I. Install AWS CLI, kubectl, and eksctl

June 8, 2025

Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS - Windows Subsystem for Linux - AMD64

1. Install & Config AWS CLI

sudo snap install aws-cli --classic
aws --version
which aws

Configure AWS account

aws configure
AWS Access Key ID [None]: xxxxxxxxxxxx
AWS Secret Access Key [None]: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx+xxxxxx
Default region name [None]: ap-southeast-1
Default output format [None]: json

You can verify your aws account:

cat ~/.aws/credentials
cat ~/.aws/config
aws ec2 describe-vpcs

2. Install kubectl CLI

kubectl is the command-line interface (CLI) tool used to interact with Kubernetes clusters. It allows developers and operators to manage cluster resources, inspect states, deploy applications, and perform administrative tasks.

kubectl acts as a client to the Kubernetes API server, sending commands which are executed by the cluster to manage resources like pods, deployments, and services.

I installed kubectl CLI by following the official AWS documentation for setting up kubectl & eksctl. Ensure you check this documentation to verify the latest version and download links.

curl -O https://s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/amazon-eks/1.32.3/2025-04-17/bin/linux/amd64/kubectl
chmod +x ./kubectl
mkdir -p $HOME/bin && cp ./kubectl $HOME/bin/kubectl && export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH
echo 'export PATH=$HOME/bin:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc

You can verify your kubectl:

kubectl version --client
which kubectl

Config kubectl to communicate with EKS server

aws eks update-kubeconfig --region region-code --name my-cluster
cat ~/.kube/config

If you want manage multiple cluster and switch between contexts:

kubectl config get-contexts
kubectl config use-context <context-name>
kubectl config rename-context arn:aws:eks:ap-southeast-1:111122223333:cluster/dev dev
kubectl config use-context dev
kubectl config set-context dev --namespace=my-namespace
kubectl config current-context
aws sts get-caller-identity

3. Install eksctl CLI

eksctl is a command-line interface (CLI) tool for creating and managing Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) clusters.

ARCH=amd64
PLATFORM=$(uname -s)_$ARCH
curl -sLO "https://github.com/eksctl-io/eksctl/releases/latest/download/eksctl_$PLATFORM.tar.gz"
tar -xzf eksctl_$PLATFORM.tar.gz -C /tmp && rm eksctl_$PLATFORM.tar.gz
sudo mv /tmp/eksctl /usr/local/bin
echo '. <(eksctl completion bash)' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

You can verify your eksctl:

eksctl version
which eksctl

4. Curious question

Q: Why do we already have kubectl, and then also have eksctl? Is it a duplicate feature?

A: While kubectl and eksctl may seem similar because they both relate to Kubernetes and EKS, they serve very different purposes. They are not duplicates, but rather complementary tools within the EKS ecosystem:

"eksctl manages infrastructure (clusters, node groups, IAM roles)."

"kubectl manages workloads (pods, deployments, services) on a running Kubernetes cluster."

Analogy:

"eksctl is like the construction crew, building the infrastructure of your Kubernetes cluster."

"kubectl is the interior decorator and maintenance staff, managing resources and workloads within the Kubernetes cluster."

5. Install Helm

curl -fsSL -o get_helm.sh https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3
chmod 700 get_helm.sh
./get_helm.sh

You can verify your helm:

helm version --template='{{ .Version }}{{ "\n" }}'

6. Install k9s

curl -LO https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/download/v0.50.6/k9s_Linux_amd64.tar.gz
tar -xzf k9s_Linux_amd64.tar.gz
sudo mv k9s /usr/local/bin/
rm k9s_Linux_amd64.tar.gz

You can verify your k9s:

k9s version

Some usefuls commands:

k9s
:ns
:service
:pods
esc
quit