This topic outlines the compatibility and features supported by AKO in different environments.

Support for Kubernetes/ Orchestrators

AKO support for Kubernetes and OpenShift are as follows:

AKO Release

Versions Supported

Kubernetes Support

Versions 1.25 - 1.29

OpenShift Support

Versions 4.12 - 4.14

Support for Avi Load Balancer Ecosystems and CNI

AKO supports the following CNI:

  • Calico

  • Antrea

  • OpenShift SDN

  • Flannel

  • NCP

  • OVN-Kubernetes CNI in OpenShift

  • Cilium CNI in Kubernetes

Avi Load Balancer Controller Version Support for AKO

AKO Release(s)

Controller Versions Supported

1.5

20.1.3 - 20.1.7

1.6

20.1.5 - 21.1.3

1.7.1

20.1.5 - 21.1.4

1.7.2

20.1.5 - 21.1.6

1.8

21.1.3 - 22.1.1 (AKO 1.8.1)

21.1.3 - 22.1.4 (AKO 1.8.2)

1.9.3

21.1.4 through 21.1.6

22.1.2, and 22.1.3

1.10

For 21.1.x: 21.1.5 and above

For 22.1.x: 22.1.3 and above

1.11.1

For 21.1.x: 21.1.6 and above

For 22.1.x: 22.1.3 and above

For 30.1.x : 30.1.1 and above

1.11.3

For 21.1.x: 21.1.6 and above

For 22.1.x: 22.1.3 and above

For 30.1.x: 30.1.1 and above

1.12.1

For 22.1.x: 22.1.3 and above

For 30.1.x: 30.1.2 and above

30.2.1

AKO Lifecycle Policy

VMware applies different support policies for AKO versions due to the fast-paced Kubernetes releases and the requirement that AKO must support the most recent Kubernetes versions.

The lifecycle of VMware support for AKO versions is by following the N-2 Lifecycle Policy, which covers the most recent and the two earlier minor releases of AKO. With the release of AKO 1.11.1, support for AKO 1.8.1 will end following a minimum period of 12 months from the release of AKO 1.8.1. For more information, see the VMware Product Lifecycle Matrix. To provide users with sufficient time for upgrade, documentation for the most recent unsupported version of AKO will remain accessible online until support for the subsequent oldest version ends.

Tanzu Compatibility with AKO

Tanzu releases contain a prepackaged version of AKO with each release. When using this prepackaged version of AKO, see the Tanzu compatibility guide for the relevant version of Tanzu to confirm Avi Load Balancer Controller version compatibility.

When deploying AKO using Helm into Tanzu Kubernetes clusters, use the above compatibility table to verify compatibility between the desired AKO version, the Kubernetes version used in the cluster, and the Avi Load Balancer Controller version.

Support for Avi Load Balancer Editions

Avi Load Balancer Essentials

It is an entitlement to Tanzu Basic and Standard. AKO supports Avi Load Balancer Essentials and provides very limited L4 LB functionality and no autoscaling

Avi Load Balancer Basic

It is an entitlement to NSX-T and provides NSX-T Lb equivalent features. AKO is not yet qualified with Avi Load Balancer Basic and is not currently supported.

Avi Load Balancer Enterprise

It is the full-featured Avi Load Balancer edition and is supported by AKO.

Cloud Support

  • In ClusterIP Mode: GCP, Azure, vCenter

  • In Nodeport Mode: AWS

Managed Kubernetes Support

  • Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)

  • Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

  • Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes(EKS)

Features Not Supported in AKO Release 1.12

AKO version 1.12.1 does not support the following:

  • OpenShift 3.x

  • Avi Load Balancer Proxy Annotations

  • Egress pod

Caveat

AKO does not support ingresses which do not have either hostname or a path defined.