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Before installing Agones, ensure your environment meets the following requirements.

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Kubernetes Cluster Requirements

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Kubernetes Version

Agones requires a Kubernetes cluster running version 1.33 or later. This is the minimum supported version across all cloud providers.
Always check the official Agones release notes for the most up-to-date version compatibility information.

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Node Requirements

1

Minimum Node Count

At least 4 nodes in your cluster for production workloads:
  • 1 node for the agones-system node pool (dedicated to Agones controllers)
  • 1 node for the agones-metrics node pool (optional, for metrics collection)
  • 2+ nodes for game server workloads
2

Node Machine Type

Recommended minimum specifications per node:
  • 4 vCPUs
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 50 GB disk space
Example machine types:
  • GKE: e2-standard-4
  • EKS: t3.xlarge or m5.xlarge
  • AKS: Standard_D4s_v3
3

Node Networking

  • Public IP addresses for nodes (required for game client connections)
  • UDP and TCP traffic support
  • Port range availability for game servers (default: 7000-8000)

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Network Requirements

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Firewall Rules

Configure your firewall to allow the following traffic:
Game Server Ports (UDP)
Protocol: UDP
Port Range: 7000-8000 (default, configurable)
Source: 0.0.0.0/0 (or your specific client IP ranges)
Allocator Service (TCP)
Protocol: TCP
Port: 443
Source: Your matchmaker service IP ranges
Ping Service (Optional)
Protocol: TCP/UDP
HTTP Port: 80
UDP Port: 50000
Source: 0.0.0.0/0 (for health checks)
Ensure your cloud provider’s network security groups or firewall rules allow inbound UDP traffic on the game server port range. This is critical for game clients to connect to your servers.

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Cloud Provider Requirements

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Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

  • Project: Valid GCP project with billing enabled
  • APIs: Enable the following GCP APIs:
    • Kubernetes Engine API
    • Compute Engine API
    • Cloud Resource Manager API
  • Networking: VPC with sufficient IP address space
  • Release Channel: UNSPECIFIED, RAPID, REGULAR, or STABLE
  • Workload Identity: Optional but recommended for production

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Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS)

  • AWS Account: Active AWS account with appropriate permissions
  • VPC: VPC with public subnets across multiple availability zones
  • IAM: IAM roles and policies for EKS cluster and node groups
  • Cluster Version: EKS 1.34 or later
  • Security Groups: Configured to allow game server traffic

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Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

  • Azure Subscription: Active Azure subscription
  • Service Principal: Service principal with Contributor role (or managed identity)
  • Resource Group: Dedicated resource group for the cluster
  • Kubernetes Version: AKS supported version >= 1.33
  • Network Security Groups: Configured for game server ports

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Installation Tools

You’ll need the following tools installed on your local machine:

kubectl

Kubernetes command-line toolVersion 1.33 or laterInstall kubectl

Helm

Kubernetes package managerVersion 3.x requiredInstall Helm

Cloud CLI

Provider-specific CLI tool
  • gcloud (GKE)
  • aws (EKS)
  • az (AKS)

Terraform

Infrastructure as Code (optional)Version 1.0.0 or laterInstall Terraform

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Resource Requirements

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Agones System Components

The Agones system components require the following resources:
Controller
Replicas: 2
CPU: Not specified (burstable)
Memory: Not specified (burstable)
Recommended: 1 CPU, 256 MB per replica
Extensions
Replicas: 2
CPU: Not specified (burstable)
Memory: Not specified (burstable)
Recommended: 1 CPU, 256 MB per replica
Allocator
Replicas: 3
CPU: Not specified (burstable)
Memory: Not specified (burstable)
Recommended: 1 CPU, 256 MB per replica
Ping Service
Replicas: 2
CPU: Not specified (burstable)
Memory: Not specified (burstable)
Recommended: 1 CPU, 256 MB per replica
These are the default replica counts. You can adjust them based on your workload and high availability requirements.

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Permissions

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Kubernetes RBAC

Agones requires the following Kubernetes permissions:
  • Create and manage Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs)
  • Create and manage Service Accounts
  • Create and manage Roles and ClusterRoles
  • Create and manage ValidatingWebhookConfiguration and MutatingWebhookConfiguration
  • Manage Pods, Services, and other core resources
The installing user must have cluster-admin privileges or equivalent permissions to install Agones.

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Cloud Provider Permissions

Depending on your installation method, you may need:
  • GKE: roles/container.admin or equivalent
  • EKS: IAM permissions to create EKS clusters and node groups
  • AKS: Contributor role on the subscription or resource group

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Node Pool Configuration

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Dedicated Node Pools

For production deployments, Agones recommends using dedicated node pools:
1

agones-system Pool

Dedicated to Agones control plane componentsTaint: agones.dev/agones-system=true:NoExecuteLabel: agones.dev/agones-system=trueNode Count: 1 (minimum)
2

agones-metrics Pool (Optional)

Dedicated to metrics and monitoringTaint: agones.dev/agones-metrics=true:NoExecuteLabel: agones.dev/agones-metrics=trueNode Count: 1
3

Game Server Pool

Runs actual game server workloadsNo special taintsTag: game-server (for firewall rules)Node Count: 2+ (scales with demand)

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Validation Checklist

Before proceeding with installation, verify:
  • Kubernetes cluster is running version 1.33+
  • At least 4 nodes available in the cluster
  • Node networking supports public IPs
  • Firewall rules allow UDP traffic on ports 7000-8000
  • kubectl is configured to access your cluster
  • Helm 3.x is installed
  • You have cluster-admin or equivalent permissions
  • Cloud provider CLI is installed and authenticated
  • Sufficient resource quotas for Agones components

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Next Steps

Once you’ve verified all prerequisites are met:

Create a Cluster

Set up a Kubernetes cluster for Agones

Install Agones

Install Agones on your cluster

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