“AWS have partnered to enable the use of Ubuntu worker nodes within Amazon’s Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS). This fully managed service simplifies Kubernetes deployment on AWS, even for those who aren’t Kubernetes experts.

These images are built on the official Ubuntu Minimal LTS base and come with a custom Ubuntu-aws optimized kernel. They are specifically tailored for EKS and not meant for general OS use.

For enhanced security features such as FIPS mode, Expanded Security Maintenance (ESM), CIS or Disa STIG hardening, and Kernel Livepatch, users can opt for an upgrade to Ubuntu Pro.

To deploy Ubuntu worker nodes on EKS, various methods are available, including eksctl, EC2 Launch templates through the EKS console, CloudFormation templates, and other options.

If you need to run your worker nodes in FIPS mode, with Kernel Livepatch, or with ESM content, you can explore the upgrade to Ubuntu Pro by visiting this AWS Marketplace link for more information.”