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Diagnosing Kubernetes Control Plane Performance with AWS DevOps Agent

5 min read AWS Containers BlogJul 2, 2026Reviewed for accuracy
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PractitionerHands-on experience recommended

Kubernetes control plane performance issues can lead to significant downtime and degraded service quality. The AWS DevOps Agent is designed to tackle these challenges by autonomously investigating incidents and providing root cause analysis. It correlates signals across your infrastructure, allowing you to quickly identify the offending workloads and restore cluster stability.

The AWS DevOps Agent works by analyzing Amazon CloudWatch audit logs and identifying throttled requests. When an alert is triggered, the agent automatically begins its investigation, significantly reducing Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR). You can configure the agent with specific parameters, such as the EKS Access Entry Type, which defaults to 'Standard', and the Access Policy, which is set to 'AmazonAIOpsAssistantPolicy'. This setup allows the agent to effectively monitor and manage your EKS cluster's performance.

In production, ensure you have the latest AWS CLI, eksctl, and kubectl installed. Be aware of the need to replace the principal-arn with your AWS DevOps Agent primary IAM role ARN. This detail is crucial for proper access configuration. The agent's ability to provide targeted remediation based on its findings is invaluable, but understanding its configuration and operational context is key to maximizing its effectiveness.

Key takeaways

  • Utilize the AWS DevOps Agent to autonomously investigate performance issues in your Kubernetes control plane.
  • Configure the agent with the correct EKS Access Entry Type and Access Policy for optimal performance.
  • Monitor Amazon CloudWatch logs to identify throttled requests and their associated workloads.
  • Reduce Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR) by leveraging the agent's automated incident investigation capabilities.
  • Ensure you have the latest AWS CLI, eksctl, and kubectl installed for seamless operation.

Why it matters

In production, even minor performance issues in the Kubernetes control plane can lead to significant outages. The AWS DevOps Agent helps you quickly diagnose and remediate these issues, ensuring higher availability and reliability of your services.

Code examples

Bash
# Set your EKS cluster's region
export AWS_REGION=us-east-1 
kubectl apply -f ./blog-troubleshooting-eks-with-devops-agent/manifests/controller-deployment.yaml
Bash
aws eks create-access-entry --cluster-name devops --region us-east-1 --type STANDARD --principal-arn <devops-agent-role-arn>
Bash
aws eks associate-access-policy --cluster-name devops --policy-arn arn:aws:eks::aws:cluster-access-policy/AmazonAIOpsAssistantPolicy --access-scope type=cluster --region us-east-1 --principal-arn <devops-agent-role-arn>

When NOT to use this

The official docs don't call out specific anti-patterns here. Use your judgment based on your scale and requirements.

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