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AWS Container Services

AWS offers multiple services to run and manage containerized applications at scale. The main services include:

  • Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service): A fully managed container orchestration service.
  • Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service): A managed Kubernetes service.
  • Amazon ECR (Elastic Container Registry): A fully managed Docker container registry.
  • AWS Fargate: A serverless compute engine for containers, works with ECS and EKS.

This guide explains how these services fit together, how to use them with the AWS Console (UI), and programmatically with the AWS CLI and SDKs.

Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS)

Overview

  • Fully managed container orchestration service.
  • Supports EC2 launch type (you manage the EC2 instances) or Fargate launch type (serverless).
  • Uses tasks (definitions of containers) and services (long-running containers).

Console (UI) Setup

  1. Open ECS Console.
  2. Click Create cluster.
    • Choose EC2 or Fargate.
  3. Create a Task Definition:
    • Specify container image (from ECR, Docker Hub, or custom).
    • Define CPU/memory.
    • Add environment variables and networking.
  4. Create a Service:
    • Choose cluster, task definition, number of tasks.
    • Configure load balancer (optional).
  5. Deploy and monitor your containers.

CLI Example: Run ECS Task

aws ecs run-task \
  --cluster myCluster \
  --launch-type FARGATE \
  --network-configuration "awsvpcConfiguration={subnets=[subnet-12345],securityGroups=[sg-12345],assignPublicIp=ENABLED}" \
  --task-definition myTaskDef

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)

Overview

  • Managed Kubernetes control plane.
  • Integrates with AWS services like IAM, VPC, CloudWatch, and Fargate.
  • Developers use standard kubectl commands.

Console (UI) Setup

  1. Open EKS Console → Add Cluster.
  2. Configure:
    • Cluster name
    • Kubernetes version
    • IAM role for cluster
  3. Configure node groups:
    • EC2 managed nodes or Fargate profiles.
  4. Launch the cluster and connect via kubectl.

CLI Example: Create Cluster

aws eks create-cluster \
  --name myCluster \
  --role-arn arn:aws:iam::123456789012:role/EKSClusterRole \
  --resources-vpc-config subnetIds=subnet-abc123,securityGroupIds=sg-abc123

Kubectl Example

kubectl create deployment nginx --image=nginx
kubectl expose deployment nginx --port=80 --type=LoadBalancer

Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR)

Overview

  • Managed Docker container registry.
  • Secure, private, and integrated with IAM.
  • Supports vulnerability scanning and lifecycle policies.

Console (UI) Setup

  1. Open ECR Console.
  2. Click Create repository.
  3. Configure:
    • Repository name
    • Tag immutability
    • Scan on push
  4. Push images using Docker CLI.

CLI Example: Push Image

aws ecr create-repository --repository-name my-app

aws ecr get-login-password --region us-east-1 \
  | docker login --username AWS --password-stdin <account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com

docker build -t my-app .
docker tag my-app:latest <account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/my-app:latest
docker push <account-id>.dkr.ecr.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/my-app:latest

AWS Fargate

Overview

  • Serverless compute engine for containers.
  • Runs containers without provisioning or managing servers.
  • Works with both ECS and EKS.

Console (UI) Setup with ECS

  1. Open ECS Console.
  2. Create a Task Definition with Fargate launch type.
  3. Create a Service and select Fargate.
  4. Deploy containers with AWS-managed compute.

CLI Example: Run Container with Fargate

aws ecs run-task \
  --cluster myCluster \
  --launch-type FARGATE \
  --task-definition myTaskDef \
  --network-configuration "awsvpcConfiguration={subnets=[subnet-xyz],securityGroups=[sg-xyz],assignPublicIp=ENABLED}"

Best Practices

  • ECR Security: Enable image scanning and enforce tag immutability.
  • Networking: Use VPC, private subnets, and security groups for secure deployments.
  • Monitoring: Use CloudWatch, Container Insights, and X-Ray for observability.
  • Autoscaling: Use Application Auto Scaling for ECS services or Kubernetes Cluster Autoscaler for EKS.
  • CI/CD: Integrate with AWS CodePipeline, GitHub Actions, or Jenkins to automate builds and deployments.

Common Use Cases

  • Microservices Architecture: Run multiple isolated services in ECS/EKS.
  • Hybrid Deployments: Run workloads across on-premises and AWS with EKS Anywhere.
  • Batch Processing: Use ECS/EKS with Fargate for event-driven workloads.
  • CI/CD Pipelines: Build and push Docker images to ECR, deploy automatically to ECS/EKS.

Summary

AWS Container Services provide flexibility for container orchestration, registry, and compute:

  • ECS: AWS-native container orchestration.
  • EKS: Kubernetes orchestration.
  • ECR: Secure image storage and management.
  • Fargate: Serverless container compute.

By combining these services, developers can build scalable, secure, and automated containerized applications in the cloud.