Why doesn't replacing a worker node create a worker node?

Virtual Private Cloud Classic infrastructure Satellite

When you replace a worker node or update a VPC worker node, a worker node is not automatically added back to your cluster.

By default, your worker pools are set to automatically rebalance when you replace a worker node. However, you might have disabled automatic rebalancing by manually removing a worker node, such as in the following scenario.

1. You have a worker pool that automatically rebalances by default.
2. You have a troublesome worker node in the worker pool that you removed individually, such as with the ibmcloud oc worker rm command.
3. Now, automatic rebalancing is disabled for your worker pool, and is not reset unless you try to rebalance or resize the worker pool.
4. You try to replace a worker node with the ibmcloud oc worker replace command or update a VPC worker node with the ibmcloud oc worker replace --update command. The worker node is removed, but another worker node is not added back to your worker pool.

You might also have issued the remove command shortly after the replace command. If the remove command is processed before the replace command, the worker pool automatic rebalancing is still disabled, so your worker node is not replaced.

To enable automatic rebalancing, rebalance or resize your worker pool. Now, when you replace a worker node, another worker node is created for you.