DEVOPSdigest

Mirantisvannounced that open source k0smotron is enterprise-ready for production-grade Kubernetes cluster management with two support options.

Management and worker planes do not have to run on the same infrastructure provider, making k0smotron ideal for consolidating Kubernetes control planes for edge, hybrid and multi-cloud deployments. Also, this makes it possible to set up Kubernetes control planes as ephemeral pods that can be spun up or down as workload requirements change.

The k0smotron operator is deployed onto an existing Kubernetes cluster, designated as the management cluster similar to a “mothership,” that orchestrates and provides control plane services on demand. Within this framework, the control planes are virtualized and treated as any other workload while managing multiple “child clusters”. This streamlines management, improves security and reliability while reducing operational costs by enabling rapid large-scale provisioning of Kubernetes with standardized configurations.

"In an era where application complexity is skyrocketing, managing multiple Kubernetes clusters efficiently is a significant hurdle," said Miska Kaipiainen, vice president of engineering at Mirantis. "k0smotron simplifies this by allowing Kubernetes control planes to operate as individual pods within a single overarching Kubernetes environment. This 'Kubernetes within Kubernetes' approach is resource-efficient and tailor-made for organizations with diverse development teams needing their own specialized clusters. With k0smotron now enterprise-ready and backed up by Mirantis' official support, we're redefining the benchmarks of Kubernetes cluster management."

The separation between control planes and workers — along with Cluster API integration and the ability to provision bare metal — also makes it possible to provision remote worker nodes, supporting a wider range of use cases, including smaller footprint edge, branch offices, and the Internet of Things (IoT). For software development and continuous integration (CI/CD), temporary clusters can be created and integrated with existing processes. Also, k0smotron supports multi-cloud deployments with the control plane management cluster in a public or private cloud provider and worker nodes in various clouds – all with unified cluster management.

Mirantis is offering the option of two different support packages: OpsCare, which provides 24/7 proactive support; and OpsCare Plus, which is a fully-managed 24/7 ZeroOps service.

The k0smotron operator is developed by the team behind the open source k0s lightweight Kubernetes distribution. k0smotron is developed primarily on k0s and works with any CNCF-certified Kubernetes cluster.