DEVOPSdigest

Mirantis announced the launch of Rockoon, an open-source project that simplifies OpenStack management on Kubernetes.

Rockoon offers an accessible, robust toolset for deploying and managing OpenStack services on Kubernetes.

A longtime proponent of open source, Mirantis is actively involved and contributes to more than 50 open source projects with efforts that are steered by the company’s Open Source Program Office directed by Randy Bias.

“Rockoon is just the beginning of Mirantis’ renewed dedication to the open-source community,” said Randy Bias, vice president of open source strategy and technology, Mirantis. “Our roadmap includes publishing additional OpenStack components and expanding our open-source portfolio to drive innovation and strengthen the cloud infrastructure ecosystem.”

The name Rockoon, inspired by the innovative technology used to launch rocket probes with the help of balloons, embodies innovation and simplicity. Rockoon simplifies complex operations by providing a unified enterprise-grade application programming interface (API) that integrates with Kubernetes, streamlining the management of OpenStack clusters. It brings the benefits of Mirantis OpenStack for Kubernetes (MOSK) – a product with over four years of proven effectiveness among Mirantis' largest clients – to the OpenStack community.

“More than two thirds of OpenStack deployments leverage the integration of OpenStack and Kubernetes, with tens of millions of cores globally implementing that open infrastructure blueprint,” said Thierry Carrez, general manager of the OpenInfra Foundation. “Mirantis opening up Rockoon to the community tracks with the company's longstanding commitment to both projects. Releasing Rockoon under an open source license makes sense for the global community, given the fact that OpenStack and Kubernetes remain two of the most active open source projects, and that the two communities work together on development and integration priorities.”

Rockoon serves as the central controller in MOSK delivering the following benefits.

- Streamlined Operations: Simplifies OpenStack management with consolidation into a single, coherent system.

- Enhanced Reliability: Provides a stable, versioned abstraction layer over OpenStack Helm APIs, shielding users from upstream changes and ensuring production-grade stability.

- Optimized Lifecycle Management: Leverages Kubernetes’ advanced orchestration capabilities for upgrades, self-healing, and scalability, reducing operational complexity.

- Ease of Deployment: Includes a deployment script that automates the setup of an OpenStack cluster on Kubernetes, compatible with lightweight environments like laptops and virtual machines (VMs).

By utilizing OpenStack Helm charts, Rockoon resolves common production challenges and ensures reliability at scale, making it the ideal solution for enterprises seeking a robust OpenStack management platform.

Mirantis strengthens its commitment to open source by making Rockoon freely accessible and continuing to meet the growing demand for high-performing and accessible solutions for managing OpenStack environments.

The Rockoon GitHub Repository is now live, providing everything needed to explore and deploy Rockoon. A deployment script simplifies the setup process, making it ideal for both development and evaluation purposes. All repository updates are rigorously tested to ensure stability and reliability.