Keeping up-to-date with Kubernetes

Keeping up-to-date with Kubernetes

Kubernetes development and adoption continues to grow at a rapid pace, and keeping current can be difficult without the right process and tools. For example, IBM Cloud Container Service launched with support for Kubernetes v1.5.6 earlier this year. Since that initial launch, the Kubernetes community provided 3 minor releases (v1.6, v1.7, and v1.8) and over 25 patch releases. By year’s end there’s likely to be another minor release and numerous patches. So with all this change, what’s the best way to keep your cluster and apps up-to-date and secure?

Update process

To help you stay current, IBM Cloud Container Service provides both process and tools. For process, IBM automatically applies patch updates to your cluster’s Kubernetes master components. You must initiate updates to your cluster workers. In general, patch updates provide fixes that should not disrupt the apps and resources that you’ve deployed to your cluster.

Also, to view your cluster’s master and worker versions and any update notifications, simply run bx cs clusters and bx cs workers <cluster-id> or log into IBM Cloud Dashboard. You are notified of a master update available if your cluster’s master version is behind the default version. And if your workers are behind the master version, then you receive worker update notifications.

$ bx cs kube-versions

OK

Version

1.5.6

1.7.4 (default)

1.8.2

$ bx cs clusters

OK

Name ID State Created Workers Datacenter Version

ibm156 dad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6 normal 20 minutes ago 2 dal12 1.5.6_1502*
ibm174 3f2c20409f7243dd8825a430fbb216ca normal 27 minutes ago 2 dal12 1.7.4_1503
ibm182 25bfc74b867b486da4705ea160f36073 normal 24 minutes ago 2 dal12 1.8.2_1500

* Run cluster-update to update to version 1.7.4_1503. For update steps and Kubernetes version notes, see the docs: https://console.bluemix.net/docs/containers/cs_cluster.html#cs_cluster_update

Update tools

When you are ready to update your cluster to the default or latest available version, follow Updating the Kubernetes master to first update your cluster’s master (i.e. bx cs cluster-update) then proceed with Updating worker nodes (i.e. bx cs worker-update. If, before updating, you don’t have the patience to review Kubernetes CHANGELOGs for all of the great new features and the sometimes, admittedly, cumbersome actions required, IBM has highlighted some of the common checks that you need to make in Kubernetes versions for IBM Cloud Container Service.

$ bx cs cluster-update -f ibm156
Updating cluster ibm156...
OK
$ # Wait for cluster update to complete ...
$ bx cs clusters
OK

Name ID State Created Workers Datacenter Version

ibm156 dad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6 normal 43 minutes ago 2 dal12 1.7.4_1503
ibm174 3f2c20409f7243dd8825a430fbb216ca normal 51 minutes ago 2 dal12 1.7.4_1503
ibm182 25bfc74b867b486da4705ea160f36073 normal 48 minutes ago 2 dal12 1.8.2_1500
$ bx cs workers ibm156
OK

ID Public IP Private IP Machine Type State Status Version

kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w1 169.48.218.118 10.184.110.133 u1c.2x4 normal Ready 1.5.6_1502*
kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w2 169.48.218.124 10.184.110.135 u1c.2x4 normal Ready 1.5.6_1502*

* Run worker-update to update to version 1.7.4_1503. For update steps and Kubernetes version notes, see the docs: https://console.bluemix.net/docs/containers/cs_cluster.html#cs_cluster_worker_update

$ bx cs worker-update -f ibm156 kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w1 kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w2
Updating worker kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w1…
OK
Updating worker kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w2…
OK
$ # Wait for worker update to complete …
$ bx cs workers ibm156
OK

ID Public IP Private IP Machine Type State Status Version

kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w1 169.48.218.118 10.184.110.133 u1c.2×4 normal Ready 1.7.4_1503
kube-dal12-crdad3e1246ab7400388e307767ede7ac6-w2 169.48.218.124 10.184.110.135 u1c.2×4 normal Ready 1.7.4_1503

Back to app development

As a result, the streamlined update process and tools provided by IBM Cloud Container Service help you stay focused on developing great cloud applications on Kubernetes.