This page explains Google Distributed Cloud versioning.
Google Distributed Cloud versions
The following Google Distributed Cloud versions are fully supported, offering the latest patches and updates for security vulnerabilities, exposures, and issues impacting Google Distributed Cloud.
| Minor version | Release date | Available patches | Kubernetes version | Node kernel versions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.29 (latest) | April 29, 2024 | 1.29.100-gke.248 | v1.29.4-gke.200 |
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| 1.29.0-gke.1456 | v1.29.3-gke.600 |
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| 1.28 | December 18, 2023 | 1.28.600-gke.154 | v1.28.9-gke.1800 |
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| 1.28.500-gke.121 | v1.28.8-gke.2000 |
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| 1.28.400-gke.75 | v1.28.7-gke.1700 |
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| 1.28.300-gke.123 | v1.28.4-gke.1400 |
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| 1.28.200-gke.111 | v1.28.4-gke.1400 |
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| 1.28.100-gke.131 | v1.28.3-gke.1600 |
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| 1.28.0-gke.651 | v1.28.3-gke.700 |
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| 1.16 | August 23, 2023 | 1.16.9-gke.40 | v1.27.13-gke.500 |
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| 1.16.8-gke.19 | v1.27.12-gke.1000 |
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| 1.16.7-gke.46 | v1.27.10-gke.500 |
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| 1.16.6-gke.40 | v1.27.8-gke.1500 |
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| 1.16.5-gke.28 | v1.27.6-gke.2500 |
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| 1.16.4-gke.37 | v1.27.6-gke.2500 |
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| 1.16.3-gke.45 | v1.27.4-gke.1600 |
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| 1.16.2-gke.28 | v1.27.4-gke.1600 |
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| 1.16.1-gke.45 | v1.27.4-gke.1600 |
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| 1.16.0-gke.669 | v1.27.4-gke.1600 |
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Version 1.15 and all other earlier versions are no longer fully supported. For the latest patches and updates for security vulnerabilities, exposures, and issues impacting Google Distributed Cloud, upgrade to a fully supported version. To learn more about the support period, see the Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Enterprise edition Version Support Policy, which Google Distributed Cloud follows.
To determine whether an upgrade contains security updates, see the release notes and the Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) security bulletins.
For more information, see the following:
Versioning scheme
Google Distributed Cloud uses Kubernetes
semantic versioning to refer to supported
Kubernetes versions, but appends a GKE patch version. This
results in a version number of the form: x.y.z-gke.N.
- Kubernetes major version (x)
- Major versions are typically incremented if any backwards
incompatible changes are introduced to the public API. A major version
increments the Kubernetes version from
x.ytox+1.y. - Kubernetes minor version (y)
- Kubernetes releases a new minor version
three times a year.
Each release cycle is approximately 15 weeks long. Deprecated
APIs might
be removed with a new minor version. A minor version increments the
Kubernetes version from
1.yto1.y+1; for example, Kubernetes 1. 29 is the minor release that follows Kubernetes 1.28. - Google Distributed Cloud patch release (z-gke.N)
- A patch release, such as 1.28.300-gke.131,
increments the patch version (z) by 100 and includes a
-gke.Nsuffix, which indicates the build. Patch releases include security updates and bug fixes. A Google Distributed Cloud patch release version doesn't correlate to a Kubernetes patch version.
Versioned entities
Each Google Distributed Cloud release includes the following versioned entities:
| Entity | Description |
|---|---|
gkeadm |
The command-line tool for creating and managing admin workstations.
To check the version, run gkeadm version. |
| Admin workstation OVA | Open virtual appliance (OVA) for the admin workstation. Contains the OS image for the
admin workstation along with the cluster bundle and the The version number is part of the filename—for example: gke-on-prem-admin-appliance-vsphere-1.29.100-gke.248.ova For more information, see the Open Virtualization Format Specification PDF. |
gkectl |
The command-line interface to Google Distributed Cloud. Create and
manage clusters, create configuration files, and run preflight checks.
Included in the admin workstation OVA. To check the version,
run gkectl version. |
| Cluster bundle | An archive that contains cluster components and the operating system image for cluster nodes. Included in the admin workstation OVA. The version number is part of the filename—for example: gke-onprem-vsphere-1.6.1-gke.1.tgz |
Version compatibility
Virtualization layer
| 1.29 | 1.28 | 1.16 | 1.15 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | vSphere 8.0 vSphere 7.0 Update 2+ |
vSphere 8.0 vSphere 7.0 Update 2+ |
vSphere 8.0 vSphere 7.0 Update 2+ |
vSphere 8.0 (Preview) vSphere 7.0 Update 2+ |
| Edition | vSphere Standard * or higher | vSphere Standard * or higher | vSphere Standard * or higher | vSphere Standard * or higher |
Networking options
| 1.29 | 1.28 | 1.16 | 1.15 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vSphere standard switch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| vSphere distributed switch | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| vSphere NSX-T † | Yes ‡ | Yes ‡ | Yes ‡ | Yes ‡ |
Load balancing options
| 1.29 | 1.28 | 1.16 | 1.15 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| F5 BIG-IP # | F5 Big-IP Controller v1.14.0 Compatible with BIG-IP v12.x-v15.x |
F5 Big-IP Controller v1.14.0 Compatible with BIG-IP v12.x-v15.x |
F5 Big-IP Controller v1.14.0 Compatible with BIG-IP v12.x-v15.x |
F5 Big-IP Controller v1.14.0 Compatible with BIG-IP v12.x-v15.x |
| Manual load balancing mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Bundled load balancer (Google provided) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Storage options
| 1.29 | 1.28 | 1.16 | 1.15 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| vSAN (optional) | vSAN 8.0 |
vSAN 8.0 |
vSAN 8.0 |
vSAN 8.0 |
| vSphere-compatible storage (SAN/DAS/SDS) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Storage DRS | Manual Mode | Manual Mode | Manual Mode | Manual Mode |
| CSI storage providers | See GDCV Ready storage partners. | |||
Notes
* vSphere Enterprise is the recommended edition.
† NSX-V is not supported.
‡ The minimum supported version of NSX-T is 2.4.2. Support includes node networking for inter-node communication. Pod networking, ingress, and NSX-T CNI integration are not supported. NSX-V is not supported.
# For an up-to-date compatibility matrix for F5, see
Releases and versioning.