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Container Service for Kubernetes:Get started with ACK Edge

Last Updated:Jun 23, 2026

ACK Edge is Alibaba Cloud's managed cloud-edge integration solution for edge computing. This topic covers usage notes, the quick-start workflow, and feature guides to help you get started.ACK Edge cluster, and add edge nodes to manage cloud-edge resources.

Usage notes

Review the following before using an ACK Edge cluster.

Item

Description

References

Announcements and updates

Updates and announcements for ACK Edge clusters.

Release notes

Release notes for ACK Edge clusters, Kubernetes versions, OS images, runtimes, and add-ons.ACK Edge clusters, Kubernetes versions, OS images, runtimes, and components.

Regions

Regions that support ACK Edge clusters.

Available regions

Supported time zones

Time zones supported by ACK Edge clusters.

Time zones

Usage notes and instructions on high-risk operations

Review usage notes and risks associated with ACK Edge clusters.

Usage notes and risky operations

Limits

Limits for ACK Edge clusters, such as capacity limits and quotas.

Quotas and limits

Quick start

ACK Edge clusters let you manage edge computing resources within a single Kubernetes cluster and sink Alibaba Cloud capabilities to the edge to improve resource and application O&M efficiency and keep workloads stable. Follow these steps to get started.s let you manage edge computing resources within a single Kubernetes cluster. Follow these steps to get started.

The following figure shows the ACK Edge cluster workflow:

image

Prepare the environment

Step

Description

References

  1. Prepare the network environment

Confirm the network environment and network plugin before creating an ACK Edge cluster.

  1. Activate and authorize ACK

Before creating an ACK Edge cluster, activate ACK Edge for free. If ACK is not activated beforehand, cluster creation may fail.ACK Edge cluster.

Activate Container Service for Kubernetes and authorize roles

  1. Create a cluster

Create an ACK edge cluster in the ACK console, via API, or with Terraform.

  1. Add an edge node

ACK Edge clusters manage multiple resource types, including data center nodes, ECS nodes across regions and cloud providers, and Edge Node Service (ENS) nodes. Add edge nodes to use these features.

Features

Type

Feature

Description

References

Edge scalability

Network autonomy of edge nodes

Configure edge node autonomy so applications keep running when an edge node disconnects from the cloud, without pod eviction or migration to other edge nodes.

Configure edge node autonomy

Application management

In edge scenarios such as multi-region nodes and on-premises data centers, use YurtAppSets and DaemonSet update models for application management.

  • YurtAppSets: Manage multiple workloads, such as Deployments.

  • DaemonSet update models: ACK Edge provides AdvancedRollingUpdate and OTA update model extensions to prevent stuck updates during cloud-edge disconnections.

Cross-region communication

Use the Raven add-on for cross-domain communication when cloud-edge resources are in different network domains.

Configure Raven for cross-domain communication

Offline O&M

When edge node autonomy is enabled, the cloud control plane cannot modify edge workloads. Use offline O&M tools for emergency operations, including business rollback, resource configuration changes, and business updates.

Offline O&M for edge nodes

Elastic Cloud Resource

Elasticity for ECS nodes, elastic container instances, and ACS instances

When on-premises resources are insufficient, ACK Edge clusters scale out cloud nodes. Supported elastic resources include ECS-based node pools, elastic container instances, and ACS-based instances.

Cloud Capability Sinking

Observability

ACK Edge clusters integrate monitoring, logging, and Node Problem Detector (NPD) to ensure edge service stability.

Cloud-native AI suite

ACK Edge clusters integrate with the cloud-native AI suite for the AI console, GPU sharing and scheduling, KServe, and Fluid acceleration.

Image Acceleration

Accelerate image pulling to reduce deployment time. ACK Edge clusters support on-demand and P2P image loading.

Security management

Improve security governance with cloud security capabilities. ACK Edge clusters support cluster auditing, custom Subject Alternative Names (SANs) for the API server certificate, Secret encryption, and RAM Roles for Service Accounts (RRSA).