DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS)

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is DigitalOcean’s managed Kubernetes service. DigitalOcean runs the control plane; Ankra provisions the cluster, then manages everything on top - node pools, Kubernetes upgrades, addons, stacks, GitOps, and AI-assisted operations. This page covers DOKS specifically. For the shared concepts across all managed providers - live options, discovery/import, and day-2 API patterns - see Managed Kubernetes.

Why DOKS with Ankra

Live pricing and options - regions, Kubernetes versions with support windows, and droplet sizes are fetched live with your DigitalOcean token, with a monthly cost summary as you build the cluster.
Highly available control plane - opt into DigitalOcean’s HA control plane at creation.
Full day-2 from the CLI, portal, or API - add and scale node pools, upgrade Kubernetes, and manage addons and stacks the same way as any Ankra cluster.

Prerequisites

A DigitalOcean API token with read/write, stored in Ankra. See DigitalOcean API Credentials. GitOps is optional: connect a repository at creation and Ankra commits the cluster’s stack definitions to Git.

Creating a DOKS cluster

Portal
CLI
API

Create Cluster

Go to Clusters → Create Cluster and pick DigitalOcean’s Cloud Managed action.

Credential & Region

Select the DigitalOcean credential and a region (for example fra1). Regions load live from DigitalOcean.

Node Pools

Define one or more worker pools: name, droplet size (with live pricing), count, labels, and autoscaling bounds.

Kubernetes

Pick a Kubernetes version or keep the default, and optionally enable the HA control plane.

GitOps (optional) & Create

Optionally connect a Git repository, then create. Ankra runs DigitalOcean preflight checks, provisions the cluster, retrieves the kubeconfig, and installs the Ankra Agent.

ankra cluster managed create \
  --provider doks \
  --name my-doks-cluster \
  --credential-id <do-credential-id> \
  --location fra1 \
  --node-pool-name workers \
  --node-pool-size s-2vcpu-4gb \
  --node-pool-count 2

The HA control plane is set from the portal or the API; --autoscaling with --autoscaling-min and --autoscaling-max sets the initial pool’s bounds.

curl -X POST https://platform.ankra.app/org/clusters/managed/doks \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $ANKRA_API_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "my-doks-cluster",
    "credential_id": "<do-credential-id>",
    "location": "fra1",
    "kubernetes_version": "1.33.1-do.0",
    "node_pools": [
      {"name": "workers", "size": "s-2vcpu-4gb", "count": 2}
    ],
    "ha": true
  }'

DOKS options

Field	Description
`ha`	Highly available control plane (top-level field)

Verify

The create progress view follows the control plane, the node pools, kubeconfig retrieval and the Ankra Agent install. The cluster shows Online once the agent has connected. Then point kubectl at it through Ankra - this needs a Cluster Access grant - and check that every node is Ready:

ankra cluster kubeconfig add <cluster-name> --use
kubectl get nodes

See Accessing Clusters with kubectl.

Day-2 operations

Node pools, upgrades, and deletion work from the CLI, portal, or API. The CLI examples use --provider doks:

# scale a pool to a fixed count
ankra cluster managed node-pool scale <cluster_id> workers --provider doks --count 5

# upgrade the cluster
ankra cluster managed upgrade <cluster_id> --provider doks --version 1.33.1-do.0

# delete the cluster
ankra cluster managed delete <cluster_id> --provider doks

Autoscaling bounds are set from the portal, with ankra cluster managed node-pool update --autoscaling --autoscaling-min <n> --autoscaling-max <n>, or with the PATCH .../node-pools/{name} endpoint. See Managed Kubernetes - day-2 operations for the shared node-pool and upgrade mechanics.

Importing an existing DOKS cluster

Already running DOKS? Discover clusters at DigitalOcean and adopt them into Ankra without touching them. Discovery and import run from the portal, the CLI (ankra cluster managed discover|import --provider doks) or the API - see Managed Kubernetes - importing existing clusters.

Get Started

Concepts

Create and Run Clusters

Ship Your App

Stacks and Add-ons

Observe and Troubleshoot

Ankra AI

Connect Tools

Source Control

Security and Access

Cost and Backups

Organisation and Account

Reference

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS)

Why DOKS with Ankra

Prerequisites

Creating a DOKS cluster

DOKS options

Verify

Day-2 operations

Importing an existing DOKS cluster

​Why DOKS with Ankra

​Prerequisites

​Creating a DOKS cluster

​DOKS options

​Verify

​Day-2 operations

​Importing an existing DOKS cluster

​Related

Why DOKS with Ankra

Prerequisites

Creating a DOKS cluster

DOKS options

Verify

Day-2 operations

Importing an existing DOKS cluster

Related