kops/docs/index.md

kops - Kubernetes Operations

The easiest way to get a production grade Kubernetes cluster up and running.

What is kops?

We like to think of it as kubectl for clusters.

kops helps you create, destroy, upgrade and maintain production-grade, highly available, Kubernetes clusters from the command line. AWS (Amazon Web Services) is currently officially supported, with GCE and OpenStack in beta support, and VMware vSphere in alpha, and other platforms planned.

Can I see it in action?

Features

• Automates the provisioning of Kubernetes clusters in AWS and GCE
• Deploys Highly Available (HA) Kubernetes Masters
• Built on a state-sync model for dry-runs and automatic idempotency
• Ability to generate Terraform
• Supports custom Kubernetes add-ons
• Command line autocompletion
• YAML Manifest Based API Configuration
• Templating and dry-run modes for creating Manifests
• Choose from eight different CNI Networking providers out-of-the-box
• Supports upgrading from kube-up
• Capability to add containers, as hooks, and files to nodes via a cluster manifest

Documentation

To check out Live documentation

Kubernetes Release Compatibility

Kubernetes Version Support

kops is intended to be backward compatible. It is always recommended to use the latest version of kops with whatever version of Kubernetes you are using. We suggest kops users run one of the 3 minor versions Kubernetes is supporting however we do our best to support previous releases for a period of time.

One exception, in regard to compatibility, kops supports the equivalent Kubernetes minor release number. A minor version is the second digit in the release number. kops version 1.13.0 has a minor version of 13. The numbering follows the semantic versioning specification, MAJOR.MINOR.PATCH.

For example, kops 1.12.0 does not support Kubernetes 1.13.0, but kops 1.13.0 supports Kubernetes 1.12.2 and previous Kubernetes versions. Only when the kops minor version matches the Kubernetes minor version does kops officially support the Kubernetes release. kops does not stop a user from installing mismatching versions of K8s, but Kubernetes releases always require kops to install specific versions of components like docker, that tested against the particular Kubernetes version.

kops version	k8s 1.9.x	k8s 1.10.x	k8s 1.11.x	k8s 1.12.x	k8s 1.13.x	k8s 1.14.x
1.14.x - Beta	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
1.13.x	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌
1.12.x	✔	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌
1.11.x	✔	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌
1.10.x	✔	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌
1.9.x	✔	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

Use the latest version of kops for all releases of Kubernetes, with the caveat that higher versions of Kubernetes are not officially supported by kops. Releases who are crossed out should work but we suggest should be upgraded soon.

kops Release Schedule

This project does not follow the Kubernetes release schedule. kops aims to provide a reliable installation experience for kubernetes, and typically releases about a month after the corresponding Kubernetes release. This time allows for the Kubernetes project to resolve any issues introduced by the new version and ensures that we can support the latest features. kops will release alpha and beta pre-releases for people that are eager to try the latest Kubernetes release. Please only use pre-GA kops releases in environments that can tolerate the quirks of new releases, and please do report any issues encountered.