Clusters - Qovery

For detailed cluster installation instructions, see Kubernetes Installation Guide. For troubleshooting, check the Troubleshooting Section.

Managing your Clusters with Qovery

Creating a Cluster

To create a new cluster:

Open the Qovery Console
Navigate to the Cluster page in the left menu
Click Add Cluster
Follow the provider-specific guide for your cloud platform:

AWS EKS

Create managed EKS cluster

AWS EKS Anywhere

Create EKS Anywhere cluster directly from Qovery. Contact us to enable this integration.

Azure AKS

Create managed AKS cluster

GCP GKE

Create managed GKE cluster

Scaleway Kapsule

Create managed Kapsule cluster

Managed Cluster by Qovery vs Self-Managed

Qovery offers two deployment models for your Kubernetes clusters:

Qovery-Managed Cluster

Zero ConfigurationQovery creates and manages your Kubernetes cluster in your cloud account. Automated setup, updates, and scaling.✅ Full automation ✅ 15-30 minute setup ✅ Best practices built-in ✅ Auto-scaling (with Karpenter on AWS) ✅ Automatic Kubernetes upgrades ✅ Monitoring and alerting included

Self-Managed Cluster (BYOK)

Full ControlConnect your existing Kubernetes cluster to Qovery. You manage the cluster infrastructure, Qovery manages your application deployments.✅ Use existing clusters ✅ Custom configurations ✅ Compliance requirements ✅ Multi-tenant setups ✅ Your upgrade schedule ✅ Bring your own tools

Comparison

Feature	Qovery-Managed	Self-Managed (BYOK)
Setup Time	15-30 minutes	10-15 minutes (existing cluster)
Infrastructure Management	Fully automated by Qovery	You manage infrastructure
Kubernetes Upgrades	Automatic, tested by Qovery	You control timing and process
Auto-scaling	Built-in (Karpenter on AWS)	You configure
Monitoring	Included	You provide
Cost	Infrastructure + Qovery platform	Infrastructure + Qovery platform
Customization	Standard configurations	Full control
Best For	Teams wanting automation	Teams with specific requirements

For production workloads, we recommend Qovery-Managed clusters for their automated updates, built-in best practices, and reduced operational overhead. Choose BYOK if you have specific compliance requirements or existing cluster investments.

Overview

Once your cluster is created, the cluster card displays comprehensive information about your cluster’s configuration and health: Cluster Details:

Deployed nodes and their current statuses
Instance type configuration (min/max instances)
Reserved resources: CPU, memory, and disk capacity
Current Kubernetes version with upgrade warnings if applicable
Last deployment timestamp and status
Karpenter nodepool grouping (if using Karpenter)
Per-node resource allocation

Statuses

Qovery tracks cluster health using two status categories:

Cluster Statuses

Status	Description
Running	Cluster is healthy and operational
Warning	Minor issues detected, requires attention
Error	Critical issues, intervention required
Status unavailable	Cluster unreachable or offline

Deployment Statuses

Status	Description
Deployment Queued	Deployment is waiting in the queue
Deploying	Deployment is currently in progress
Last Deployment Failed	The most recent deployment encountered errors
Last Deployment Succeeded	The most recent deployment completed successfully

Performing Actions on Clusters

Available cluster operations and their cloud provider compatibility:

Action	AWS	Azure	GCP	Scaleway	Description
Update	✅	✅	✅	✅	Redeploy cluster after configuration changes
Stop	✅	✅	✅	✅	Temporarily pause cluster (provider charges may still apply)
Restart	✅	✅	✅	✅	Resume a stopped cluster
Delete	✅	✅	✅	✅	Permanently remove cluster

To perform an action:

Navigate to your cluster page
Click the action dropdown menu
Select the desired action
Track progress through cluster logs

Updating a Cluster

Redeploys your cluster after making configuration changes through the Qovery Console or API.

Stopping a Cluster

Temporarily pauses your cluster to reduce costs.

Some cloud provider charges may continue even when the cluster is stopped (e.g., storage, reserved IPs, load balancers).

Restarting a Cluster

Resumes a stopped cluster and redeploys all services.

Deleting a Cluster

Permanently removes your cluster. You have three deletion options:

Default (Recommended): Complete cleanup
- Deletes all Qovery-managed resources
- Removes cloud provider infrastructure
- No residual costs
Delete on cloud provider and Qovery configuration: Manual database handling
- Deletes cluster from cloud provider
- Removes Qovery configuration
- Requires manual database cleanup
Delete Qovery configuration only: Keep cloud resources
- Removes Qovery management only
- Cloud infrastructure continues running
- Continue managing manually in cloud console

Cluster deletion is permanent and irreversible. Ensure you have backups before proceeding.

Additional Actions

Audit Logs:

Access complete cluster activity history
Track configuration changes and deployments
Available for compliance and troubleshooting

Cluster ID:

Retrieve unique cluster identifier
Required for API operations and support tickets

Kubeconfig:

Download Kubernetes configuration file
Enable direct kubectl access
Use for advanced debugging and management

Security Best Practice: Kubeconfig provides cluster-admin access. Store securely and never commit to version control.

Logs

Access cluster logs for troubleshooting and monitoring:

Navigate to your cluster page
Click Logs or View Logs
Use the tab system to view:
- Cluster Info: General cluster information
- Error Details: Specific error messages and stack traces

Successful Operations:

Error Logs:

Custom Domain and Wildcard TLS (Beta)

By default, Qovery assigns a subdomain under one of its managed domains (randomly assigned) to your cluster services. However, Let’s Encrypt rate limits may affect certificate issuance. To use your own custom domain with wildcard TLS certificates, Qovery supports Cloudflare and AWS Route53 integration.

Cloudflare Setup

Create Cloudflare API Token

Log into your Cloudflare account
Go to My Profile → API Tokens
Click Create Token
Use the Edit zone DNS template or create a custom token
Grant these permissions:
- Zone → DNS → Edit
- Zone → Zone → Read
Set Zone Resources to include your domain
Create and copy the token

Contact Qovery Support

Contact Qovery Support via your usual channel (in-app chat, Slack, or email) with the following information:

Your cluster ID
Your domain name (e.g., example.com)
Your Cloudflare API token
Your Cloudflare account email

The Qovery team will configure the integration for you.

Verify DNS

Once configured, Qovery will automatically manage DNS records in your Cloudflare account

AWS Route53 Setup

Create AWS IAM Credentials

Log into your AWS Console
Navigate to IAM → Users
Create a new user or select an existing one

Attach the policy with these permissions:

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "route53:GetChange",
        "route53:ChangeResourceRecordSets",
        "route53:ListResourceRecordSets"
      ],
      "Resource": [
        "arn:aws:route53:::hostedzone/*",
        "arn:aws:route53:::change/*"
      ]
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": "route53:ListHostedZonesByName",
      "Resource": "*"
    }
  ]
}

Create and save the Access Key ID and Secret Access Key

Get Hosted Zone ID (Optional)

In AWS Console, go to Route53 → Hosted zones
Select your domain
Copy the Hosted Zone ID (format: Z0123456789ABCDEFGHIJ)

The Hosted Zone ID is optional. If not provided, Qovery will auto-detect it.

Contact Qovery Support

Contact Qovery Support via your usual channel (in-app chat, Slack, or email) with the following information:

Your cluster ID
Your domain name (e.g., example.com)
Your AWS Access Key ID
Your AWS Secret Access Key
Your AWS region (e.g., us-east-1)
Your Hosted Zone ID (optional)

The Qovery team will configure the integration for you.

Verify DNS

Once configured, Qovery will automatically create and manage DNS records in your Route53 hosted zone

This feature is currently in Beta. Both Cloudflare and AWS Route53 are supported. Additional DNS providers will be added in future releases.

AWS Account Cleanup

If cluster deletion fails or leaves resources behind, you can manually clean up using AWS Console tags.

Manual Cleanup Steps

Open AWS Console

Navigate to the AWS Resource Groups & Tag Editor

Search for Qovery Resources

Select All supported resource types
Add tag filter: ClusterId or QoveryCluster
Search for resources

Review and Delete

Review the list of tagged resources
Manually delete each resource through AWS Console
Common resources to check:
- EC2 instances
- EKS clusters
- VPCs and networking components
- Load balancers
- EBS volumes
- Security groups

Manual cleanup should only be performed if automatic Qovery deletion fails. Always verify resources before deletion to avoid data loss.

FAQ

What is a cluster?

A cluster is a group of computing resources (nodes) that work together to run your applications. Learn more in our Basic Concepts guide.

Why do I need a cluster?

Clusters provide several key benefits:

Kubernetes orchestration: Automatic container management, scaling, and healing
Disaster recovery: Built-in redundancy and failover capabilities
Auto-scaling: Automatically adjust resources based on demand
Environment isolation: Separate development, staging, and production workloads
Multi-region deployment: Deploy applications closer to your users

What instance types are available?

Instance availability varies by cloud provider:AWS: 400+ instance types available

General purpose, compute optimized, memory optimized, storage optimized, GPU instances
Supports both x86_64 and ARM architectures (Graviton)

Scaleway: Multiple instance ranges

From cost-effective shared instances to dedicated high-performance options
x86_64 architecture

GCP: GKE auto-pilot

Fully managed node provisioning
Automatic optimization based on workload requirements
x86_64 architecture

Azure: Various VM series

Multiple performance tiers and specialized workloads
x86_64 architecture

Architecture compatibility: Ensure your container images support your chosen architecture (x86_64 or ARM).

How does Qovery handle Kubernetes upgrades?

Qovery follows a careful upgrade process:

Testing period: Each new Kubernetes version undergoes 1 month of internal testing
Rollout: After testing, updates roll out to customers over 3 weeks
Manual upgrades: Option available for customers who want to upgrade immediately

Never upgrade Kubernetes manually through your cloud provider console. This can cause incompatibilities with Qovery components. Always use Qovery-managed upgrades.

You’ll receive notifications when new versions are available for your clusters.

What happens when vulnerabilities are discovered?

Security is our main concern. When vulnerabilities surface:

Rapid identification: Continuous monitoring of security databases
Impact assessment: Evaluate severity and affected systems
Mitigation solutions: Develop and test patches
Customer communication: Transparent notifications with recommended actions
Deployment assistance: Guided remediation process

Critical security patches may be applied automatically after customer notification.

What is a mirroring registry?

A mirroring registry is a private container registry that caches images from public registries, providing:

Faster image pulls (cached locally)
Protection against rate limits
Improved reliability and availability
Better control over image versions

Learn more in our Image Mirroring documentation.

Why does my cluster show 'unavailable' status?

An unavailable status can occur due to:Common Causes:

Cluster manually stopped through cloud provider
Cloud provider outage or service disruption
Network connectivity issues
Accidental deletion of critical resources
Control plane issues

Troubleshooting Steps:

Check cloud provider status page for outages
Verify cluster hasn’t been manually stopped in cloud console
Review Qovery cluster logs for error messages
Check cloud credentials are still valid
Contact Qovery support if issue persists

Always manage clusters through Qovery Console to avoid status inconsistencies. Manual changes in cloud provider consoles can cause unexpected behavior.

Next Steps

Create Environment

Set up your first environment on the cluster

Deploy Application

Deploy your first application

Configure Monitoring

Set up observability and monitoring

Secure Your Cluster

Implement security best practices

Overview

Account & Organization

Clusters & Cloud

Source Control

Projects & Environments

Services

Deployment & CI/CD

Secrets Management

Observability

Notifications

Networking & Advanced

​Managing your Clusters with Qovery

​Creating a Cluster

AWS EKS

AWS EKS Anywhere

Azure AKS

GCP GKE

Scaleway Kapsule

​Managed Cluster by Qovery vs Self-Managed

Qovery-Managed Cluster

Self-Managed Cluster (BYOK)

​Comparison

​Overview

​Statuses

​Cluster Statuses

​Deployment Statuses

​Performing Actions on Clusters

​Updating a Cluster

​Stopping a Cluster

​Restarting a Cluster

​Deleting a Cluster

​Additional Actions

​Logs

​Custom Domain and Wildcard TLS (Beta)

​Cloudflare Setup

​AWS Route53 Setup

​AWS Account Cleanup

​Manual Cleanup Steps

​FAQ

​Next Steps

Create Environment

Deploy Application

Configure Monitoring

Secure Your Cluster

Managing your Clusters with Qovery

Creating a Cluster

Managed Cluster by Qovery vs Self-Managed

Comparison

Overview

Statuses

Cluster Statuses

Deployment Statuses

Performing Actions on Clusters

Updating a Cluster

Stopping a Cluster

Restarting a Cluster

Deleting a Cluster

Additional Actions

Logs

Custom Domain and Wildcard TLS (Beta)

Cloudflare Setup

AWS Route53 Setup

AWS Account Cleanup

Manual Cleanup Steps

FAQ

Next Steps