AWS Snowball Edge is no longer available to new customers. New customers should explore [AWS DataSync](https://aws.amazon.com/datasync/) for online transfers, [AWS Data Transfer Terminal](https://aws.amazon.com/data-transfer-terminal/) for secure physical transfers, or AWS Partner solutions. For edge computing, explore [AWS Outposts](https://aws.amazon.com/outposts/). 

# Creating and maintaining clusters on Snowball Edge devices
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## Best practices for creating clusters on a Snowball Edge
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To create an Amazon EKS Anywhere cluster, refer to [Create Snow clusters](https://anywhere.eks.amazonaws.com/docs/getting-started/production-environment/snow-getstarted/).

Keep the following best practices in mind when creating Amazon EKS Anywhere clusters on Snowball Edge devices:
+ Before creating a cluster in a static IP address range, ensure that there are no other clusters on your Snowball Edge device using the same IP address range.
+ Before creating a cluster with DHCP addressing on your Snowball Edge device, ensure that all static IP address ranges in use for clusters are not in the DHCP pool subnet.
+ When creating more than one cluster, wait until one cluster is successfully provisioned and running before you create another one.

## Upgrading clusters on a Snowball Edge
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To upgrade an Amazon EKS Anywhere admin AMI or EKS Distro AMI, contact AWS Support. Support will provide a Snowball Edge update containing the upgraded AMI. Then, download and install the Snowball Edge update. See [Downloading updates to Snowball Edge devices](download-updates.md) and [Installing updates to Snowball Edge devices](install-updates.md).

After you upgrade your Amazon EKS Anywhere AMI, you need to start a new Amazon EKS Anywhere admin instance. See [Run an Amazon EKS Anywhere admin instance on a Snowball Edge](eksa-configuration.md#start-admin-instance). Then, copy key files, the cluster folder, credentials, and certificates from the previous admin instance to the upgraded instance. These are in a folder that's named for the cluster.

## Cleaning up cluster resources on a Snowball Edge
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If you create multiple clusters on your Snowball Edge devices and don't delete them correctly or if there is a problem in the cluster and the cluster creates replacement nodes after resuming, there will be resource leak. A sample script tool is available for you to modify and use to clean your Amazon EKS Anywhere admin instance and your Snowball Edge devices. See [Amazon EKS Anywhere on AWS Snow cleanup tools](https://github.com/aws-samples/aws-snow-tools-for-eks-anywhere/tree/main/cleanup-tools#eks-anywhere-on-snow-cleanup-tools).