Let's look at our k8s_cluster.yaml file:

apiVersion: kops/v1alpha2
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2018-05-01T12:11:24Z
  name: $NAME
spec:
  api:
    loadBalancer:
      type: Public
  authorization:
    rbac: {}
  channel: stable
  cloudProvider: aws
  configBase: $KOPS_STATE_STORE/$NAME
  etcdClusters:
  - etcdMembers:
    - instanceGroup: master-$ZONE
      name: b
    name: main
  - etcdMembers:
    - instanceGroup: master-$ZONE
      name: b
    name: events
  iam:
    allowContainerRegistry: true
    legacy: false
  kubernetesApiAccess:
  - 0.0.0.0/0
  kubernetesVersion: 1.9.3
  masterInternalName: api.internal.$NAME
  masterPublicName: api.hodlgo.$NAME
  networkCIDR: 172.20.0.0/16
  networking:
    kubenet: {}
  nonMasqueradeCIDR: 100.64.0.0/10
  sshAccess:
  - 0.0.0.0/0
  subnets:
  - cidr: 172.20.32.0/19
    name: $ZONE
    type: Public
    zone: $ZONE
  topology:
    dns:
      type: Public
    masters: public
    nodes: public

Let's look at our k8s_master.yaml file:

apiVersion: kops/v1alpha2
kind: InstanceGroup
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2018-05-01T12:11:25Z
  labels:
    kops.k8s.io/cluster: $NAME
  name: master-$ZONE
spec:
  image: kope.io/k8s-1.8-debian-jessie-amd64-hvm-ebs-2018-02-08
  machineType: $MASTERTYPE
  maxSize: 1
  minSize: 1
  nodeLabels:
    kops.k8s.io/instancegroup: master-$ZONE
  role: Master
  subnets:
  - $ZONE

Let's look at our k8s_nodes.yaml file:

apiVersion: kops/v1alpha2
kind: InstanceGroup
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: 2018-05-01T12:11:25Z
  labels:
    kops.k8s.io/cluster: $NAME
  name: nodes-$ZONE
spec:
  image: kope.io/k8s-1.8-debian-jessie-amd64-hvm-ebs-2018-02-08
  machineType: $SLAVETYPE
  maxSize: $SLAVES
  minSize: $SLAVES
  nodeLabels:
    kops.k8s.io/instancegroup: nodes-$ZONE
  role: Node
  subnets:
  - $ZONE

These templates will be fed into Kubernetes in order to spin up our cluster. The tool we will use to deploy the cluster and associated AWS resources is KOPS. At the time of writing the current version of this tool is 1.12.1, and all deployments have been tested with this version; earlier versions may have compatibility issues.

First, we need to install KOPS. As with all our previous examples, these steps also apply to macOS. We use the Homebrew tool to manage dependencies and keep the installation localized and sane:

#brew install kops
==> Installing dependencies for kops: kubernetes-cli
==> Installing kops dependency: kubernetes-cli
==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/kubernetes-cli-1.14.2.mojave.bottle.tar.gz
==> Downloading from https://akamai.bintray.com/85/858eadf77396e1acd13ddcd2dd0309a5eb0b51d15da275b491
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Pouring kubernetes-cli-1.14.2.mojave.bottle.tar.gz
==> Installing kops
==> Downloading https://homebrew.bintray.com/bottles/kops-1.12.1.mojave.bottle.tar.gz
==> Downloading from https://akamai.bintray.com/86/862c5f6648646840c75172e2f9f701cb590b04df03c38716b5
######################################################################## 100.0%
==> Pouring kops-1.12.1.mojave.bottle.tar.gz
==> Caveats
Bash completion has been installed to:
  /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d

zsh completions have been installed to:
  /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions
==> Summary
  /usr/local/Cellar/kops/1.12.1: 5 files, 139.2MB
==> Caveats
==> kubernetes-cli
Bash completion has been installed to:
  /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d

zsh completions have been installed to:
  /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions
==> kops
Bash completion has been installed to:
  /usr/local/etc/bash_completion.d

zsh completions have been installed to:
  /usr/local/share/zsh/site-functions

We can see that KOPS has been installed, along with kubectl, which is the default K8s cluster-management tool that interacts directly with the API. Note that Homebrew often spits out warning-type messages regarding command completion, and it is safe to ignore these; however, if you get an error regarding the configuration of symlinks, follow the instructions to resolve conflicts with any existing local installation of kubectl.