Tag the public subnets with kubernetes.io/role/elb:

aws ec2 create-tags \
  --resources $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_1 \
  --tags Key=kubernetes.io/role/elb,Value=1
aws ec2 create-tags \
  --resources $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_2 \
  --tags Key=kubernetes.io/role/elb,Value=1
aws ec2 create-tags \
  --resources $PUBLIC_SUBNET_ID_3 \
  --tags Key=kubernetes.io/role/elb,Value=1

Tag the private subnets with kubernetes.io/role/internal-elb:

aws ec2 create-tags \
  --resources $PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_1 \
  --tags Key=kubernetes.io/role/internal-elb,Value=1
aws ec2 create-tags \
  --resources $PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_2 \
  --tags Key=kubernetes.io/role/internal-elb,Value=1
aws ec2 create-tags \
  --resources $PRIVATE_SUBNET_ID_3 \
  --tags Key=kubernetes.io/role/internal-elb,Value=1

What's next

Create AWS KMS keys.