VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid provides a consistent, upstream-compatible Kubernetes substrate that is ready for end-user workloads and ecosystem integrations. Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) is central to many of the offerings in the Tanzu portfolio, and provides the Kubernetes runtime for vSphere.

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid architecture

For information about what Tanzu Kubernetes Grid is and its capabilities, see About Tanzu Kubernetes Grid.

Docs for Tanzu Kubernetes Grid with a standalone management cluster

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid uses a management cluster to create and manage workload clusters. You can either deploy a standalone management cluster, or use the vSphere IaaS control plane Supervisor as a management cluster. A standalone management cluster is a special-purpose Kubernetes cluster that you deploy on an infrastructure and use to create workload clusters on that same infrastructure. A standalone management cluster allows you to deploy Kubernetes clusters on vSphere 7 and vSphere 8 when using the vSphere Iaas control plane Supervisor is not an option.

Important: The publications listed below describe how to use TKG with a standalone management cluster. This documentation does not describe how to use the vSphere IaaS control plane Supervisor.
About Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Deploying and Managing Tanzu Kubernetes Grid 2.5 Standalone Management Clusters on vSphere
Learn about the capabilities of the latest version of Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, including descriptions of the differences between Supervisors and standalone management clusters, types of workload clusters, descriptions of Tanzu Kubernetes releases and custom node images, explanations about how identity and access management works in TKG, how to extend the capabilities of your clusters by installing packages on them and information about Security and Compliance. Describes how to set up your environment for management cluster deployment, install the Tanzu CLI and use it to deploy standalone management clusters in connected environments and in environments that are not connected to the Internet. Other topics include how to register your management cluster with Tanzu Mission Control, build custom machine images, and configure identity and access management and networking.
Creating and Managing TKG 2.5 Workload Clusters on vSphere with the Tanzu CLI Installing and Using Tanzu Packages
Create workload clusters on vSphere by using the Tanzu CLI. Manage your clusters after deployment, including how to connect to, manage, scale, restart, and delete your clusters, as well as how to manage cluster secrets, configure machine health checks, and back up and restore clusters. Tanzu packages add extra functionality to clusters. The extra functionality that you can add to clusters includes Certificate management, Monitoring, Ingress control, Log forwarding, DNS service discovery, Support for multiple network interfaces, and Harbor container registry.

For information about new features, compatibility, component versions, and resolved and known issues, see the Tanzu Kubernetes Grid v2.5.x Release Notes.

See also the Tanzu CLI Documentation to learn about the architecture, commands, and options of the Tanzu CLI.

The Tanzu Kubernetes Grid documentation in HTML reflects the latest minor release of each Tanzu Kubernetes Grid version. For example, version 2.5 contains updates for all 2.5.x patch releases. In addition to HTML, all our documentation also comes in PDF format, which you can access by selecting the Download PDF icon on any HTML page in a publication.

TKG solutions workbooks and reference architectures

The Tanzu Reference Architecture Documentation contains validated reference architecture and designs for deploying TKG in varied deployment scenarios. The Reference Architecture docs also include Tanzu Solutions Workbooks that describe how to implement specific use cases with Tanzu and TKG.

Tanzu Solutions Workbooks Tanzu for Kubernetes Operations Reference Architecture 2.3 Tanzu Kubernetes Grid 2.3 Air-Gapped Reference Design and Deployment
How to fulfil specific use cases when using TKG with Tanzu Application Catalog, NSX Advanced Load Balancer, databases, and so on. Workbooks for new use cases are added regularly. Describes how to deploy Tanzu Kubernetes Grid and other components in validated configurations on different platforms, both on premises and in the cloud. Describes how to create management and workload clusters in a specific and validated configuration in air-gapped environments, for both vSphere and AWS deployments.
Note: The TKG v2.3 Reference Architecture and Reference Design docs also apply to TKG v2.4.

TKG compliance and hardening

TKG releases are continuously validated against the Defense the Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implementation Guides (DISA STIG), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Security Agency (NSA) framework, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines. Information about STIG and NSA/CISA compliance is available for all supported TKG versions:

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid 2.5 Compliance and Hardening | v2.4 | v2.3 | 2.2

TKG support

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid operates the N-2 Lifecycle Policy, wherein the latest minor release and the two minor releases that immediately precede it are supported, with a minimum support duration of 12 months. To allow you time to upgrade, documentation for the most recent unsupported version of TKG remains online until support for the next oldest version ends. PDF documentation for older unsupported releases of Tanzu Kubernetes Grid is available upon request from VMware Support. For information about the dates on which support ends for given TKG versions, see the Broadcom Product Lifecycle Matrix.

Additional information

In addition to this documentation, VMware provides other resources to help you to learn more about Tanzu Kubernetes Grid.