EKS Clusters Incurring Extended Support Charges

This recommendation identifies Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) clusters that are incurring extended support charges for using Kubernetes versions that have reached end-of-standard-support.

What are EKS Extended Support Charges?

AWS charges additional fees for EKS clusters running on Kubernetes versions that have passed their standard support end date. Extended support provides:

• Security patches and bug fixes for the Kubernetes control plane
• Continued access to Amazon EKS optimized AMIs
• Technical support for the extended version

However, these charges can be significant and are avoidable by upgrading to a supported Kubernetes version.

Cost Impact

Extended support charges typically add:

• ~$0.60/hour per cluster (~$438/month)
• This is in addition to standard EKS cluster costs ($0.10/hour)
• Represents a 6x increase in control plane costs

For organizations with multiple clusters, these charges can accumulate to thousands of dollars per month.

Why This Matters

1. Cost Optimization: Eliminating extended support charges immediately reduces EKS costs
2. Security: Newer Kubernetes versions include important security improvements
3. Features: Access to latest Kubernetes features and improvements
4. Performance: Newer versions often include performance enhancements
5. Compliance: Running EOL software may violate security policies

Recommended Actions

Upgrade your EKS clusters to a Kubernetes version that is within standard support.

Check Current Version

aws eks describe-cluster --name <cluster-name> --query cluster.version

Upgrade Process

1. Review the upgrade path: EKS only allows upgrading one minor version at a time (e.g., 1.21 → 1.22 → 1.23)

2. Update control plane:

   Bash

   aws eks update-cluster-version --name <cluster-name> --kubernetes-version <version>

3. Update node groups:

   • Managed node groups: Update through AWS Console or CLI
   • Self-managed nodes: Update AMIs and roll out new nodes

4. Update add-ons:

   Bash

   aws eks update-addon --cluster-name <cluster-name> --addon-name <addon> --addon-version <version>

5. Test thoroughly between each version upgrade

Important Considerations

• Application compatibility: Test workloads with new Kubernetes API versions
• Deprecated APIs: Check for deprecated API usage in your manifests
• Add-ons: Ensure all add-ons (CNI, CoreDNS, kube-proxy) are compatible
• Helm charts: Verify Helm chart compatibility with target version
• Downtime: Plan upgrade window (control plane upgrade causes brief API disruption)

Current Support Timeline

AWS provides 14 months of standard support for each Kubernetes version:

Check AWS EKS documentation for current support dates

Best Practices

1. Stay current: Aim to be within 2 minor versions of latest
2. Upgrade regularly: Don't let versions fall too far behind
3. Test in non-prod first: Always test upgrades in dev/staging
4. Automate: Use GitOps tools (ArgoCD, Flux) for consistent deployments
5. Monitor: Set up alerts for version EOL dates
6. Plan ahead: Schedule upgrades well before standard support ends

Resources

• EKS Kubernetes Versions
• EKS Cluster Upgrade Guide
• Kubernetes Deprecation Policy
• EKS Extended Support Pricing