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Elastic IP

Overview​

The ElasticIP resource manages AWS Elastic IP (EIP) addresses, providing static IPv4 addresses for your VPC resources.

Use Cases​

  • Static Public IPs: Assign persistent public IP addresses to instances
  • NAT Gateway IPs: Allocate IPs for NAT Gateways
  • Load Balancer IPs: Use for Network Load Balancers
  • Failover: Quickly remap IPs between instances

Basic Example​

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: ElasticIP
metadata:
  name: my-elastic-ip
  namespace: default
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider

  # Domain type (vpc or standard)
  domain: vpc

  # Tags
  tags:
    Environment: production
    ManagedBy: infra-operator

  # Deletion policy
  deletionPolicy: Delete

Spec Fields​

FieldTypeRequiredDescription
providerRefObjectYesReference to AWSProvider
domainStringNoDomain type: vpc (default) or standard
networkBorderGroupStringNoNetwork border group for the IP
publicIpv4PoolStringNoPublic IPv4 pool to allocate from
tagsMapNoKey-value tags
deletionPolicyStringNoDelete (default), Retain, or Orphan

Status Fields​

FieldDescription
readyBoolean indicating if EIP is allocated
allocationIdAWS allocation ID
publicIpThe allocated public IP address
associationIdAssociation ID if attached to instance
privateIpAddressAssociated private IP
networkInterfaceIdAssociated network interface
instanceIdAssociated EC2 instance ID

Advanced Examples​

With Network Border Group​

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: ElasticIP
metadata:
  name: regional-eip
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  domain: vpc
  networkBorderGroup: us-east-1-wl1-bos-wlz-1
  tags:
    Region: us-east-1
    Zone: wavelength

With Custom IPv4 Pool​

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: ElasticIP
metadata:
  name: byoip-eip
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  domain: vpc
  publicIpv4Pool: ipv4pool-ec2-012345abcde67890f
  tags:
    Pool: custom-byoip

Retain on Deletion​

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: ElasticIP
metadata:
  name: persistent-eip
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  domain: vpc
  deletionPolicy: Retain  # Don't delete EIP when CR is deleted
  tags:
    Lifecycle: retain

Domain Types​

VPC Domain (Default)​

  • For use with VPC instances
  • Modern AWS accounts
  • Supports all EC2-VPC features

Example:

domain: vpc

Standard Domain (Classic)​

  • For EC2-Classic (legacy)
  • Rare use case
  • Not recommended for new deployments

Example:

domain: standard

Association​

Elastic IPs are automatically associated with resources when specified in their configuration:

With NAT Gateway​

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: NATGateway
metadata:
  name: my-nat
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  subnetId: subnet-12345
  allocationId: eipalloc-67890  # From ElasticIP status

With Network Load Balancer​

Example:

apiVersion: aws-infra-operator.runner.codes/v1alpha1
kind: NLB
metadata:
  name: my-nlb
spec:
  providerRef:
    name: aws-provider
  loadBalancerName: my-nlb
  subnets:
- subnet-12345
  subnetMappings:
- subnetId: subnet-12345
      allocationId: eipalloc-67890  # From ElasticIP status

Deletion Policies​

Delete (Default)​

Release the Elastic IP when CR is deleted:

deletionPolicy: Delete

Retain​

Keep the EIP in AWS but remove CR:

deletionPolicy: Retain

Orphan​

Remove CR but leave EIP running:

deletionPolicy: Orphan

Monitoring​

Check Elastic IP status:

kubectl get elasticip my-elastic-ip -o yaml

Example output:

status:
  ready: true
  allocationId: eipalloc-0123456789abcdef0
  publicIp: 54.123.45.67
  domain: vpc
  lastSyncTime: "2025-01-23T10:30:00Z"

Best Practices​

Best Practices
  • Release unused EIPs — AWS charges for unattached Elastic IPs (~$3.60/month)
  • Associate EIP before NAT Gateway — NAT requires EIP for internet connectivity
  • Use consistent naming — Include purpose (nat, bastion, api) in Name tag
  • Plan IP allocation — Account for HA (multiple NATs) and future growth
  • Document IP associations — Track which EIPs are used for what purpose

Troubleshooting​

EIP Not Allocating​

Check provider credentials:

kubectl describe awsprovider aws-provider

Check operator logs:

kubectl logs -n infra-operator-system -l control-plane=controller-manager

Address Limit Exceeded​

Request limit increase:

  • AWS Service Quotas Console
  • Default limit: 5 EIPs per region
  • Can be increased to 100+

EIP Stuck in Pending​

Check CloudFormation limits or VPC quotas:

kubectl get elasticip my-elastic-ip -o jsonpath='{.status.conditions}'

AWS Documentation​