When Kubernetes has work waiting but no spare machines, a node autoscaler can add capacity. ACS Engine Autoscaler performed that job for clusters created with Azure's older ACS Engine tooling, watching unscheduled work and adjusting machine capacity. This entry covers that specific retired controller. The replacement depends on whether you run managed AKS or an older self-managed Azure cluster.
Deployment and operating notes
The recovered entry describes wbuchwalter/Kubernetes-acs-engine-autoscaler, a controller for clusters created with ACS Engine. Its own README now begins with a deprecation notice recommending Cluster Autoscaler. This is a confirmed retirement of that controller, rather than a judgment that Azure node autoscaling has disappeared. Its historical Windows-pool limitation should not be applied to current AKS autoscaling.
For an AKS cluster, start with the managed cluster-autoscaler configuration on each node pool. For an old self-managed ACS Engine cluster, first identify the actual Azure VM and pool model; an AKS command is not a migration mechanism for that infrastructure. Record node labels, taints, minimum capacity, disruption budgets and scale-down blockers before replacing the controller. Avoid two autoscalers adjusting the same pool. Test pending-pod scale-up and safe node drainage in a disposable pool, then retire the old Azure credentials once the replacement owns scaling. No in-place ACS migration was tested here.
Historical upstream link check · 2026-10-09
The recorded upstream address responded successfully (HTTP 200) on 2026-10-09. GitHub does not mark wbuchwalter/Kubernetes-acs-engine-autoscaler archived or disabled; this does not establish active maintenance, support or compatibility. Link availability does not certify the historical installation instructions or current security support.
Website availability is separate from project, chart and image support. Use the current guidance and primary sources on this page to assess the distribution.
Historical Kubedex content
Original publication: 2018-09-09T06:53:43+00:00. Preserved for context. Commands, versions, prices and results below reflect the original research.
kubernetes-acs-engine-autoscaler is a node-level autoscaler for Kubernetes for clusters created with acs-engine.
Kubernetes is a container orchestration framework that schedules Docker containers on a cluster, and kubernetes-acs-autoscaler can scale based on the pending job queue.
The autoscaler can be run anywhere as long as it can access the Azure and Kubernetes APIs, but the recommended way is to set it up as a Kubernetes Pod.
Windows Machine Pools
Currently, node pools with Windows machines are not supported. If a Windows pool is part of the deployment the autoscaler will fail even for scaling Linux-based node pools.
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