Difficulty: Advanced
Description
We have identified one or more EKS clusters in your account that are either currently running a Kubernetes version under EKS Extended Support, or are projected to enter Extended Support within the next year. EKS Extended Support is a paid offering that results in significant additional costs. Upgrading these clusters to a current supported Kubernetes version eliminates or prevents those charges.
Selection Criteria
The EKS cluster is currently running a Kubernetes version under EKS Extended Support.
OR the EKS cluster is running a Kubernetes version that will enter EKS Extended Support within the next year.
Expected Saving
EKS Extended Support costs $0.60/cluster/hour (~$438/month per cluster), on top of the standard $0.10/hour cluster fee. Upgrading to a supported Kubernetes version eliminates this surcharge entirely.
Operational Impact
Downtime: EKS control plane upgrades are applied in-place with no downtime on the control plane itself. However, node group upgrades (which must follow) require rolling replacement of nodes, which may briefly affect pod availability.
⚠️ Warning — Node groups must also be upgraded: Upgrading the control plane alone is not sufficient. Managed node groups and self-managed nodes must be upgraded separately to a Kubernetes version compatible with the new control plane.
⚠️ Warning — Add-on compatibility: EKS managed add-ons (CoreDNS, kube-proxy, VPC CNI, etc.) may need to be updated to versions compatible with the new Kubernetes version before or after the upgrade.
⚠️ Warning — Deprecated API usage: Kubernetes version upgrades remove deprecated APIs. Run a tool like Pluto or use
kubectl deprecationsto detect any deprecated API usage in deployed workloads before upgrading.