Making it Easier to Get Started with Cluster API on AWS
I’ve written a few articles about Cluster API (you can see a list of the articles here), but even though I strive to make my articles easy to understand and easy to follow along many of those articles make an implicit assumption: that readers are perhaps already somewhat familiar with Linux, Docker, tools like kind, and perhaps even Kubernetes. Today I was thinking, “What about folks who are new to this? What can I do to make it easier?” In this post, I’ll talk about the first idea I had: creating a “bootstrapper” AMI that enables new users to quickly and easily jump into the Cluster API Quick Start.
Normally, in order to use the Quick Start, there are some prerequisites that are needed first (these are all clearly listed on the Quick Start page):
- You need
kubectlinstalled - You need
kind(which in turn requires Docker) or an existing Kubernetes cluster up and running
For Linux users (like myself), these prerequisites are pretty easy/simple to handle. But what if you’re a Windows or Mac user? Yes, you could use Docker Desktop and then install kind (or use docker-machine, if you’re feeling adventurous). Then you’d Continue reading

