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The developers of the Kubernetes container orchestration platform released the first new version for 2020 this week. The platform has received improvements for stability and new features that should further facilitate the user experience.

In version 1.18 of Kubernetes a lot of new functionality has been added, both in beta versions and in so-called ‘Alpha versions’ for stability. According to the developers, the now released version has become a more complete product than all other versions put together. In addition, release 1.18 should become the basis of all successive releases in the (near) future.

Beta functionality

One of the most important now integrated beta versions for functionality, according to the development team is Topology Manager. This tool should help ensure that the processor and device managers of Kubernetes-based systems allocate resources individually without both ‘talking’ to each other. In Topology Manager, however, this does now happen, allowing workloads to run in environments optimised for low latency.

In the release, the Serverside Apply feature has now been given its ‘second’ beta status. This allows developers to track and manage all fields of all new Kubernetes objects. This means, among other things, that they can track who has made changes to his or her Kubernetes resources and when exactly these changes were made.

Windows

Furthermore, the latest version of the container orchestration platform now includes standard support for Windows CSI. This should, according to the developers of the platform, please Windows users. This specific support for Microsoft‘s OS ensures that non-privileged or pre-approved containers can now perform privileged storage work.

Stability features

An important improved feature for making Kubernetes more stable in version 1.18 is the widely used command-line tool kubectl. This command-line now has a debugging function. This feature has been added at the request of many end users.

The kubectl command-line creates a temporary clone container that runs alongside the production containers. This way, a Kubernetes pod within the cluster can easily be debugged. The command-line can also be used by the console to enable interactive troubleshooting, according to the developers.

Availability

Version 1.18 of Kubernetes can now be downloaded on GitHub.