Create a node pool

This page describes how to create a node pool.

Before you begin

This page assumes you are familiar with the cluster autoscaler. For more information, see Cluster autoscaler.

Customize network security groups

To customize a network security group (NSG) for a node pool, see Network security groups.

Create a node pool

Before you create a node pool, you need the following:

  • Permissions to use the az command-line tool to retrieve an Azure subnet ID.
  • Access to the cluster's SSH public key.

To create a node pool, run the following commands:

  1. Save your Azure VNet subnet ID and SSH public key to environment variables:

    SUBNET_ID=$(az network vnet subnet show \
  --resource-group=VNET_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME --vnet-name=VNET_NAME \
  --name default --query "id" -otsv)
SSH_PUBLIC_KEY=$(cat KEY_PATH.pub)

    Replace the following:

    • VNET_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME: the resource group name that holds VNet
    • VNET_NAME: the name of your VNet
    • KEY_PATH: the path to your key pair

  2. Create a node pool with the Google Cloud CLI:

    gcloud container azure node-pools create NODE_POOL_NAME \
    --cluster CLUSTER_NAME \
    --location GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION \
    --node-version 1.30.4-gke.400 \
    --vm-size VM_SIZE \
    --max-pods-per-node 110 \
    --min-nodes MIN_NODES \
    --max-nodes MAX_NODES \
    --ssh-public-key "${SSH_PUBLIC_KEY}" \
    --subnet-id "${SUBNET_ID}"

    Replace the following:

    • NODE_POOL_NAME: a unique name for your node pool—for example, node-pool-1
    • CLUSTER_NAME: the name of your GKE on Azure cluster
    • GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION: the Google Cloud location that manages your cluster
    • VM_SIZE: a supported Azure VM size
    • MIN_NODES: the minimum number of nodes in the node pool—for more information, see Cluster autoscaler
    • MAX_NODES: the maximum number of nodes in the node pool

  3. Check the status of your node pool:

    gcloud container azure node-pools describe NODE_POOL_NAME \
    --cluster CLUSTER_NAME \
    --location GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION

    Replace the following:

    • NODE_POOL_NAME: a unique name for your node pool—for example, node-pool-1
    • CLUSTER_NAME: the name of your GKE on Azure cluster
    • GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION: the Google Cloud location that manages your cluster

    The output includes the status of your node pool, including if it is PROVISIONING or RUNNING.

Create a node pool in a specific zone

To create a node pool in a specific Azure availability zone, pass the --azure-availability-zone flag to the Google Cloud CLI when you create the node pool.

To create a node pool in a specific Azure availability zone with the Google Cloud CLI, run the following command:

gcloud container azure node-pools create NODE_POOL_NAME \
    --cluster CLUSTER_NAME \
    --location GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION \
    --node-version 1.30.4-gke.400 \
    --vm-size VM_SIZE \
    --max-pods-per-node 110 \
    --min-nodes MIN_NODES \
    --max-nodes MAX_NODES \
    --azure-availability-zone AZURE_ZONE \
    --ssh-public-key "${SSH_PUBLIC_KEY}" \
    --subnet-id "${SUBNET_ID}"

Replace the following:

  • NODE_POOL_NAME: a unique name for your node pool—for example, node-pool-1
  • CLUSTER_NAME: the name of your cluster
  • GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION: the Google Cloud location that manages your cluster
  • VM_SIZE: a supported Azure VM size
  • MIN_NODES: the minimum number of nodes in the node pool—for more information, see Cluster autoscaler
  • MAX_NODES: the maximum number of nodes in the node pool
  • AZURE_ZONE: the Azure availability zone where GKE on Azure launches the node pool— for example, 3

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