aws / aws/containers-roadmap

[EKS] [request]: Provide option to customize Auto Mode launch options to disable/enable swap

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EKS EKS Auto Mode Proposed
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Description

### Community Note

* Please vote on this issue by adding a 👍 [reaction](https://blog.github.com/2016-03-10-add-reactions-to-pull-requests-issues-and-comments/) to the original issue to help the community and maintainers prioritize this request
* Please do not leave "+1" or "me too" comments, they generate extra noise for issue followers and do not help prioritize the request
* If you are interested in working on this issue or have submitted a pull request, please leave a comment

**Tell us about your request**
I would like to be able to disable swap which is currently present and ON by default at least in `Bottlerocket (EKS Auto, Standard) 2026.8.10 (aws-k8s-1.34-standard)`

**Which service(s) is this request for?**
EKS

**Tell us about the problem you're trying to solve. What are you trying to do, and why is it hard?**
Default parameters for swap usage is 200 and tight memory usage in deployed node can lead your node into indefinite high CPU usage by `[kswapd0]` outside of Karpenter management
Users should have ability to disable swap memory which can be harmful when enabled by default.
This makes using Auto Mode dangerous for any production environment as it creates instability due to unexpected CPU usage spikes

**Are you currently working around this issue?**
I believe Auto Mode makes it impossible to customize right now, unless there is some hack to do it with custom node pool
We can only use DaemonSet to reduce `vm.swappiness` from 200 to more manageable 60
[Example](https://gist.github.com/DoumanAsh/b9703856890e46ebdd20c7a1db612f16)

I created terraform [module](https://github.com/DoumanAsh/aws-tf/tree/master/modules/aws-eks-config-oneshot-daemon) to provide more convenient way to deploy daemon

**Additional context**
Swap by default is dangerous when not communicated to user as it creates unexplained issues (CPU spike, liveness probe failures due to CPU overload)

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by reviewing the EKS Auto Mode launch options and the current Bottlerocket swap behavior described in the issue. Compare this with the custom node pool, DaemonSet workaround, and referenced Terraform module. Done should provide a supported option to enable or disable swap and clearly describe its resulting behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
aws, kubernetes, terraform
Domain
cloud, infrastructure
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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