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Create an ACK Resource

This guide shows you how to create and manage AWS resources using ACK. We'll use S3 buckets and DynamoDB tables as examples, but the same patterns apply to all ACK resources.

Prerequisites​

Before creating resources, ensure:

  1. ACK controller installed - The controller for your service must be running (e.g., S3 controller for buckets)
  2. IAM permissions configured - Controller has appropriate AWS permissions (see guide)
  3. kubectl access - You can run kubectl commands against your cluster

Basic Resource Creation​

Example 1: Create an S3 Bucket​

Create a file named my-bucket.yaml:

apiVersion: s3.services.k8s.aws/v1alpha1
kind: Bucket
metadata:
  name: my-app-bucket
spec:
  name: my-unique-bucket-name-12345

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f my-bucket.yaml

Key components:

  • apiVersion: Identifies the ACK service and API version
  • kind: The AWS resource type (Bucket, Table, DBInstance, etc.)
  • metadata.name: Kubernetes resource name (can differ from AWS resource name)
  • spec.name: The actual AWS bucket name (must be globally unique for S3)

Example 2: Create a DynamoDB Table​

Create my-table.yaml:

apiVersion: dynamodb.services.k8s.aws/v1alpha1
kind: Table
metadata:
  name: users-table
spec:
  tableName: users
  billingMode: PAY_PER_REQUEST
  attributeDefinitions:
    - attributeName: userID
      attributeType: S
    - attributeName: email
      attributeType: S
  keySchema:
    - attributeName: userID
      keyType: HASH
  globalSecondaryIndexes:
    - indexName: email-index
      keySchema:
        - attributeName: email
          keyType: HASH
      projection:
        projectionType: ALL
  tags:
    - key: environment
      value: production
    - key: team
      value: backend

Apply it:

kubectl apply -f my-table.yaml

Understanding Resource Lifecycle​

1. Resource Creation​

When you apply a manifest, ACK:

  1. Validates the Kubernetes resource
  2. Calls AWS APIs to create the resource
  3. Updates the resource status with AWS metadata

2. Status Checking​

Check resource status:

# List resources
kubectl get buckets
kubectl get tables

# Get detailed status
kubectl get bucket my-app-bucket -o yaml
kubectl describe table users-table

Check if resource is ready:

kubectl get bucket my-app-bucket

# Output shows Ready status
NAME            READY
my-app-bucket   True

When READY is True, the resource has been successfully created in AWS.

Status details:

status:
  # ACK metadata
  ackResourceMetadata:
    arn: arn:aws:s3:::my-unique-bucket-name-12345
    ownerAccountID: "123456789012"
    region: us-west-2

  # Conditions showing resource state
  conditions:
    - type: Ready
      status: "True"

If resource is not Ready:

  • Check kubectl describe for condition details
  • ACK.Terminal: Unrecoverable error, requires deletion and recreation
  • ACK.Recoverable: Temporary error, controller will retry automatically

3. Resource Updates​

ACK watches for changes to Kubernetes resources and updates AWS accordingly.

Update the bucket to add versioning:

apiVersion: s3.services.k8s.aws/v1alpha1
kind: Bucket
metadata:
  name: my-app-bucket
spec:
  name: my-unique-bucket-name-12345
  versioning:
    status: Enabled

Apply the update:

kubectl apply -f my-bucket.yaml

ACK detects the change and enables versioning in AWS.

4. Resource Deletion​

Delete the Kubernetes resource:

kubectl delete bucket my-app-bucket
kubectl delete table users-table

By default, this also deletes the AWS resource. See Deletion Policy to change this behavior.

Next Steps​

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