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# Create an ACK capability using the Console
<a name="ack-create-console"></a>

Create an ACK capability on your Amazon EKS cluster using the AWS Management Console.

## Create the ACK capability
<a name="_create_the_ack_capability"></a>

1. Open the Amazon EKS console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/eks/home\#/clusters.

1. Select your cluster name to open the cluster detail page.

1. In the left navigation pane, choose **Capabilities**.

1. In the left navigation, choose ** AWS Controllers for Kubernetes (ACK)**.

1. Choose **Create AWS Controllers for Kubernetes capability**.

1. For **IAM Capability Role**:
   + If you already have an IAM Capability Role, select it from the dropdown
   + If you need to create a role, choose **Create admin role** 

     This opens the IAM console in a new tab with pre-populated trust policy and the `AdministratorAccess` managed policy. You can unselect this policy and add other permissions if you prefer.

     After creating the role, return to the EKS console and the role will be automatically selected.
**Important**  
The suggested `AdministratorAccess` policy grants broad permissions and is intended to streamline getting started. For production use, replace this with a custom policy that grants only the permissions needed for the specific AWS services you plan to manage with ACK. For guidance on creating least-privilege policies, see [Configure ACK permissions](ack-permissions.md) and [Security considerations for EKS Capabilities](capabilities-security.md).

1.  **(Optional) Configure ACK settings**:

   The ** AWS Controllers for Kubernetes (ACK) configuration** section includes two optional settings. For a description of each setting and its constraints, see [ACK capability configuration options](create-ack-capability.md#ack-configuration-options).

   1. Select **Enable cross-namespace references** if you want ACK resources to resolve references to resources in other Kubernetes namespaces. This checkbox is cleared by default, and the capability is created with cross-namespace references turned off unless you select it. For more information, see [Cross-namespace resource references](ack-concepts.md#ack-cross-namespace-references).

   1. For **Disabled services**, enter an ACK service name, for example `s3`, and then choose **Add service**. Repeat this for each service whose controller you want to turn off, and choose the remove icon on a service to take it back off the list. Leave the list empty to run the controllers for all supported ACK services.

1. Choose **Create**.

The capability creation process begins.

You can review both settings on the capability detail page after the capability is created, and change them at any time. For the steps to change them, see [Update ACK capability configuration](working-with-capabilities.md#ack-update-configuration).

## Verify the capability is active
<a name="_verify_the_capability_is_active"></a>

1. On the **Capabilities** page, view the ACK capability status.

1. Wait for the status to change from `CREATING` to `ACTIVE`.

1. Once active, the capability is ready to use.

For information about capability statuses and troubleshooting, see [Working with capability resources](working-with-capabilities.md).

## Verify custom resources are available
<a name="_verify_custom_resources_are_available"></a>

After the capability is active, verify that ACK custom resources are available in your cluster.

 **Using the console** 

1. Navigate to your cluster in the Amazon EKS console

1. In the left navigation pane, choose **Resources** 

1. Choose **Extensions** 

1. Choose **CustomResourceDefinitions** 

You should see a number of CRDs listed for AWS resources.

 **Using kubectl** 

```
kubectl api-resources | grep services.k8s.aws
```

You should see a number of APIs listed for AWS resources.

**Note**  
The capability for AWS Controllers for Kubernetes will install a number of CRDs for a variety of AWS resources.

## Next steps
<a name="_next_steps"></a>
+  [ACK concepts](ack-concepts.md) - Understand ACK concepts and get started
+  [Configure ACK permissions](ack-permissions.md) - Configure IAM permissions for other AWS services
+  [Working with capability resources](working-with-capabilities.md) - Manage your ACK capability resource