# How to Enable High Availability

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is a Kubernetes service with a fully managed control plane, high availability, and autoscaling. DOKS integrates with standard Kubernetes toolchains and DigitalOcean’s load balancers, volumes, CPU and GPU Droplets, API, and CLI.

DigitalOcean Kubernetes provides a [high availability (HA)](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/kubernetes/details/managed/index.html.md#managed-elements-of-the-control-plane) option that increases the reliability of the control plane by creating multiple backup replicas of each control plane component. You can enable high availability for your Kubernetes cluster during [cluster creation](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/kubernetes/how-to/create-clusters/index.html.md#enable-high-availability) or on an existing cluster on version 1.22 and later. This guide describes how to enable HA in the control panel; however, you can also do so through command line by using [doctl v1.87.0](https://github.com/digitalocean/doctl/releases/tag/v1.87.0) or later.

## Enable High Availability Using Automation

You can enable high availability using the DigitalOcean Kubernetes `doctl` update command or API endpoint by setting the `ha` value to `true`.

## How to Update a Kubernetes Cluster Using the DigitalOcean CLI

1. [Install `doctl`](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/how-to/install/index.html.md), the official DigitalOcean CLI.
2. [Create a personal access token](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/create-personal-access-token/index.html.md) and save it for use with `doctl`.
3. Use the token to grant `doctl` access to your DigitalOcean account.

   ```shell
   doctl auth init
   ```
4. Finally, run `doctl kubernetes cluster update`. Basic usage looks like this, but you can [read the usage docs](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/doctl/reference/kubernetes/cluster/update/index.html.md) for more details:

   ```shell
   doctl kubernetes cluster update <id|name> [flags]
   ```

   The following example updates a cluster named `example-cluster` to enable automatic upgrades and sets the maintenance window to `saturday=02:00`:

   ```shell
   doctl kubernetes cluster update example-cluster --auto-upgrade --maintenance-window saturday=02:00
   ```

## How to Update a Kubernetes Cluster Using the DigitalOcean API

1. [Create a personal access token](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/create-personal-access-token/index.html.md) and save it for use with the API.
2. Send a PUT request to [`https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/kubernetes/clusters/{cluster_id}`](https://docs.digitalocean.com/reference/api/digitalocean//index.html.md#operation/kubernetes_update_cluster).

### cURL

Using cURL:

```shell
curl -X PUT \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN" \
  -d '{"name": "stage-cluster-01", "tags":["staging", "web-team"]}' \
  "https://api.digitalocean.com/v2/kubernetes/clusters/bd5f5959-5e1e-4205-a714-a914373942af"
```

### Go

Using [Godo](https://github.com/digitalocean/godo), the official DigitalOcean API client for Go:

```go
import (
    "context"
    "os"

    "github.com/digitalocean/godo"
)

func main() {
    token := os.Getenv("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN")

    client := godo.NewFromToken(token)
    ctx := context.TODO()

    updateRequest := &godo.KubernetesClusterUpdateRequest{
        Name: "stage-cluster-01",
        Tags: []string{"staging", "web-team"},
    }

    cluster, _, err := client.Kubernetes.Update(ctx, "bd5f5959-5e1e-4205-a714-a914373942af", updateRequest)
}
```

### Ruby

Using [DropletKit](https://github.com/digitalocean/droplet_kit), the official DigitalOcean API client for Ruby:

```ruby
require 'droplet_kit'
token = ENV['DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN']
client = DropletKit::Client.new(access_token: token)

cluster = DropletKit::KubernetesCluster.new(
  name: 'foo',
  tags: ['staging', 'web-team']
)

client.kubernetes_clusters.update(cluster, id: 'bd5f5959-5e1e-4205-a714-a914373942af')
```

### Python

Using [PyDo](https://github.com/digitalocean/pydo), the official DigitalOcean API client for Python:

```python
import os
from pydo import Client

client = Client(token=os.environ.get("DIGITALOCEAN_TOKEN"))

req = {
  "name": "prod-cluster-01",
  "tags": [
    "k8s",
    "k8s:bd5f5959-5e1e-4205-a714-a914373942af",
    "production",
    "web-team"
  ],
  "maintenance_policy": {
    "start_time": "12:00",
    "day": "any"
  },
  "auto_upgrade": True,
  "surge_upgrade": True,
  "ha": True
}

resp = client.kubernetes.update_cluster(cluster_id="1fd32a", body=req)
```

## Enable High Availability Using the Control Panel

To enable high availability on an existing cluster, go to the [control panel](https://cloud.digitalocean.com/kubernetes/clusters) and click the cluster you want to enable high availability on. Then, in the **Overview** tab, scroll down to the **Add high availability** card.

## I can’t find this card.

DigitalOcean Kubernetes clusters originally created with version 1.20 or older have a version of the control plane which does not allow you to enable [high availability](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/kubernetes/details/managed/index.html.md#new-control-plane). If you cannot find this card, upgrade your control plane.

To check whether you can upgrade your cluster to the new control plane, see [Upgrading to New Control Plane](https://docs.digitalocean.com/products/kubernetes/how-to/upgrade-cluster/index.html.md#new-control-plane).

In the card, click **Add high availability**. This opens a pop-up window where you can confirm your change. Once enabled, you cannot disable high availability in the future.