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BernardoAugustoGarcaLoaiza-1780 avatar image
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BernardoAugustoGarcaLoaiza-1780 asked BernardoAugustoGarcaLoaiza-1780 answered

AKS version 1.18.x will be retired

Dear community.

I received this notification:

We're retiring AKS version 1.18.x on 31 July 2021. We've detected that one or more AKS clusters in your subscription(s) are using Kubernetes v1.18 or lower. We'll continue to support clusters running AKS v1.18x until 30 July 2021, after which AKS v1.18.x will be removed.

And I am seeing this on the official documentation here.

111250-image.png

What will happen after July 31st 2021 with aks clusters which keep the 1.18.x version?
Do they will continue operating (but of course without support)?
Or if by the time of 31st July, those will be automatically removed from subscriptions (I think this is not feasible right?)

I've wanted to ask this since I have a production cluster, which one has some legacy helm charts deployed which ones only work with 1.18.x version, If I upgrade the cluster to 1.19.x, those helm deployment will be breaking.
Of course, this is such a situation I need to fix by upgrading the cluster and upgrading the helm chart versions as well, but this is something to evaluate if can be accomplished before 31st of July.

Can I leave my cluster with 1.18.x version after 31st of July, whereas I got enough time to perform the corresponding upgrades I need to do?

If someone can give me a bit of orientation, I will be appreciated.

azure-kubernetes-service
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srbose-msft avatar image
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srbose-msft answered

@BernardoAugustoGarcaLoaiza-1780 , Thank you for your question.

What does 'Outside of Support' mean

'Outside of Support' means that:

The version you're running is outside of the supported versions list.
You'll be asked to upgrade the cluster to a supported version when requesting support, unless you're within the 30-day grace period after version deprecation.
Additionally, AKS doesn't make any runtime or other guarantees for clusters outside of the supported versions list.


If customers are running an unsupported Kubernetes version, they will be asked to upgrade when requesting support for the cluster. Clusters running unsupported Kubernetes releases are not covered by the AKS support policies.

Users have 30 days from version removal to upgrade to a supported minor version release to continue receiving support.

When you upgrade from version n-3 or older to n-2 succeeds, you're back within our support policies. For example:

If the oldest supported AKS version is 1.15.a and you are on 1.14.b or older, you're outside of support.
When you successfully upgrade from 1.14.b to 1.15.a or higher, you're back within our support policies.

Minor versions not supported by AKS, should continue to work. But there are no Quality of Service guarantees.



Can a user stay on a Kubernetes version forever?

If a cluster has been out of support for more than three (3) minor versions and has been found to carry security risks, Azure proactively contacts you to upgrade your cluster. If you do not take further action, Azure reserves the right to automatically upgrade your cluster on your behalf.

In summary, if you do not upgrade the cluster currently running version 1.18.x by 31st July 2021, the cluster will continue to run but will not be covered in AKS support policies. However we highly recommend on planning to upgrade the cluster to a supported version of Kubernetes son Azure as soon as possible.


Hope this helps.

Please "Accept as Answer" if it helped, so that it can help others in the community looking for help on similar topics.

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BernardoAugustoGarcaLoaiza-1780 avatar image
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BernardoAugustoGarcaLoaiza-1780 answered

Thank you @srbose-msft, quite clear.

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