Learn about Amazon EKS Auto Mode managed instances - Amazon EKS
Comparison tableSupported instance referenceConsiderations

Learn about Amazon EKS Auto Mode managed instances

This topic explains how Amazon EKS Auto Mode manages Amazon EC2 instances in your EKS cluster. When you enable EKS Auto Mode, your cluster’s compute resources are automatically provisioned and managed by EKS, changing how you interact with the EC2 instances that serve as nodes in your cluster.

Understanding how Amazon EKS Auto Mode manages instances is essential for planning your workload deployment strategy and operational procedures. Unlike traditional EC2 instances or managed node groups, these instances follow a different lifecycle model where EKS assumes responsibility for many operational aspects, while restricting certain types of access and customization.

Amazon EKS Auto Mode automates routine tasks for creating new EC2 Instances, and attaches them as nodes to your EKS cluster. EKS Auto Mode detects when a workload can’t fit onto existing nodes, and creates a new EC2 Instance.

Amazon EKS Auto Mode is responsible for creating, deleting, and patching EC2 Instances. You are responsible for the containers and pods deployed on the instance.

EC2 Instances created by EKS Auto Mode are different from other EC2 Instances, they are managed instances. These managed instances are owned by EKS and are more restricted. You can’t directly access or install software on instances managed by EKS Auto Mode.

AWS suggests running either EKS Auto Mode or self-managed Karpenter. You can install both during a migration or in an advanced configuration. If you have both installed, configure your node pools so that workloads are associated with either Karpenter or EKS Auto Mode.

For more information, see Amazon EC2 managed instances in the Amazon EC2 user guide.

Comparison table

Standard EC2 Instance EKS Auto Mode managed instance

You are responsible for patching and updating the instance.

AWS automatically patches and updates the instance.

EKS is not responsible for the software on the instance.

EKS is responsible for certain software on the instance, such as kubelet, the container runtime, and the operating system.

You can delete the EC2 Instance using the EC2 API.

EKS determines the number of instances deployed in your account. If you delete a workload, EKS will reduce the number of instances in your account.

You can use SSH to access the EC2 Instance.

You can deploy pods and containers to the managed instance.

You determine the operating system and image (AMI).

AWS determines the operating system and image.

You can deploy workloads that rely on Windows or Ubuntu functionality.

You can deploy containers based on Linux, but without specific OS dependencies.

You determine what instance type and family to launch.

AWS determines what instance type and family to launch. You can use a Node Pool to limit the instance types EKS Auto Mode selects from.

The following functionality works for both Managed instances and Standard EC2 instances:

  • You can view the instance in the AWS console.

  • You can use instance storage as ephemeral storage for workloads.

Supported instance reference

EKS Auto Mode supports the following instance types:

Family Instance Types

Compute Optimized (C )

c8g, c7a, c7g, c7gn, c7gd, c7i, c7i-flex, c6a, c6g, c6i, c6gn, c6id, c6in, c6gd, c5, c5a, c5d, c5ad, c5n, c4

General Purpose (M)

m8g, m7i, m7a, m7g, m7gd, m7i-flex, m6a, m6i, m6in, m6g, m6idn, m6id, m6gd, m5, m5a, m5ad, m5n, m5dn, m5d, m5zn, m4

Memory Optimized (R )

r8g, r7a, r7iz, r7gd, r7i, r7g, r6a, r6i, r6id, r6in, r6idn, r6g, r6gd, r5, r5n, r5a, r5dn, r5b, r5ad, r5d, r4

Burstable (T)

t4g, t3, t3a, t2

High Memory (Z/X)

z1d, x8g, x2gd

Storage Optimized (I/D)

i4g, i4i, i3, i3en, is4gen, d3, d3en, im4gn

Accelerated Computing (P/G/Inf/Trn)

p5, p4d, p3, p3dn, gr6, g6, g6e, g5g, g5, g4dn, inf2, inf1, trn1, trn1n

High Performance Computing (X2)

x2iezn, x2iedn, x2idn

Considerations