Mirantis Releases k0s 1.35 with Enhanced AI and GPU Support
Mirantis has released version 1.35 of k0s, its lightweight, zero-friction Kubernetes distribution. The new version includes strengthened support for multi-tenanted environments and improved GPU resource management. These features are aimed at teams building and maintaining cloud-to-edge AI services.
- This release incorporates upstream Kubernetes 1.35, which introduces alpha support for "gang" scheduling via a new Workload API. This feature ensures that interdependent workloads, such as distributed AI/ML training jobs, are scheduled as a group, preventing deadlocks and inefficient resource allocation. - The Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) feature gate, which became generally available in Kubernetes 1.34, is now locked to enabled-by-default in version 1.35. This provides a more flexible framework for requesting and sharing resources, which is particularly beneficial for managing specialized hardware like GPUs. - k0s is packaged as a single binary, which contains all necessary components and has no host OS dependencies beyond the kernel. This design simplifies installation and reduces the potential for conflicts with other system packages, making it suitable for edge and IoT deployments. - Mirantis, the company behind k0s, acquired the Docker Enterprise platform business in November 2019. This acquisition included the technology, employees, and enterprise customers, significantly accelerating Mirantis's focus on delivering Kubernetes-as-a-Service. - Competing lightweight Kubernetes distributions include k3s (from SUSE/Rancher) and MicroK8s (from Canonical). While k3s is known for its small binary size and minimal resource usage, k0s emphasizes a "zero friction" approach with its dependency-free architecture. - The control plane storage backend in k0s 1.35 has been updated from rqlite to modernc.org/sqlite. This change is intended to improve performance and reliability for smaller clusters while reducing the software's overall footprint and dependencies. - The release also brings expanded support for Windows nodes, moving closer to feature parity with Linux. This includes the addition of the `k0s status` and `k0s reset` commands for Windows workers, improving the operational experience in mixed-OS environments. - k0s follows the same release and support cycle as upstream Kubernetes, meaning each minor version is maintained for approximately 14 months. k0s releases typically follow a few weeks after the official Kubernetes release to allow for testing and integration.
