EKS Add-ons

EKS managed add-ons are operational software components for the cluster that AWS manages, patches, and updates. The module installs add-ons through the addons variable.

Supported Add-ons

Common add-ons managed through this module:

Add-on Name	Description
`coredns`	DNS server for service discovery inside the cluster
`kube-proxy`	Network proxy that maintains network rules on nodes
`vpc-cni`	Amazon VPC CNI plugin for pod networking
`eks-pod-identity-agent`	Agent that enables EKS Pod Identity for IAM role assumption

To list all available add-ons for your cluster version, run:

aws eks describe-addon-versions --query 'addons[*].addonName'

Basic Add-on Configuration

Add-ons are configured as a map where the key is the add-on name. An empty object {} installs the add-on with defaults (most_recent = true).

module "eks" {
  source  = "terraform-aws-modules/eks/aws"
  version = "~> 21.0"

  name               = "my-cluster"
  kubernetes_version = "1.33"

  addons = {
    coredns                = {}
    kube-proxy             = {}
    vpc-cni                = {}
    eks-pod-identity-agent = {}
  }

  vpc_id     = "vpc-1234556abcdef"
  subnet_ids = ["subnet-abcde012", "subnet-bcde012a", "subnet-fghi345a"]
}

`before_compute` Flag

Some add-ons must be installed before any nodes join the cluster. Set before_compute = true on these add-ons to ensure they are created before node groups or Fargate profiles.

addons = {
  coredns = {}

  # vpc-cni must be present before nodes launch to configure pod networking
  vpc-cni = {
    before_compute = true
  }

  # eks-pod-identity-agent must be present before nodes need Pod Identity
  eks-pod-identity-agent = {
    before_compute = true
  }

  kube-proxy = {}
}

Add-ons with before_compute = true are created using a separate aws_eks_addon.before_compute resource that has an explicit dependency on the cluster being active but before any dataplane_wait_duration delay. Add-ons without this flag wait for the dataplane wait period to complete.

Version Management

Most Recent Version (Default)

By default, most_recent = true installs the latest available version of each add-on at apply time.

addons = {
  coredns = {
    most_recent = true  # default
  }
}

Pinned Version

Pin to a specific add-on version by setting addon_version. This prevents unexpected updates:

addons = {
  coredns = {
    most_recent   = false
    addon_version = "v1.11.1-eksbuild.8"
  }
  vpc-cni = {
    most_recent   = false
    addon_version = "v1.18.1-eksbuild.3"
  }
}

Conflict Resolution

Control how the EKS service handles conflicts between add-on managed configuration and any custom configuration that exists in the cluster.

Variable	Default	Options
`resolve_conflicts_on_create`	`"NONE"`	`"NONE"`, `"OVERWRITE"`
`resolve_conflicts_on_update`	`"OVERWRITE"`	`"NONE"`, `"OVERWRITE"`, `"PRESERVE"`

addons = {
  coredns = {
    resolve_conflicts_on_create = "OVERWRITE"
    resolve_conflicts_on_update = "OVERWRITE"
  }
}

Custom Configuration Values

Pass a JSON string to configuration_values to override add-on settings. The available schema is add-on and version specific.

Discover the Configuration Schema

aws eks describe-addon-configuration \
  --addon-name coredns \
  --addon-version v1.11.1-eksbuild.8 \
  --query 'configurationSchema' \
  --output text | jq

CoreDNS Example

addons = {
  coredns = {
    configuration_values = jsonencode({
      replicaCount = 3
      resources = {
        limits = {
          cpu    = "100m"
          memory = "150Mi"
        }
        requests = {
          cpu    = "100m"
          memory = "70Mi"
        }
      }
    })
  }
}

VPC CNI Example

addons = {
  vpc-cni = {
    before_compute = true
    configuration_values = jsonencode({
      env = {
        ENABLE_PREFIX_DELEGATION = "true"
        WARM_PREFIX_TARGET       = "1"
      }
    })
  }
}

Pod Identity Association

EKS Pod Identity is the recommended way to grant add-ons IAM permissions without IRSA. Use pod_identity_association inside an add-on block to associate an IAM role with the add-on’s service account.

resource "aws_iam_role" "vpc_cni" {
  name = "vpc-cni-pod-identity"

  assume_role_policy = jsonencode({
    Version = "2012-10-17"
    Statement = [{
      Effect    = "Allow"
      Principal = { Service = "pods.eks.amazonaws.com" }
      Action    = ["sts:AssumeRole", "sts:TagSession"]
    }]
  })
}

resource "aws_iam_role_policy_attachment" "vpc_cni" {
  role       = aws_iam_role.vpc_cni.name
  policy_arn = "arn:aws:iam::aws:policy/AmazonEKS_CNI_Policy"
}

module "eks" {
  source  = "terraform-aws-modules/eks/aws"
  version = "~> 21.0"

  # ...

  addons = {
    vpc-cni = {
      before_compute = true
      pod_identity_association = [
        {
          role_arn        = aws_iam_role.vpc_cni.arn
          service_account = "aws-node"
        }
      ]
    }
  }
}

`preserve` Flag

The preserve flag (default true) controls whether the add-on is preserved on the cluster when Terraform destroys the add-on resource. When true, the add-on is not removed from the cluster on destroy, preventing disruption to running workloads.

addons = {
  coredns = {
    preserve = true   # default — add-on stays on cluster when TF resource is destroyed
  }
  kube-proxy = {
    preserve = false  # add-on is removed when TF resource is destroyed
  }
}

Full Example: EKS Managed Node Group with Add-ons

module "eks" {
  source  = "terraform-aws-modules/eks/aws"
  version = "~> 21.0"

  name               = "my-cluster"
  kubernetes_version = "1.33"

  endpoint_public_access = true
  enable_cluster_creator_admin_permissions = true

  addons = {
    coredns = {
      most_recent          = true
      configuration_values = jsonencode({
        replicaCount = 2
      })
    }

    kube-proxy = {}

    vpc-cni = {
      before_compute = true
      most_recent    = true
      configuration_values = jsonencode({
        env = {
          ENABLE_PREFIX_DELEGATION = "true"
          WARM_PREFIX_TARGET       = "1"
        }
      })
    }

    eks-pod-identity-agent = {
      before_compute = true
      most_recent    = true
    }
  }

  vpc_id                   = "vpc-1234556abcdef"
  subnet_ids               = ["subnet-abcde012", "subnet-bcde012a", "subnet-fghi345a"]
  control_plane_subnet_ids = ["subnet-xyzde987", "subnet-slkjf456", "subnet-qeiru789"]

  eks_managed_node_groups = {
    default = {
      ami_type       = "AL2023_x86_64_STANDARD"
      instance_types = ["m5.xlarge"]
      min_size       = 2
      max_size       = 10
      desired_size   = 2
    }
  }

  tags = {
    Environment = "production"
    Terraform   = "true"
  }
}

Add-on Variable Reference

addons = {
  "<addon-name>" = {
    name                        = optional(string)  # overrides map key
    before_compute              = optional(bool, false)
    most_recent                 = optional(bool, true)
    addon_version               = optional(string)
    configuration_values        = optional(string)  # JSON string
    preserve                    = optional(bool, true)
    resolve_conflicts_on_create = optional(string, "NONE")
    resolve_conflicts_on_update = optional(string, "OVERWRITE")
    service_account_role_arn    = optional(string)  # for IRSA

    pod_identity_association = optional(list(object({
      role_arn        = string
      service_account = string
    })))

    timeouts = optional(object({
      create = optional(string)
      update = optional(string)
      delete = optional(string)
    }))

    tags = optional(map(string), {})
  }
}

Get Started

Compute Resources

Configuration

Sub-Modules

Examples

Operations

Supported Add-ons

Basic Add-on Configuration

`before_compute` Flag

Version Management

Most Recent Version (Default)

Pinned Version

Conflict Resolution

Custom Configuration Values

Discover the Configuration Schema

CoreDNS Example

VPC CNI Example

Pod Identity Association

`preserve` Flag

Full Example: EKS Managed Node Group with Add-ons

Add-on Variable Reference

​Supported Add-ons

​Basic Add-on Configuration

​before_compute Flag

​Version Management

​Most Recent Version (Default)

​Pinned Version

​Conflict Resolution

​Custom Configuration Values

​Discover the Configuration Schema

​CoreDNS Example

​VPC CNI Example

​Pod Identity Association

​preserve Flag

​Full Example: EKS Managed Node Group with Add-ons

​Add-on Variable Reference

Supported Add-ons

Basic Add-on Configuration

`before_compute` Flag

Version Management

Most Recent Version (Default)

Pinned Version

Conflict Resolution

Custom Configuration Values

Discover the Configuration Schema

CoreDNS Example

VPC CNI Example

Pod Identity Association

`preserve` Flag

Full Example: EKS Managed Node Group with Add-ons

Add-on Variable Reference