When compared with previous versions, DC/OS Kubernetes 2.4.4-1.15.4 brings in a number of important improvements to how Kubernetes clusters are managed, as well as to how they operate.

High-Density Multi-Kubernetes

The most notable change in the new release is that it is now possible to install multiple Kubernetes clusters side-by-side on the same DC/OS cluster. It is also now possible to run multiple private Kubernetes nodes on the same private DC/OS agent, regardless of whether they belong to the same or to different Kubernetes clusters. This change makes it possible, for example, to run multiple development clusters side-by-side on the same DC/OS cluster, reducing costs and management overhead.

Revamped CLI

Accompanying the abovementioned change is a brand new command-line interface (CLI) that allows for easy management and inspection of Kubernetes clusters.

Creating a new Kubernetes cluster can now be done using the following command:

$ dcos kubernetes cluster create --options options.json
Kubernetes cluster '[dev/kubernetes01]' is being created

Listing existing Kubernetes clusters is also very intuitive:

dcos kubernetes cluster update --cluster-name dev/kubernetes01 --options options.json

$ dcos kubernetes cluster list
        NAME        KUBERNETES VERSION  PACKAGE VERSION
  dev/kubernetes01  v1.15.4             stub-universe
  dev/kubernetes02  v1.15.4             stub-universe

As another example, updating a Kubernetes cluster can be done via the CLI by specifying its name as a flag:

dcos kubernetes cluster update --cluster-name dev/kubernetes01 --options options.json

$ dcos kubernetes cluster update --cluster-name dev/kubernetes01 --options options.json
  Using Kubernetes cluster: dev/kubernetes01
  2018/10/17 17:20:10 starting update process...

The new CLI features a number of other useful commands, which can be listed by running:

dcos kubernetes --help

See the CLI section for documentation on the new CLI.

Cluster Manager

To make management of multiple Kubernetes clusters on the same DC/OS cluster a reality, a custom cluster manager was introduced. As a result of its introduction, the old kubernetes package has been re-purposed and split into two different packages:

The kubernetes package now represents the cluster manager. Installing this package is required to create Kubernetes clusters, and it can only be installed once.
The kubernetes-cluster package has been introduced in order to represent a single, atomic Kubernetes cluster. It roughly corresponds to the kubernetes package available in DC/OS 1.11, and can now be installed multiple times.

Control-Plane Nodes

Each Kubernetes cluster can be installed with one control-plane node or in HA mode with three nodes. These nodes take the place of the old kube-apiserver, kube-controller-manager and kube-scheduler tasks, being that each one of these Kubernetes components now runs as a static pod. Control-plane nodes are labeled with node-role.kubernetes.io/master, being tainted with a similar key so that no pods are scheduled onto them.

Networking

In order to make it possible to run multiple private Kubernetes nodes on the same private DC/OS agent, some changes to networking were required. The etcd members, control-plane nodes and private Kubernetes nodes leverage DC/OS virtual networking and each have their own IP address in the DC/OS cluster. Kubernetes cluster pod networking and policy are now powered by Calico.

Community

Get help and connect with other users on the mailing list or on DC/OS community Slack in the #kubernetes channel.