Amazon EKS Auto Mode adds Application Recovery Controller zonal shift
Amazon EKS Auto Mode now integrates with Application Recovery Controller (ARC) zonal shift to automatically protect Kubernetes applications from Availability Zone (AZ) disruptions. This enhancement ensures application availability by rerouting network traffic away from impaired AZs without requiring additional customer configuration. The feature is available for EKS Auto Mode clusters in all supported AWS Regions.
- →EKS Auto Mode supports ARC zonal shift for AZ disruptions
- →Automated capacity management during zonal shifts
- →Simplified ARC zonal shift enablement
- →Zonal autoshift and practice runs available
Features (1) ›
- EKS Auto Mode supports ARC zonal shift for AZ disruptions
Amazon EKS Auto Mode now integrates with Application Recovery Controller (ARC) zonal shift, automatically shielding compute resources during a zonal outage. This feature redirects network traffic away from an impaired AZ to maintain Kubernetes application availability without requiring manual intervention or configuration updates.
Enhancements (2) ›
- Automated capacity management during zonal shifts
When a zonal shift is active, EKS Auto Mode automatically halts new capacity provisioning and voluntary disruptions like consolidation or drift in the impaired AZ. It also prevents disruptions in healthy zones that depend on resources in the impaired zone, ensuring cluster stability.
- Simplified ARC zonal shift enablement
Customers can enable ARC zonal shift for EKS Auto Mode without needing to set flags, grant permissions, or manage Karpenter versions. The integration simplifies achieving higher application availability across multiple AZs.
Notes (1) ›
- Zonal autoshift and practice runs available
Users can initiate zonal shifts manually or configure zonal autoshift for automated management by AWS. Practice runs are also available to verify cluster functionality with a reduced number of AZs.
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2026/07/eks-auto-mode-arc-zonal-shift