Create an ACK Serverless cluster with Alibaba Cloud CLI

Install Alibaba Cloud CLI and kubectl

If you use Cloud Shell, Alibaba Cloud CLI and your account credentials are preinstalled and configured. Skip this section.

Otherwise, install Alibaba Cloud CLI for your platform:

Set up credentials with aliyun configure:

aliyun configure

Enter your Access Key ID, Access Key Secret, default region, and output format:

Configuring profile 'default' in 'AK' authenticate mode...
Access Key Id []: ************
Access Key Secret []: ************
Default Region Id []: cn-beijing
Default Output Format [json]: json (Only support json)
Default Language [zh|en] en:
Saving profile[default] ...Done.

Verify the installation

Confirm the CLI is installed and configured:

aliyun version

Step 1: Set configuration variables

Set environment variables for the cluster parameters. Replace the values with your region and zone:

export CLUSTER_NAME="test-serverless-k8s"
export REGION_ID="cn-hangzhou"
export ZONE_ID="cn-hangzhou-h"
export KUBECONFIG="$HOME/.kube/ask-config"

Step 2: Create the cluster configuration file

Create a file named create.json with this content. Key fields:

{
    "cluster_type": "ManagedKubernetes",
    "profile": "Serverless",
    "name": "test-serverless-k8s",
    "region_id": "cn-hangzhou",
    "zoneid": "cn-hangzhou-h",
    "nat_gateway": true,
    "private_zone": false,
    "tags": [
        {"key": "env", "value": "test"}
    ]
}

All configuration parameters: Create an ACK Serverless cluster.

Step 3: Submit the cluster creation request

aliyun cs POST /clusters --header "Content-Type=application/json" --body "$(cat create.json)"

The response includes your cluster ID:

{
    "cluster_id": "************************",
    "instanceId": "************************",
    "request_id": "**********-****-****-****-************",
    "task_id": "*-************"
}

Save the cluster_id as an environment variable:

export CLUSTER_ID="<your-cluster-id>"

Step 4: Verify the cluster is running

Cluster creation takes several minutes. Check the status:

aliyun cs GET /clusters/$CLUSTER_ID

The cluster is ready when "state": "running" appears in the response:

{
    "cluster_id": "************************",
    "cluster_spec": "ack.standard",
    "cluster_type": "ManagedKubernetes",
    "created": "2024-05-06T14:48:40+08:00",
    "current_version": "1.28.3-aliyun.1",
    "deletion_protection": false,
    "external_loadbalancer_id": "lb-*********",
    "init_version": "1.28.3-aliyun.1",
    "name": "test-serverless-k8s",
    "network_mode": "vpc",
    "profile": "Serverless",
    "region_id": "cn-hangzhou",
    "resource_group_id": "rg-*********",
    "security_group_id": "sg-*********",
    "service_domain_name": "",
    "size": 0,
    "state": "running",
    "tags": [
        {"key": "env", "value": "test"},
        {"key": "ack.aliyun.com", "value": "cc98dd6edd4ff4c*****************"}
    ],
    "updated": "2024-05-06T14:52:44+08:00",
    "vpc_id": "vpc-*********",
    "vswitch_id": "vsw-*********",
    "zone_id": "cn-hangzhou-*"
}

Step 5: Configure kubectl access

Download the kubeconfig and confirm kubectl can reach the cluster:

aliyun cs GET /k8s/$CLUSTER_ID/user_config | jq -r '.config' > $KUBECONFIG
kubectl get ns

The cluster is accessible when you see the four system namespaces:

NAME              STATUS   AGE
default           Active   7m43s
kube-node-lease   Active   7m45s
kube-public       Active   7m45s
kube-system       Active   7m45s

Step 6: Deploy a test application

Deploy NGINX to verify the cluster accepts workloads:

kubectl run nginx --image=registry-vpc.cn-shenzhen.aliyuncs.com/acs-sample/nginx:latest

Expected output:

deployment.apps/nginx created

Step 7: Verify the deployment is ready

kubectl get deploy nginx

The deployment is ready when READY shows 1/1:

NAME    READY   UP-TO-DATE   AVAILABLE   AGE
nginx   1/1     1            1           58s