Deploying MicroK8s on AWS: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

In today’s cloud-native world, Kubernetes has become the go-to platform for container orchestration. MicroK8s, a lightweight Kubernetes distribution by Canonical, simplifies Kubernetes deployment and management. This blog will guide you through deploying MicroK8s on AWS, ensuring you have a scalable and robust environment for your applications.

Prerequisites

• An AWS account with proper permissions to create and manage EC2 instances.
• Basic knowledge of AWS, EC2, and Linux commands.

Step 1: Launching an EC2 Instance on AWS

Instance Configuration

1. Instance Type: We will use a medium instance, which provides a good balance of compute power and memory for running MicroK8s.
2. Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS is our choice for its stability and compatibility with MicroK8s.
3. Storage: Allocate 20 GB of disk space to accommodate the MicroK8s installation and workloads.
4. Security Group Configuration: Configure the security group to allow necessary ports for Kubernetes communication.

Security Group Configuration

Create a security group with the following rules:

• SSH (port 22): Allow SSH access for remote management.
• HTTP (port 80) and HTTPS (port 443): Allow web traffic for accessing applications.
• Custom TCP Rules: Open specific ports required by MicroK8s components:

Step 2: Set Hostname

After launching the instance, connect via SSH and set the hostname:

sudo hostnamectl set-hostname microk8s-node1

Step 3: Install MicroK8s

MicroK8s can be installed using Snap, a package manager for Ubuntu.
sudo snap install microk8s --classic --channel=1.28/stable

Step 4: Configure User Permissions

Add your current user to the microk8s group and set up the necessary directories:

sudo usermod -a -G microk8s $USER sudo mkdir -p ~/.kube sudo chown -f -R $USER ~/.kube

Reboot the instance to apply the changes:
sudo reboot

Step 5: Verify MicroK8s Installation

After rebooting, verify the MicroK8s installation:
microk8s status --wait-ready microk8s version microk8s inspect
Check the node details:
cat /var/snap/microk8s/current/var/kubernetes/backend/localnode.yaml

Step 6: Alias kubectl Command

To avoid conflicts with existing kubectl installations, create an alias for MicroK8s kubectl:


nano ~/.bashrc

Add the following line:

alias mkubectl='microk8s kubectl'

Apply the changes:
source ~/.bashrc
You can now use mkubectl for Kubernetes commands. For example:

mkubectl get nodes


Step 7: Deploy an Application

Deploy a demo Nginx application:

<code>microk8s kubectl create deployment nginx –image=nginx –replicas=3 microk8s kubectl get pods </code>

Expose the deployment:

<code>microk8s kubectl expose deployment nginx –type=NodePort –name=nginx-service –port=80</code>

Step 8: Manage MicroK8s

Start and stop MicroK8s services as needed:

<code> microk8s stop microk8s start</code>

Conclusion

By following these steps, you’ve successfully deployed MicroK8s on an AWS EC2 instance. This setup provides a scalable, lightweight Kubernetes environment for your applications. MicroK8s simplifies Kubernetes management, making it easier to deploy, monitor, and scale your workloads. Stay tuned for more on MicroK8s, including advanced configurations, multi-node clusters, and best practices for production deployments. Happy containerizing!

Feel free to reach out for any queries or feedback in the comments below.

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