DEVOPSdigest

Octopus Deploy launched new features to help simplify Kubernetes CD at scale for enterprises.

With a new Kubernetes agent and external feed triggers for container images and Helm, Octopus Deploy enables deployments to Kubernetes at scale, eliminating the need for complex and expensive continuous integration (CI) scripts.

"Kubernetes is powerful but gets complicated when deploying hundreds or thousands of applications," said Colin Bowern, SVP, Product of Octopus Deploy. "Challenges like managing environments, lack of pipeline visibility, and compliance get more complex at scale. What starts as a few lines of scripts and a few YAML files in Git becomes thousands of scripts and YAML sprawl – essentially DIY shadow CD tooling. Octopus is built to model all the complexity of delivering software to Kubernetes – and anywhere else – at scale."

The Octopus Kubernetes agent simplifies deployments to Kubernetes at scale by changing how Octopus interacts with Kubernetes clusters. This means that:

- Installing the agent on a cluster registers it as a target in Octopus, so customers don't need to configure authentication.

- Customers don't need to allow external network access to the cluster as the agent starts and maintains the connection.

- With the agent, deployment tasks run on the cluster for maximum security and optimal resource utilisation.

Octopus has also released external feed triggers for Kubernetes to help automate releases. Enterprise customers often release new versions of their applications multiple times throughout the day. By leveraging Octopus, they can avoid manually updating YAML manifests every time they create a new container while still benefiting from pull-driven deployments. This makes it easier to model complex scenarios.

Octopus is built to model all the complexity of delivering software to Kubernetes – and anywhere else – at scale. It offers environment progression, observability, and compliance as core concepts that have existed for many years and have been production-tested by thousands of organizations.

"We can all agree that Kubernetes brings tremendous power as a container orchestration platform," said Paul Stovell, CEO of Octopus Deploy. "Octopus Cloud went live on Kubernetes back in 2018, so it's no secret we're huge fans of Kubernetes, with the real-world production and scale scars that come with it. We've also helped thousands of customers deploy to Kubernetes since we first shipped Kubernetes CD support in 2018. And we are excited to continue our support for Kubernetes deployments with these new features."

These features are already available to customers on Octopus Cloud, and for customers on Octopus Server as part of the 2024.2 release scheduled for June 2024.