Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that the new Kubernetes v1.26 release is out. And it’s all about “Electrifying” the user experience this time—but how?
Kubernetes 1.26: The Theme
The theme for this release is “Electrifying” —a gesture highlighting the importance of acknowledging the various building blocks that make up the Kubernetes system while raising awareness about the energy consumption footprint of the software. This release theme would also highlight the community effort of the Kubernetes projects to be environmentally conscious and sustainable in future releases. The new release team rightly underpins concerns on sustainability—for not just today, but tomorrow, and the environmental footprint of software, which in this case, is Kubernetes, can play a significant role in the cause.
Kubernetes 1.26: The Enhancements
The number of enhancements brought about with this release is a whopping 37, almost the same as the last version (1.25), which had 40, and the one before, which had 46. These changes are designed to help engineers manage their Kubernetes clusters more effectively and bring high-performance workloads. Check out all of them here. And just so you know, this massive list of enhancements has been brought about by 6,877 individuals from 976 different companies.
What’s most interesting is the introduction of a new product enhancement dashboard to track new features. Previously, all the enhancements proposed were tracked in a spreadsheet—and as Leonard Pahlke, Kubernetes 1.26 release lead, told VentureBeat, “Previously we had a spreadsheet for tracking, which was terrible, it had a lot of custom optimizations to it, and it was broken most of the time… With the new system, it’s way better.”
The most essential changes to look out for in kubernetes 1.26
Security Enhancements
Kubernetes 1.26 has advanced the way code is digitally signed with a new system called KEP-3031. This system helps make sure that the code is authentic and trustworthy, which is especially important for software supply chains. It is also using an open-source technology called sigstore, which is supported by a company called Chainguard. This new system means that all software artefacts built by Kubernetes will now be signed, not just container images. This is a big step forward for security and will bring many benefits to developers using Kubernetes. Additionally, Version 1.26 also supports Windows-privileged containers, which provide greater access to devices on a Kubernetes host.
Resource Allocation Enhancements
An exciting new feature included in the version 1.26 update for Kubernetes is the ability for dynamic resource allocation, which is tracked in KEP-3063. This feature is particularly useful for managing resources in edge computing environments, which are becoming increasingly popular. This new feature adds a new interface and API, making it simpler to connect devices like GPUs to Kubernetes. This opens up new possibilities for edge computing and further expands Kubernetes’ capabilities beyond just public cloud deployments.
In short—What does this update focus on?
The recent update primarily focuses on addressing operational concerns rather than introducing substantial new functionality. Given the shorter time frame between the release of version 1.26 and 1.25 in comparison to Kubernetes 1.24, the development team has prioritized stability and efficiency over new features.
The release of version 1.26 marks an important step for Kubernetes, and the development team is now looking forward to the next update, which is expected to be released in April 2023.
If you’re seeking an always-updated, reliable, and experienced Kubernetes Consulting Service Provider, feel free to reach out to us here.
