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# Create the CoreDNS Amazon EKS add-on
<a name="coredns-add-on-create"></a>

Create the CoreDNS Amazon EKS add-on. You must have a cluster before you create the add-on. For more information, see [Create an Amazon EKS cluster](create-cluster.md).

1. See which version of the add-on is installed on your cluster.

   ```
   kubectl describe deployment coredns --namespace kube-system | grep coredns: | cut -d : -f 3
   ```

   An example output is as follows.

   ```
   v1.10.1-eksbuild.13
   ```

1. See which type of the add-on is installed on your cluster. Depending on the tool that you created your cluster with, you might not currently have the Amazon EKS add-on type installed on your cluster. Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster.

   ```
   aws eks describe-addon --cluster-name my-cluster --addon-name coredns --query addon.addonVersion --output text
   ```

   If a version number is returned, you have the Amazon EKS type of the add-on installed on your cluster and don’t need to complete the remaining steps in this procedure. If an error is returned, you don’t have the Amazon EKS type of the add-on installed on your cluster. Complete the remaining steps of this procedure to install it.

1. Save the configuration of your currently installed add-on.

   ```
   kubectl get deployment coredns -n kube-system -o yaml > aws-k8s-coredns-old.yaml
   ```

1. Create the add-on using the AWS CLI. If you want to use the AWS Management Console or `eksctl` to create the add-on, see [Create an Amazon EKS add-on](creating-an-add-on.md) and specify `coredns` for the add-on name. Copy the command that follows to your device. Make the following modifications to the command, as needed, and then run the modified command.
   + Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster.
   + Replace *v1.11.3-eksbuild.1* with the latest version listed in the [latest version table](managing-coredns.md#coredns-versions) for your cluster version.

     ```
     aws eks create-addon --cluster-name my-cluster --addon-name coredns --addon-version v1.11.3-eksbuild.1
     ```

     If you’ve applied custom settings to your current add-on that conflict with the default settings of the Amazon EKS add-on, creation might fail. If creation fails, you receive an error that can help you resolve the issue. Alternatively, you can add `--resolve-conflicts OVERWRITE` to the previous command. This allows the add-on to overwrite any existing custom settings. Once you’ve created the add-on, you can update it with your custom settings.

1. Confirm that the latest version of the add-on for your cluster’s Kubernetes version was added to your cluster. Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster.

   ```
   aws eks describe-addon --cluster-name my-cluster --addon-name coredns --query addon.addonVersion --output text
   ```

   It might take several seconds for add-on creation to complete.

   An example output is as follows.

   ```
   v1.11.3-eksbuild.1
   ```

1. If you made custom settings to your original add-on, before you created the Amazon EKS add-on, use the configuration that you saved in a previous step to update the Amazon EKS add-on with your custom settings. For instructions to update the add-on, see [Update the CoreDNS Amazon EKS add-on](coredns-add-on-update.md).