Change the number of nodes

Change the number of nodes

In Managed Kubernetes clusters you can change the number of nodes — reduce or increase the number of nodes in the group.For fault-tolerant operation of system components, we recommend using at least two working nodes in the cluster.

When you reduce the number of nodes, by default, random nodes in a group are deleted. If necessary, you can delete a specific node.If there is one node in the group, you can delete the entire node group. If the Kubernetes version is 1.28 or higher, in a node group on the cloud server, you can delete all nodes in the group and leave an empty node group. In an empty node group, node configurations, tags, tints and user data are saved, but nodes are not charged.

You can change the size of a node group in the control panel, via API Managed Kubernetes or through Terraform.

Change the number of nodes⁠

carefully

When you reduce the number of nodes in a cluster, random nodes in the group are removed by default. You can delete a specific node.

Fixed

1. In the dashboard, on the top menu, click Products and select Managed Kubernetes.
2. Open the Cluster page → Cluster Composition tab.
3. From the menu of the node group, select Change Number of Nodes.
4. In the Number of Nodes field, open the Fixed tab.
5. Specify the required number of nodes. For fault-tolerant operation of system components we recommend using at least two working nodes in the cluster, nodes can be in different groups.
6. Click Save.

With auto scaling

Autoscaling occurs only when the cluster is in ACTIVE status.

The actual number of nodes in a group may be less than the minimum number you specify when you configure autoscaling if:

• you increased the minimum number of nodes in the group after the group was created;
• the actual number of nodes is sufficient for the existing load and there is no need to increase the number of nodes.

If fewer nodes are sufficient for the current load in the cluster, but the pods cannot be moved for some reason, the number of nodes in the group will not be reduced.

For more information on how autoscaling works, see the Autoscaling node groups instruction.

1. In the dashboard, on the top menu, click Products and select Managed Kubernetes.
2. Open the Cluster page → Cluster Composition tab.
3. From the menu of the node group, select Change Number of Nodes.
4. In the Number of nodes field, open the With autoscaling tab.
5. Set the minimum and maximum number of nodes in the group — the value of nodes will change only within this range. For fault-tolerant operation of system components we recommend using at least two working nodes in the cluster, nodes can be in different groups.
6. Click Save.

Delete a specific node⁠

You can delete a specific node from a group. After deletion, all pods of this node will be distributed to other nodes in the group.

1. In the dashboard, on the top menu, click Products and select Managed Kubernetes.
2. Open the Cluster page → Cluster Composition tab.
3. From the node menu, select Delete.
4. Enter the name of the node to confirm the deletion.
5. Click Delete.