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# Remove an Amazon EKS add-on from a cluster
Remove an add-on

You can remove an Amazon EKS add-on from your cluster using `eksctl`, the AWS Management Console, or the AWS CLI.

When you remove an Amazon EKS add-on from a cluster:
+ There is no downtime for the functionality that the add-on provides.
+ If you are using IAM Roles for Service Accounts (IRSA) and the add-on has an IAM role associated with it, the IAM role isn’t removed.
+ If you are using Pod Identities, any Pod Identity Associations owned by the add-on are removed. If you specify the `--preserve` option to the AWS CLI, the associations are preserved.
+ Amazon EKS stops managing settings for the add-on.
+ The console stops notifying you when new versions are available.
+ You can’t update the add-on using any AWS tools or APIs.
+ You can choose to leave the add-on software on your cluster so that you can self-manage it, or you can remove the add-on software from your cluster. You should only remove the add-on software from your cluster if there are no resources on your cluster are dependent on the functionality that the add-on provides.

## Prerequisites


Complete the following before you create an add-on:
+ An existing Amazon EKS cluster. To deploy one, see [Get started with Amazon EKS](getting-started.md).
+ Check if your add-on requires an IAM role. For more information, see
+ Version `0.215.0` or later of the `eksctl` command line tool installed on your device or AWS CloudShell. To install or update `eksctl`, see [Installation](https://eksctl.io/installation) in the `eksctl` documentation..

## Procedure


You have two options when removing an Amazon EKS add-on.
+  **Preserve add-on software on your cluster** – This option removes Amazon EKS management of any settings. It also removes the ability for Amazon EKS to notify you of updates and automatically update the Amazon EKS add-on after you initiate an update. However, it preserves the add-on software on your cluster. This option makes the add-on a self-managed installation, rather than an Amazon EKS add-on. With this option, there’s no downtime for the add-on.
+  **Remove add-on software entirely from your cluster** – We recommend that you remove the Amazon EKS add-on from your cluster only if there are no resources on your cluster that are dependent on it.

You can remove an Amazon EKS add-on using `eksctl`, the AWS Management Console, or the AWS CLI.

### Remove add-on (eksctl)


1. Determine the current add-ons installed on your cluster. Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster.

   ```
   eksctl get addon --cluster my-cluster
   ```

   An example output is as follows.

   ```
   NAME        VERSION              STATUS  ISSUES  IAMROLE  UPDATE AVAILABLE
   coredns     v1.8.7-eksbuild.2    ACTIVE  0
   kube-proxy  v1.23.7-eksbuild.1   ACTIVE  0
   vpc-cni     v1.10.4-eksbuild.1   ACTIVE  0
   [...]
   ```

   Your output might look different, depending on which add-ons and versions that you have on your cluster.

1. Remove the add-on. Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster and *name-of-add-on* with the name of the add-on returned in the output of the previous step that you want to remove. If you remove the *--preserve* option, in addition to Amazon EKS no longer managing the add-on, the add-on software is deleted from your cluster.

   ```
   eksctl delete addon --cluster my-cluster --name name-of-addon --preserve
   ```

   For more information about removing add-ons, see [Deleting addons](https://eksctl.io/usage/addons/#deleting-addons) in the `eksctl` documentation.

### Remove add-on (AWS Console)


1. Open the [Amazon EKS console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/eks/home#/clusters).

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

1. Choose the name of the cluster that you want to remove the Amazon EKS add-on for.

1. Choose the **Add-ons** tab.

1. Choose the add-on that you want to remove.

1. Choose **Remove**.

1. In the **Remove: *name of addon* ** confirmation dialog box, do the following:

   1. If you want Amazon EKS to stop managing settings for the add-on, select **Preserve on cluster**. Do this if you want to retain the add-on software on your cluster. This is so that you can manage all of the settings of the add-on on your own.

   1. Enter the add-on name.

   1. Choose **Remove**.

### Remove add-on (AWS CLI)


1. You need version `0.215.0` or later of the `eksctl` command line tool installed on your device or AWS CloudShell. To install or update `eksctl`, see [Installation](https://eksctl.io/installation) in the `eksctl` documentation.

1. See a list of installed add-ons. Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster.

   ```
   aws eks list-addons --cluster-name my-cluster
   ```

   An example output is as follows.

   ```
   {
       "addons": [
           "coredns",
           "kube-proxy",
           "vpc-cni",
           "name-of-addon"
       ]
   }
   ```

1. Remove the installed add-on. Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster and *name-of-add-on* with the name of the add-on that you want to remove. Removing *--preserve* deletes the add-on software from your cluster.

   ```
   aws eks delete-addon --cluster-name my-cluster --addon-name name-of-addon --preserve
   ```

   The abbreviated example output is as follows.

   ```
   {
       "addon": {
           "addonName": "name-of-add-on",
           "clusterName": "my-cluster",
           "status": "DELETING",
       }
   }
   ```

1. Check the status of the removal. Replace *my-cluster* with the name of your cluster and *name-of-addon* with the name of the add-on that you’re removing.

   ```
   aws eks describe-addon --cluster-name my-cluster --addon-name name-of-addon
   ```

   After the add-on is removed, the example output is as follows.

   ```
   An error occurred (ResourceNotFoundException) when calling the DescribeAddon operation: No addon: name-of-addon found in cluster: my-cluster
   ```