Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Version Support Policies, Kubernetes Support, and Feature States

Due to the fast-moving pace of Kubernetes releases and the need for Tanzu Kubernetes Grid to support the most recent Kubernetes versions, VMware applies different support policies for TKG versions, TKG features, and Kubernetes versions.

Supported Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Versions

The lifecycle of VMware support for TKG versions is as follows.

Minor versions: Minor versions are supported for at least one year, but some releases are supported for longer periods on an as-needs basis. You can search the Broadcom Product Lifecycle Matrix for VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Management for the most up to date information about supported TKG versions. PDF documentation for older unsupported releases of Tanzu Kubernetes Grid is available upon request from VMware Tanzu Support.

Patch versions: TKG supports all patch versions for a given TKG minor version, for as long as that minor version is supported. However, if problems are discovered, the resolution is likely to require an upgrade to the latest patch of a supported TKG minor version.

Kubernetes Version Support Policies

Prior to v2.5.2, each TKG minor release supported TKrs for three Kubernetes minor releases, with the Kubernetes version of the management cluster being the most recent Kubernetes version. From v2.5.2, TKG provides 5 TKrs for workload clusters, and removes the obligation for the management cluster to run the most recent Kubernetes minor version. This allows TKG to add support for new Kubernetes minor releases in TKG patch releases, rather than in TKG minor releases. In TKG v2.5.2, the supported Kubernetes versions for workload clusters are v1.30, v1.29, v1.28, v1.27, and v1.26, with the management cluster running Kubernetes v1.28. In this way, from TKG v2.5.2 onwards, the Kubernetes version of the management cluster can remain two minor versions older than the newest Kubernetes version supported on workload clusters.

Minor versions: VMware supports TKG v2.5.2 with Kubernetes v1.30, v1.29, v1.28, v1.27, and v1.26. TKG v2.5.0 and v2.5.1 support v1.28, v1.27, and v1.26.

Patch versions: TKG supports all Kubernetes patch versions for a given TKG patch version, for as long as that TKG version is supported. However, if problems are discovered, the resolution is likely to require an upgrade to the latest patch of a supported minor version.

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid patch versions support or supported TKr patch versions as listed below.

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Version	Management Cluster Kubernetes Version	Provided Kubernetes (TKr) Versions
2.5.2	1.28.11	v1.30.2, v1.29.6, v1.28.11, v1.27.15, v1.26.14
2.5.1	1.28.7	1.28.7, 1.27.11, 1.26.14
2.5.0	1.28.4	1.28.4, 1.27.8, 1.26.11
2.4.1	1.27.5	1.27.5, 1.26.8, 1.25.13
2.4.0	1.27.5	1.27.5, 1.26.8, 1.25.13
2.3.1	1.26.8	1.26.8, 1.25.13, 1.24.17
2.3.0	1.26.5	1.26.5, 1.25.10, 1.24.14
2.2.0	1.25.7	1.25.7, 1.24.11, 1.23.17

TKG Feature States

The following state definitions describe Tanzu Kubernetes Grid features, ordered by typical lifecycle. The TKG documentation covers features in the Technical Preview, Stable, and Deprecated states:

• Experimental:
  • Not supported, and use voids support for its environment
  • Not for production environments, but can be tried in development environments
  • May have listings marked as “Experimental” in the CLI, download sites, etc.
  • Not documented publicly, but may have documentation distributed privately
• Technical Preview:
  • Not supported, but does not void warranty for its environment
  • For pre-production environments or production environments without support for the feature
  • Documented publicly, labeled as “Technical Preview”
• Stable:
  • Fully tested and supported for production environments, except as noted in documentation
  • Documented publicly without labels
• Deprecated:
  • Tested and supported, but with end of support expected
  • Customers are encouraged to stop using the feature and to deactivate it in their environments
  • Documented as “Deprecated”