Deploy AWS EKS Clusters with Auto Mode

A practical Terraform-based guide for provisioning Amazon EKS clusters with EKS Auto Mode enabled.

What you will learn

This guide explains the deployment flow, the AWS and Terraform prerequisites, how to review the infrastructure configuration, and how to validate the resulting cluster. EKS Auto Mode helps AWS manage core compute, networking, and cluster operations so teams can focus on workloads and platform configuration.

Before you begin

Prepare an AWS account with permissions to create EKS and related networking resources, install AWS CLI, Terraform, and kubectl, configure AWS credentials, and select a region for the cluster. Review the Terraform variables and IAM permissions before applying changes.

Deployment workflow

1. Clone the repository
Download the Terraform project and change into its directory.

2. Configure inputs
Set the AWS region, cluster name, networking options, and any organization-specific tags in the project variables.

3. Initialize and review
Run Terraform initialization, format and validate the configuration, then inspect the execution plan carefully.

4. Provision the cluster
Apply the plan and wait for the EKS control plane and Auto Mode-managed resources to become ready.

5. Connect and validate
Update kubeconfig, verify cluster access, inspect nodes and system components, and deploy a small test workload.

Terraform command sequence

terraform init
terraform fmt -check
terraform validate
terraform plan
terraform apply

After deployment, configure kubectl with the output or instructions provided by the repository, then run:
kubectl get nodes
kubectl get pods --all-namespaces

Repository Terraform files

The complete, maintained Terraform files are available in the linked GitHub repository. Use the repository as the source of truth for the current module structure, variables, outputs, and deployment settings.

Operational notes

Keep Terraform state protected and backed up, use a remote state workflow for teams, review IAM and network changes during every plan, pin provider and module versions where appropriate, and destroy test environments when they are no longer needed.