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

Support for Kubernetes/ Orchestrators

AKO version 1.11.4 support for Kubernetes and OpenShift are as follows:

AKO Release

Versions Supported

Kubernetes Support

Versions 1.23 - 1.28

OpenShift Support

Versions 4.10 - 4.13

Support for NSX Advanced 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

NSX Advanced 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

1.11.4

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

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 NSX Advanced 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 NSX Advanced Load Balancer Controller version.

Support for NSX Advanced Load Balancer Editions

NSX Advanced Load Balancer Essentials

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

NSX Advanced Load Balancer Basic

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

NSX Advanced Load Balancer Enterprise

It is the full-featured NSX Advanced 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 1.11

AKO version 1.11.1 does not support the following:

  • OpenShift 3.x

  • NSX Advanced Load Balancer Proxy Annotations

  • Egress pod

Caveat

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