Create a node pool

This page describes how to create a node pool.

Before you begin

This page assumes you are familiar with the cluster autoscaler. For more information, see Cluster autoscaler .

Customize network security groups

To customize a network security group (NSG) for a node pool, see Network security groups .

Create a node pool

Before you create a node pool, you need the following:

• Permissions to use the az command-line tool to retrieve an Azure subnet ID.
• Access to the cluster's SSH public key.

To create a node pool, run the following commands:

1. Save your Azure VNet subnet ID and SSH public key to environment variables:

     SUBNET_ID 
    = 
    $( 
   az  
   network  
   vnet  
   subnet  
   show  
    \ 
     
   --resource-group = 
    VNET_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME 
     
   --vnet-name = 
    VNET_NAME 
     
    \ 
     
   --name  
   default  
   --query  
    "id" 
     
   -otsv ) 
    SSH_PUBLIC_KEY 
    = 
    $( 
   cat  
    KEY_PATH 
   .pub ) 
    
   

   Replace the following:

   • VNET_RESOURCE_GROUP_NAME : the resource group name that holds VNet
   • VNET_NAME : the name of your VNet
   • KEY_PATH : the path to your key pair

2. Create a node pool with the Google Cloud CLI:

    gcloud  
   container  
   azure  
   node-pools  
   create  
    NODE_POOL_NAME 
     
    \ 
     
   --cluster  
    CLUSTER_NAME 
     
    \ 
     
   --location  
    GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION 
     
    \ 
     
   --node-version  
    1 
   .33.4-gke.900  
    \ 
     
   --vm-size  
    VM_SIZE 
     
    \ 
     
   --max-pods-per-node  
    110 
     
    \ 
     
   --min-nodes  
    MIN_NODES 
     
    \ 
     
   --max-nodes  
    MAX_NODES 
     
    \ 
     
   --ssh-public-key  
    " 
    ${ 
    SSH_PUBLIC_KEY 
    } 
    " 
     
    \ 
     
   --subnet-id  
    " 
    ${ 
    SUBNET_ID 
    } 
    " 
    
   

   Replace the following:

   • NODE_POOL_NAME : a unique name for your node pool—for example, node-pool-1
   • CLUSTER_NAME : the name of your GKE on Azure cluster
   • GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION : the Google Cloud location that manages your cluster
   • VM_SIZE : a supported Azure VM size
   • MIN_NODES : the minimum number of nodes in the node pool—for more information, see Cluster autoscaler
   • MAX_NODES : the maximum number of nodes in the node pool

3. Check the status of your node pool:

    gcloud  
   container  
   azure  
   node-pools  
   describe  
    NODE_POOL_NAME 
     
    \ 
     
   --cluster  
    CLUSTER_NAME 
     
    \ 
     
   --location  
    GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION 
    
   

   Replace the following:

   • NODE_POOL_NAME : a unique name for your node pool—for example, node-pool-1
   • CLUSTER_NAME : the name of your GKE on Azure cluster
   • GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION : the Google Cloud location that manages your cluster

   The output includes the status of your node pool, including if it is PROVISIONING or RUNNING .

Create a node pool in a specific zone

To create a node pool in a specific Azure availability zone, pass the --azure-availability-zone flag to the Google Cloud CLI when you create the node pool.

To create a node pool in a specific Azure availability zone with the Google Cloud CLI, run the following command:

 gcloud  
container  
azure  
node-pools  
create  
 NODE_POOL_NAME 
  
 \ 
  
--cluster  
 CLUSTER_NAME 
  
 \ 
  
--location  
 GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION 
  
 \ 
  
--node-version  
 1 
.33.4-gke.900  
 \ 
  
--vm-size  
 VM_SIZE 
  
 \ 
  
--max-pods-per-node  
 110 
  
 \ 
  
--min-nodes  
 MIN_NODES 
  
 \ 
  
--max-nodes  
 MAX_NODES 
  
 \ 
  
--azure-availability-zone  
 AZURE_ZONE 
  
 \ 
  
--ssh-public-key  
 " 
 ${ 
 SSH_PUBLIC_KEY 
 } 
 " 
  
 \ 
  
--subnet-id  
 " 
 ${ 
 SUBNET_ID 
 } 
 " 
 

Replace the following:

• NODE_POOL_NAME : a unique name for your node pool—for example, node-pool-1
• CLUSTER_NAME : the name of your cluster
• GOOGLE_CLOUD_LOCATION : the Google Cloud location that manages your cluster
• VM_SIZE : a supported Azure VM size
• MIN_NODES : the minimum number of nodes in the node pool—for more information, see Cluster autoscaler
• MAX_NODES : the maximum number of nodes in the node pool
• AZURE_ZONE : the Azure availability zone where GKE on Azure launches the node pool— for example, 3

What's next

• View your cluster's status .
• Try the Quickstart to launch your first workload on GKE on Azure.
• Learn about Cluster autoscaler .