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If you import an EKS (or GKE, AKS) cluster, then you will have the option to manage the EKS config from Rancher similar to the way you can manage an EKS cluster created through Rancher. This management requires that you provide AWS credentials. If you don't care about managing the EKS config from Rancher, then you can import it as a generic cluster.

Thanks Donnie. I know that managing EKS requires that additional permissions be on the cluster before you run the kubectl to register the cluster, but the documentation doesn't mention anything about requiring cloud credentials that I can see. https://rancher.com/docs/rancher/v2.6/en/cluster-provisioning/registered-clusters/#registering-a-cluster

In order to manage the EKS config, Rancher needs to be able to make API calls to AWS. That is why the creds are needed to import the cluster as and EKS cluster. If you just want to manage kubernetes (and not the EKS config) then no creds are needed.

Thanks Donnie, that helps to clarify what I'm seeing. I think this may be more of a documentation issue that needs a bit more clarity, Cheers!