Rafay MKS - Rafay Product Documentation

Introducing Platform Version with Rafay MKS clusters.

Our upcoming release introduces support for a number of new features and enhancements. One such enhancement is the introduction of Platform Versioning for Rafay MKS clusters a major feature in our v3.5 release. This new capability is designed to simplify and standardize the upgrade lifecycle of critical components in upstream Kubernetes clusters managed by Rafay MKS.

Why Platform Version?

Upgrading Kubernetes clusters is essential, but the core components—such as etcd, CRI, and Salt Minion also require updates for:

Platform Versioning introduces a structured, reliable, and repeatable upgrade path for these foundational components, reducing risk and operational overhead.

What is a Platform Version?

A Platform Version defines a tested and validated set of component versions that can be safely upgraded together. This ensures compatibility and stability across your clusters.

We are introducing v1.0.0 as the very first Platform Version for new clusters. This version includes:

Note

For existing clusters, the initial platform version will be shown as v0.1.0, which is assigned for reference purposes to older clusters that were created before platform versioning was introduced. Please perform the upgrade to v1.0.0 during scheduled downtime, as it involves updates to core components such as etcd and CRI.

How Does Platform Versioning Work?

You can upgrade the Platform Version in two ways:

This flexibility allows you to keep your clusters secure and up to date, regardless of your Kubernetes upgrade schedule.

Controlled and Responsive Update Cadence

Platform Versions are not released frequently. New versions are published only when:

This approach ensures that upgrades are meaningful and necessary, minimizing disruption.

Whenever a new Platform Version is released, existing clusters can seamlessly upgrade to the latest version, ensuring they benefit from the latest security patches and improvements without manual intervention.

Evolving Platform Versions and Expanding Coverage

We are committed to continuously improving Platform Versioning. In future releases, we will introduce new platform versions to expand the scope of Platform Versioning by including more critical components as part of the platform version. For this initial release, we have started with three foundational components etcd, CRI, and Salt Minion because of their critical importance to cluster stability. Over time, we will enhance Platform Versioning to cover additional components, ensuring your clusters remain robust, secure, and up to date.

Platform Version Documentation

For detailed documentation, see: Platform Version Docs

In Summary

Platform Versioning makes it easier than ever to keep your clusters current and secure by managing the upgrade lifecycle of foundational components like etcd, CRI, and Salt Minion.

Whether you apply it alongside a Kubernetes version bump or independently, Platform Versioning ensures your infrastructure remains stable, secure, and optimized now and in the future.

Upstream Kubernetes on Flatcar Linux using Rafay

This blog is Part 3 of our series on Flatcar Linux and Kubernetes

Our upcoming February release will introduce a number of new features and enhancements. We will write about these in separate blogs. This blog is focused on support for Upstream Kubernetes based on Rafay MKS on nodes running Flatcar Linux. The Rafay platform enables users to seamlessly provision new clusters and perform in-place upgrades of Kubernetes clusters, simplifying lifecycle management.

For more details on Flatcar Linux, visit the official Flatcar Linux website.

Provision Cluster

Rafay MKS based Upstream Kubernetes clusters can be configured and provisioned on Flatcar Linux using all the supported interfaces i.e.

In this blog, we will demonstrate this using the web console and the Rafay RCTL CLI.