AWS Playground Does Not Support Creating an EKS Auto Mode Cluster
Many production environments use Amazon EKS Auto Mode, which provides Karpenter-based node autoscaling managed by AWS. However, the AWS Playground does not currently allow learners to create an EKS cluster using Auto Mode.
The existing KodeKloud EKS documentation instructs learners to create an EKS cluster using managed node groups. It would also be valuable for learners to gain experience with EKS Auto Mode, since it automatically manages compute scaling and other cluster infrastructure components.
When attempting to create an Auto Mode cluster in the AWS Playground, the following authorization error occurs:
User: arn:aws:iam::<account-id>:user/<lab-user>
is not authorized to perform: iam:PassRole
on resource: arn:aws:iam::<account-id>:role/AmazonEKSAutoClusterRole
because no identity-based policy allows the iam:PassRole action
AWS requires an EKS Auto Mode cluster IAM role to manage tasks such as compute autoscaling, networking, and storage. The Playground user cannot pass the provided AmazonEKSAutoClusterRole, preventing the cluster from being created.
Requested resolution
Please consider either:
Granting Playground users the restricted iam:PassRole permission required to use the predefined EKS Auto Mode roles.
This would make the lab’s supported EKS configuration clearer and help align the learning environment with current EKS deployment practices.