website/content/en/docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/feature-gates/index.md

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This page contains an overview of the various feature gates an administrator can specify on different Kubernetes components.

See feature stages for an explanation of the stages for a feature.

Overview

Feature gates are a set of key=value pairs that describe Kubernetes features. You can turn these features on or off using the --feature-gates command line flag on each Kubernetes component.

Each Kubernetes component lets you enable or disable a set of feature gates that are relevant to that component. Use -h flag to see a full set of feature gates for all components. To set feature gates for a component, such as kubelet, use the --feature-gates flag assigned to a list of feature pairs:

--feature-gates=...,GracefulNodeShutdown=true

The following tables are a summary of the feature gates that you can set on different Kubernetes components.

• The "Since" column contains the Kubernetes release when a feature is introduced or its release stage is changed.
• The "Until" column, if not empty, contains the last Kubernetes release in which you can still use a feature gate.
• If a feature is in the Alpha or Beta state, you can find the feature listed in the Alpha/Beta feature gate table.
• If a feature is stable you can find all stages for that feature listed in the Graduated/Deprecated feature gate table.
• The Graduated/Deprecated feature gate table also lists deprecated and withdrawn features.

{{< note >}} For a reference to old feature gates that are removed, please refer to feature gates removed. {{< /note >}}

Feature gates for Alpha or Beta features

{{< feature-gate-table include="alpha,beta" caption="Feature gates for features in Alpha or Beta states" >}}

Feature gates for graduated or deprecated features

{{< feature-gate-table include="ga,deprecated" caption="Feature Gates for Graduated or Deprecated Features" >}}

Using a feature

Feature stages

A feature can be in Alpha, Beta or GA stage. An Alpha feature means:

• Disabled by default.
• Might be buggy. Enabling the feature may expose bugs.
• Support for feature may be dropped at any time without notice.
• The API may change in incompatible ways in a later software release without notice.
• Recommended for use only in short-lived testing clusters, due to increased risk of bugs and lack of long-term support.

A Beta feature means:

• Usually enabled by default. Beta API groups are disabled by default.
• The feature is well tested. Enabling the feature is considered safe.
• Support for the overall feature will not be dropped, though details may change.
• The schema and/or semantics of objects may change in incompatible ways in a subsequent beta or stable release. When this happens, we will provide instructions for migrating to the next version. This may require deleting, editing, and re-creating API objects. The editing process may require some thought. This may require downtime for applications that rely on the feature.
• Recommended for only non-business-critical uses because of potential for incompatible changes in subsequent releases. If you have multiple clusters that can be upgraded independently, you may be able to relax this restriction.

{{< note >}} Please do try Beta features and give feedback on them! After they exit beta, it may not be practical for us to make more changes. {{< /note >}}

A General Availability (GA) feature is also referred to as a stable feature. It means:

• The feature is always enabled; you cannot disable it.
• The corresponding feature gate is no longer needed.
• Stable versions of features will appear in released software for many subsequent versions.

List of feature gates

Each feature gate is designed for enabling/disabling a specific feature.

{{< feature-gate-list include="alpha,beta,ga,deprecated" >}}

{{% heading "whatsnext" %}}

• The deprecation policy for Kubernetes explains the project's approach to removing features and components.
• Since Kubernetes 1.24, new beta APIs are not enabled by default. When enabling a beta feature, you will also need to enable any associated API resources. For example, to enable a particular resource like storage.k8s.io/v1beta1/csistoragecapacities, set --runtime-config=storage.k8s.io/v1beta1/csistoragecapacities. See API Versioning for more details on the command line flags.