AKS Edge Essentials requirements and support matrix
This article describes the requirements for the host machine that runs AKS Edge Essentials:
Hardware requirements
Specs | Local cluster | Arc-connected cluster and GitOps |
---|---|---|
Host OS | Windows 10/11 IoT Enterprise/Enterprise/Pro and Windows Server 2019, 2022 | |
Total physical memory | 4 GB with at least 2.5 GB free | 8 GB with at least 4.5 GB free |
CPU | 2 vCPUs, clock speed at least 1.8 GHz | 4 vCPUs, clock speed at least 1.8 GHz |
Disk space | At least 14 GB free | At least 14 GB free |
To better understand the concept of vCPUs, see this article.
You can run AKS Edge Essentials in an Azure VM. You can create a Windows VM with either Windows 10/11 IoT Enterprise/Enterprise/Pro and Windows Server 2019, 2022 SKU, on a VM image that supports nested virtualization such as the Dv5 and Dsv5-series virtual machines.
You can also run AKS EE in a virtual machine on VMware and Hyper-V as described here.
OS requirements
Install Windows 10/11 IoT Enterprise/Enterprise/Pro on your machine and activate Windows. We recommend using the latest client version 22H2 (OS build 19045) or Server 2022 (OS build 20348). You can download a version of Windows 10 here or Windows 11 here.
Note
Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, Windows 11 IoT Enterprise, and Windows Server 2022 IoT Enterprise are binary-equivalent to the non-IoT releases, differing in licensing and distribution.
Maximum hardware specifications supported
Parameter | Permissible limit |
---|---|
Maximum number of VMs per machine | 1 Linux VM + 1 Windows VM (optional) |
Maximum number of vCPUs assigned to virtual machines | 16 vCPUs |
Maximum number of machines per cluster | 15 machines |
Note
The vCPU limit is per-host, not per-node.
GA feature support matrix
- Kubernetes Distribution supported: Kubernetes (K8S) - Version: 1.24.3 and on Kubernetes (K3S) - Version: 1.24.3
- Deployment options: Single-machine clusters and full Kubernetes deployment on single machines only. Full deployment across multiple machines isn't supported in GA.
- Workloads: Only Linux worker nodes.
- Network plugins: Calico on K8S and Flannel on K3S.
Experimental or prerelease features
- Deployment options: Full Kubernetes deployment on multiple machines.
- Workloads: Windows worker nodes.
- Network plugins: Flannel on K8S and Calico on K3S.
Next steps
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