SUSE has released version 2.6 of its Kubernetes management platform Rancher. With the update, users should benefit from a more clearly structured user interface and improved logic-based workflows. In addition, Rancher can now also be used for comprehensive lifecycle management of hosted Kubernetes clusters in the cloud on two additional platforms: with Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).
Outlook on GitOps and Cluster-API
By integrating the latest Rancher version into the SUSE Linux Enterprise Base Container Images (SLE BCI), companies should be able to rely on enhanced security and compliance functions when developing new applications and scaling their cluster environments. Audit logs that are easier to understand are also intended to simplify compliance with the relevant requirements. In addition, in the future GitOps provisioning via cluster API should standardize new implementations based on user-defined cluster templates and thus make them less error-prone. SUSE Rancher 2.6 gives users an initial technical preview of the GitOps functions.
Simplified deployment and cluster management
In version 2.5, SUSE introduced a new cluster dashboard for more detailed insights into performance and supplemented application monitoring with extended logging functions. The improvements in the current release are aimed at simplified provisioning and cluster management. A revised user interface and platform-wide, logic-based workflows are intended to enable the management of individual as well as multiple clusters in a single window. According to SUSE, this should save Rancher users both time and resources.
Last but not least, SUSE Rancher 2.6 offers support for a wider range of cloud platforms for hosting Kubernetes clusters. In addition to Amazon EKS, companies can now extend their cluster lifecycle management to Microsoft AKS and Google’s Kubernetes Engine. According to the release notification, existing hosted clusters can be imported directly into Rancher and comprehensively managed to expand the multi-cloud infrastructure.
More Information about what’s new in SUSE Rancher 2.6 offer the community blog and the following video:
(map)
