Upgrading an Amazon EKS Cluster: A Practical Step-by-Step Guide from Real-World Experience

📰 Dev.to · Shubham Kumar

Upgrade your Amazon EKS cluster with a step-by-step guide from real-world experience to ensure a smooth and efficient process

intermediate Published 11 Apr 2026

Action Steps

Check the current version of your Amazon EKS cluster using the AWS CLI command 'aws eks describe-cluster'
Plan the upgrade by reviewing the release notes and checking for any breaking changes
Update the AWS CLI and kubectl to the latest version
Apply the upgrade using the AWS CLI command 'aws eks update-cluster'
Verify the upgrade by checking the cluster's version and node groups

Who Needs to Know This

DevOps engineers and cloud architects can benefit from this guide to upgrade their Amazon EKS cluster and ensure high availability and scalability of their applications

Key Insight

💡 Upgrading an Amazon EKS cluster requires careful planning and execution to ensure minimal downtime and no data loss