When you no longer need a cluster, or if it becomes unavailable due to accidental operations such as releasing the Server Load Balancer (SLB) instance associated with the API server, you can delete it from the Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) console.
Cluster deletion is irreversible. You cannot recover the cluster or its workloads after deletion. If you need to resume operations, you must create a new cluster and redeploy your applications.
Considerations
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Delete all workloads first. ACK blocks cluster deletion if any workloads — Deployments, StatefulSets, Jobs, or CronJobs — remain in the cluster. Remove all workloads before proceeding. For more information, see Workloads.
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Lingjun computing nodes are retained by default. ACK Lingjun managed clusters contain Lingjun computing nodes, which cannot be unsubscribed or released. By default, these nodes remain after you delete the cluster.
Delete a cluster
Before you delete a cluster, ensure that you have:
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Deleted all workloads in the cluster, including Deployments, StatefulSets, Jobs, and CronJobs.
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(Optional) Disabled Deletion Protection if it is enabled on the cluster: in the Actions column, choose More > Disable Deletion Protection and follow the on-screen instructions.
To delete a cluster:
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Log on to the ACK console. In the left navigation pane, click Clusters.
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Find the cluster you want to delete. In the Actions column, choose More > Delete.
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In the Delete Cluster panel, review the resources that will be automatically deleted, such as ECS, ECI, and ACS instances. Select any resources you want to retain, read the deletion and billing notes, and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the deletion.
FAQ
Why can't I delete my cluster?
The most common cause is workloads still running in the cluster. ACK blocks deletion until all Deployments, StatefulSets, Jobs, and CronJobs are removed.
If no workloads remain but deletion still fails, the issue is likely a Resource Orchestration Service (ROS) dependency. ROS cannot automatically release a resource that contains manually added subresources — for example, a virtual private cloud (VPC) with a manually added vSwitch. When this happens, ACK lets you force-delete the cluster.
To force-delete a cluster after a failed attempt:
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On the Clusters page, find the cluster and choose More > Delete in the Actions column.
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In the dialog box, review the resources that failed to be deleted, then click OK to delete the cluster and its ROS resource stack.
Force deletion does not release ROS-managed resources or manually added resources. Release these resources manually after the cluster is deleted. If you selected Retain Resources in the Delete Cluster dialog box, those resources are also not released automatically — you must manually release them.