Prioritizing Certain Node Pools when using Cluster Autoscaler

[knuurr]

I have multiple autoscaler node pools on Hetzner, differing in server_type and location.
I’d like to prioritize certain node pools over others when scaling out.

Goal:

• Avoid creating new nodes in hel1, unless absolutely necessary.
• If Hetzner cannot provide resources in a preferred location (nbg1, fsn1), autoscaler should try another preferred location before using hel1.
• Prefer a solution at the autoscaler level (without modifying pod deployment templates).

Questions:

Can Cluster Autoscaler be configured to prefer some node pools over others? If so, how?
If not directly possible, what are the best workarounds? (e.g., taints/tolerations, priority classes, or other Kubernetes mechanisms?)
Is there a way to ensure a fallback strategy where hel1 is only used if no other locations have capacity?

Current setup:

Structure looks like this:

autoscaler_nodepools = [
    {
      name        = "worker-pool-ccx33-nbg1"
      server_type = "ccx33"
      location    = "nbg1"
      min_nodes   = 0
      max_nodes   = 3
      labels = {
        "node-type"                    = "worker"
        "node.kubernetes.io/role"      = "worker"
        "topology.kubernetes.io/region" = "nbg1"
        "node.hetzner.com/server-type" = "ccx33"
        "worker-pool"                  = "worker-small"
      }
    },
    {
      name        = "worker-pool-ccx33-fsn1"
      server_type = "ccx33"
      location    = "fsn1"
      min_nodes   = 0
      max_nodes   = 3
      labels = {
        "node-type"                    = "worker"
        "node.kubernetes.io/role"      = "worker"
        "topology.kubernetes.io/region" = "fsn1"
        "node.hetzner.com/server-type" = "ccx33"
        "worker-pool"                  = "worker-small"
      }
    },
    {
      name        = "worker-pool-ccx33-hel1"
      server_type = "ccx33"
      location    = "hel1"
      min_nodes   = 0
      max_nodes   = 3
      labels = {
        "node-type"                    = "worker"
        "node.kubernetes.io/role"      = "worker"
        "topology.kubernetes.io/region" = "hel1"
        "node.hetzner.com/server-type" = "ccx33"
        "worker-pool"                  = "worker-small"
      }
    },
    # ....
    ]

(we have some more but this is sufficient for context)

I have read docs for cluster autoscaler, but I am unsure if it's possible to apply it in this scenario

If something is unclear, don't hesitate to ask me here. Thanks in advance!