AWS EKS: Authenticating Kubernetes Python Library from Inside a Pod

AWS EKS: Authenticating Kubernetes Python Library from Inside a Pod

In the world of cloud computing, AWS EKS (Amazon Web Services Elastic Kubernetes Service) has emerged as a leading service for deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications using Kubernetes. For data scientists, it’s crucial to understand how to authenticate the Kubernetes Python library from inside a pod. This blog post will guide you through the process, step by step.

Introduction

When working with Kubernetes, you might need to interact with the Kubernetes API from within a pod. This is where the Kubernetes Python client comes in handy. However, authenticating this client can be a bit tricky, especially when you’re inside a pod in an EKS cluster. Let’s dive into how to do this.

Prerequisites

Before we start, make sure you have the following:

• An AWS account
• AWS CLI installed and configured
• kubectl installed
• Python 3.6 or higher
• Kubernetes Python client

Step 1: Setting up your EKS Cluster

First, you need to set up your EKS cluster. You can do this using the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools like Terraform. For the sake of brevity, we’ll assume you have an EKS cluster up and running.

Step 2: Deploying a Pod

Next, deploy a pod where you’ll run your Python script. You can use the following YAML configuration:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Pod
metadata:
  name: python-client-pod
spec:
  containers:
  - name: python-client
    image: python:3.8-slim-buster
    command: ["sleep", "infinity"]

Apply this configuration using kubectl apply -f pod.yaml.

Step 3: Installing the Kubernetes Python Client

Now, exec into the pod using kubectl exec -it python-client-pod -- /bin/bash. Once inside, install the Kubernetes Python client:

pip install kubernetes

Step 4: Authenticating the Kubernetes Python Client

To authenticate the Kubernetes Python client from inside a pod, you need to use the service account token that Kubernetes automatically mounts into your pod. Here’s how:

from kubernetes import client, config

def main():
    config.load_incluster_config()

    v1 = client.CoreV1Api()
    print("Listing pods with their IPs:")
    ret = v1.list_pod_for_all_namespaces(watch=False)
    for i in ret.items:
        print(f"{i.status.pod_ip}\t{i.metadata.namespace}\t{i.metadata.name}")

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

The load_incluster_config() function loads the service account token and connects to the API server.

Step 5: Testing the Authentication

To test the authentication, run your Python script inside the pod:

python script.py

If everything is set up correctly, you should see a list of all pods running in your cluster.

Conclusion

Authenticating the Kubernetes Python client from inside a pod in an EKS cluster can seem daunting, but it’s straightforward once you understand the process. By leveraging the service account token, you can interact with the Kubernetes API directly from your pods, opening up a world of possibilities for automation and orchestration within your EKS cluster.

Remember to follow best practices for managing service accounts and their permissions to ensure the security of your cluster. Happy coding!

Keywords

• AWS EKS
• Kubernetes Python client
• Authenticate Kubernetes Python client
• Kubernetes pod
• Service account token
• AWS CLI
• kubectl
• Python script
• Kubernetes API
• EKS cluster
• AWS Management Console
• Infrastructure as Code
• Terraform
• Automation
• Orchestration
• Security
• Coding

About Saturn Cloud

Saturn Cloud is your all-in-one solution for data science & ML development, deployment, and data pipelines in the cloud. Spin up a notebook with 4TB of RAM, add a GPU, connect to a distributed cluster of workers, and more. Join today and get 150 hours of free compute per month.