About Tanzu Kubernetes release Distributions

A Tanzu Kubernetes release provides the Kubernetes software distribution signed and supported by VMware for use with Tanzu Kubernetes clusters. You obtain and manage Tanzu Kubernetes releases using a vSphere Content Library.

Each Tanzu Kubernetes release is distributed as an OVA template. The Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service uses the OVA template to construct the virtual machine nodes for Tanzu Kubernetes clusters.

For a list of Tanzu Kubernetes releases and compatability with the Supervisor Cluster, refer to the Tanzu Kubernetes releases Release Notes.

A Tanzu Kubernetes release is supported on Photon OS and Ubuntu. The disk size of the virtual machine built from the OVA template is fixed. You specify the CPU and RAM resources when you provision a Tanzu Kubernetes cluster. See Virtual Machine Classes for Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters.

The Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Service pulls the Tanzu Kubernetes release OVA templates from a vSphere Content Library. You can use a subscribed content library for automating the process, or a local content library for internet-restricted environments. See Create, Secure, and Synchronize a Subscribed Content Library for Tanzu Kubernetes releases and Create, Secure, and Synchronize a Local Content Library for Tanzu Kubernetes releases.

The size of the content library can grow over time as new Tanzu Kubernetes releases are distributed. If the underlying storage runs out of space, you can migrate to a new content library. See Migrate Tanzu Kubernetes Clusters to a New Content Library.

After you have created the content library and synchronized it, configure each vSphere Namespace where you plan to provision Tanzu Kubernetes clusters. This includes associating the content library and virtual machine classes with the vSphere Namespace. At this point you can log in to the vSphere Namespace and verify that the Tanzu Kubernetes releases are available. See Configure a vSphere Namespace for Tanzu Kubernetes releases.