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Volcengine Kubernetes Engine

Getting started

Using VKE via the console

This topic describes how to create a cluster and deploy applications in the cluster in the VKE console.

Step 1: Create a cluster

In the top navigation bar, select the region closest to your business.

In the left navigation bar, click Cluster.

On the Cluster page, click Create cluster.

In the Create cluster dialog box, go to the Custom managed clusters section and click Create now.

On the Create cluster page, follow the wizard to configure the cluster.

This quick start uses the parameter settings shown in the table below. For unmentioned parameters, keep their default settings. For details, see Creating clusters.

Parameter	Description	Example	Screenshot
Basic configuration
Name	Specify a name for the cluster.	demo-cluster
Kubernetes version	Select the version of the Kubernetes cluster to deploy.	Latest Kubernetes version
Networking
VPC	Select the VPC to which the cluster belongs. Select the VPC created in Prerequisites.	demo-vpc (192.168.0.0/16)
Network model	Configure pod networking (CNI) solution for the cluster. VPC-CNI: an underlay container network solution implemented based on the elastic network interface (ENI) of a VPC. Under the VPC-CNI network model, VPC subnets can be selected for pod networking. Flannel: an underlay network solution (Flannel HostGateway) that allows you to use custom CIDR for pod networking of Kubernetes clusters.	VPC-CNI
Control plane subnets	Select subnets in the VPC.	demo-vpc-subnetA and demo-vpc-subnetB
Pod subnets	Select the VPC subnets that pods deployed in the cluster will use.	demo-vpc-subnetA and demo-vpc-subnetB
Public NAT for internet endpoint	After this feature is enabled, use a NAT gateway to provide public access for nodes and applications within the cluster. If the VPC of cluster has a NAT gateway, VKE will use that gateway. If the VPC of cluster does not have a NAT gateway, VKE creates one and automatically configures SNAT rules. The newly created NAT gateway uses the Pay-by-CU billing mode. For billing details, see NAT Gateway billing.	Enable
Internet access to API Server	After this feature is enabled, VKE automatically creates an EIP of the BGP (Multipath) type and associates it with a CLB instance. This enables the cluster to be accessed over the public network.	Enable
Operation and maintenance configuration
Container observability	This feature is enabled by default. When enabled, this feature monitors the metrics of basic cluster resources (such as nodes, kubelet, and kube-state-metrics) and control plane components (such as kube-apiserver, kube-scheduler, and etcd).	Disable

In the lower-right corner of the page, click Next: Node pool configuration to configure a node pool.

Parameter	Description	Example	Screenshot
Node
Node pool management	Configure whether to create a node pool: Create now: Creates a node pool containing ECS nodes. This node pool also supports simultaneous creation of virtual nodes, and by default, uses ECS nodes to deploy add-ons. Create later: The system automatically creates virtual nodes, and by default, deploys add-ons to VCIs.	Create now
Node source	The way in which the worker nodes are obtained.	Create node
Node pool setting
Name	Specify a name for the node pool.	demo-nodepool
Billing type	The billing model applied to ECS resources allocated to nodes.	Pay-as-you-go
Availability zone	Select the availability zone for the new node. AZs refer to physical areas isolated from each other in terms of electricity and network in the same region. AZs communicate with each other over internal networks.	Multiple availability zones
Node subnet	Select the subnet for the new node.	demo-vpc-subnetA and demo-vpc-subnetB
Instance type	Select the instance specifications for the new node (ECS instance). You can select multiple instance specifications. For details about the instance specifications, see Instance specification list.	General-purpose ecs.g3i.xlarge (4 vCPU \| 16 GiB)
Number of nodes	Specify the number of nodes. The fees for ECS resources depend on the number of nodes. Make sure only the necessary nodes are running in the cluster.	1
Security configuration
Login methods	Two authentication mechanisms are supported for logging into nodes: Password and SSH key pair.	Select Password and specify a strong password

In the lower-right corner of the page, click Next: Addon configuration. You need to configure all functional add-ons and essential system add-ons supported by the cluster.

In this case, you can keep the default configuration.

In the lower-right corner of the page, click Next: Configuration confirmation. Confirm your cluster configuration. If nothing is wrong, select the I have read and agree to Volcengine Kubernetes Engine Specific Terms of Service check box and then click Confirm in the lower-right corner of the page to start creating the cluster.

Cluster creation takes 15 to 20 minutes. You can click Cluster list to perform other operations or stay on the cluster creation page to monitor the creation progress.

Step 2: Deploy an application

After the cluster is created, deploy an application using a Deployment.

In the left navigation bar of the demo-cluster cluster management page, click Workload > Deployment.

On the Deployment page, click Create Deployment.

On the Create Deployment page, specify the parameters of the Deployment by following the wizard.

This quick start uses the parameter settings shown in the table below. For unmentioned parameters, keep their default settings. For parameter details, see Creating Deployments.

Basic Information

Parameter	Description	Example
Name	Enter the name of the workload.	demo-vke-deployment
Namespace	Select a namespace for the workload.	default
Number of instances	Enter the number of Pod instances for the Deployment.	1
Computing power type	Select infrastructure resources where the workload is deployed. Valid values: Elastic Compute Service instance: The workload is deployed on ECS nodes in the cluster. Volcengine Container Instance: The workload is deployed on VCIs, which are virtual nodes in the cluster. For an introduction to VCI, see What is VCI?	Elastic Compute Service instance

Container configuration

Parameter	Description	Example
Basic Information
Container name	Enter a name for the container.	demo-vke-container
Container image	Enter an image address without an image tag, or click Choose your own image to select an image that has already been uploaded to a CR instance as described in Preparations.	doc-cn-beijing.cr.volces.com/vke/nginx-demo
Image tag	Select the version of the image. If you do not select a version, the latest version is pulled by default. warning If the selected image does not have the latest version, you need to enter or select a specific image tag. Otherwise, you cannot create the workload.	v1.0
Container port
Port	Configure the port that the containerized application uses to connect to external services.	Protocol: TCP Port number: 80 Port name: demo-port

Advanced settings

No advanced configuration is required in this example. Keep all default settings and then click Confirm in the lower-right corner of the page.

On the Deployment page, view the created Deployment.

Click the Deployment name to go to the details page. Then, click the List of instances tab to view the running status of the pod instances for the Deployment. If Running is displayed in the Status column, it indicates that the Deployment runs as expected.

Step 3: Access the application

After you deploy the application, you can access the application on the Service tab to check whether the application is deployed.

On the Deployment details page, click the Access method tab.

On the Access method tab, click the Service tab, and then click Create Service.

On the Create Service page, configure service information. After you complete the configuration, click Confirm in the lower-right corner of the page.

This quick start uses the parameter settings shown in the table below. For unmentioned parameters, keep their default settings. For detailed parameter settings, see Creating CLB services using the console.

Parameter	Description	Example
Basic Information
Name	Specify a name for the service.	demo-service
Access configuration
Access type	Specify the access type of the service.	LoadBalancer
LB-to-pod direct access mode	After you enable the feature, the ENIs of pods are specified as the backend servers of the load balancer. Note that the CLB cannot handle too many backend servers. Therefore, you need to make sure the number of servers is acceptable to the CLB in the topology. For details about the limitations, see Constraints and limits of CLB .	Enable
Load balancer	Configure a load balancer for the service.	Select Public NAT for internet endpoint and Automatically create, and specify the Name and Subnet parameters of the Load Balancer. Keep the default configurations of other parameters.
Port mapping	Create the mapping between the service port and the container port.	Name: test Service level port: 80

After you create the service, copy the address in the External endpoint column on the Service tab of the Access method tab.

Enter the external endpoint address in the browser address bar to go to the Nginx welcome page.

Step 4: Monitor the application

After the application is deployed, you can use cloud-native observability to monitor its status, including CPU and memory usage, to facilitate subsequent O&M work. For details, see Enabling observability.

Release resources

If you no longer need a cluster, delete it and its associated resources by following the instructions in Deleting Clusters. To keep the cluster running without interruptions, ensure that your Volcano Engine account balance is at least CNY 100 (including any vouchers) and greater than zero (excluding vouchers).

If you continue to use VKE clusters, you will be charged the following two types of fees. For details, see Product billing.

Cluster management fees charged by VKE.

Cloud infrastructure costs: Volcano Engine resources used in the cluster, such as NAT Gateway, CLB, EIP, and EBS, are billed separately by the corresponding cloud services.

Last updated: 2026.09.24 15:22:31