Kubernetes 1.18 includes 38 enhancements under the hood

Kubernetes’ first release of 2020 arrived on March 25. Kubernetes version 1.18 includes a grand total of 38 enhancements, graduating many features up the rungs from alpha, beta, to stable versions.

Earlier this year, The Cloud Native Computing Foundation revealed data suggesting that 78% of survey respondents use Kubernetes in production. There’s no shortage of k8s. While there are 109 tools in the CNCF Cloud Native Landscape, 89% use different forms of Kubernetes.

Let’s take a look at what this powerhouse brings to the table with version 1.18.

SEE ALSO: Why Kubernetes and containers are the perfect fit for machine learning

Check out #Kubernetes 1.18 – the first release of 2020 consisting of 38 enhancements https://t.co/nAX4q2OeUz pic.twitter.com/4AlnJu1gw8

— Kubernetes (@kubernetesio) March 26, 2020

Serverside Apply enters Beta part 2

Two versions ago, Serverside Apply entered beta phase. This is now being extended in 1.18 as it enters the second stage of beta.

Included in its second beta phase is the ability to track and manage changes made to fields of new Kubernetes objects. With this update, you can keep all eyes on changes made to your resources.

Topology Manager update

The Topology Manager feature moves up to beta release in 1.18.

According to the announcement blog, this feature “enables NUMA alignment of CPU and devices (such as SR-IOV VFs) that will allow your workload to run in an environment optimized for low-latency.”

Changes to Ingress

Some new changes for Ingress arrive.

First, there is a new pathType field and a new IngressClass resource. Secondly, this now deprecates the kubernetes.io/ingress.class annotation.

Windows CSI support moves to alpha

Another new feature moves up and enters alpha. From the release blog:

CSI proxy enables non-privileged (pre-approved) containers to perform privileged storage operations on Windows. CSI drivers can now be supported in Windows by leveraging CSI proxy.

In SIG Storage, progress on features moves them up to general availability in 1.18. Raw Block Support, Volume Cloning, and CSIDriver Kubernetes API Object are all now moved to GA.

Moving to alpha release is the Recursive Volume Ownership OnRootMismatch Option.

Graduating to stable

The following enhancements have all made the journey and are officially stable in 1.18. A round of applause for:

• Taint Based Eviction
• kubectl diff
• CSI Block storage support
• API Server dry run
• Pass Pod information in CSI calls
• Support Out-of-Tree vSphere Cloud Provider
• Support GMSA for Windows workloads
• Skip attach for non-attachable CSI volumes
• PVC cloning
• Moving kubectl package code to staging
• RunAsUserName for Windows
• AppProtocol for Services and Endpoints
• Extending Hugepage Feature
• client-go signature refactor to standardize options and context handling
• Node-local DNS cache

SEE ALSO: Containers and security – What are the five biggest myths?

Upgrade, ahoy!

1.18 release logo, designed by Maru Lango. Source.

Set sail and upgrade via GitHub and download using kubeadm. Binary downloads for v1.18.0 are available here. Currently, there are no known listed issues for v1.18.

However, be sure to read the urgent update notes before undertaking the journey to the latest edition. It lists notable changes that users should be aware of in kube-apiserver, kubelet, kubectl, client-go, and a number of deprecations, API changes, and breaking changes.

View the changelog and release notes for a comprehensive list of everything new. Keep up with all future announcements and new releases by following the Google Group.

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