Google introduces release channels for Kubernetes Engine

Rapid channel is in alpha testing and brings support for Windows Containers

At KubeCon + CloudNativeCon, taking place this week in Barcelona, Google announced that it will offer three release channels for its Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), targeting different risk tolerance and business requirements.

GKE has always automated the delivery of new Kubernetes versions to clusters. Previously, however, GKE delivered the same Kubernetes release to all Google Cloud users.

The three release channels – Rapid, Regular and Stable – will change that, by giving users the choice of utilising the newest or most stable Kubernetes releases. The first channel, available in alpha, is the Rapid channel, which gives developers early access to the newest versions of Kubernetes. Information about the other two channels is scant, but we can assume that the Regular channel is the default and that the Stable channel will deliver slightly older and more stable versions than in the past.

Another feature that will be included in the Rapid channel is support for Window Server Containers. Google has been slowly incorporating support for Windows into Kubernetes, and now the company will offer full support for Windows Server Containers in June.

“You’ll be able to experiment with Windows Server Containers and modernize your existing Windows applications from the new Rapid channel in June,” Google said.

Finally, Google is also making Stackdriver Kubernetes monitoring generally available. The tool allows users to view metrics, logs, events and metadata from one place, improving visibility into infrastructure, workloads and services issues.