By Mackenzie Burnett, November 1, 2016
Originally published on the CoreOS blog (archived copy) . Re-published with the authors' permission.
Today we announce the release of version 1.4 of CoreOS Tectonic, our enterprise distribution of Kubernetes. Tectonic v1.4 incorporates self-hosted cluster technology, fixes a critical security vulnerability, and streamlines the user experience with our bare metal Installer, Console, and Identity services.
Kubernetes has amassed unmistakeable industry momentum. At KubeCon next week, industry heavyweights such as SAP, Box, Comcast, eBay, and Pearson will discuss their Kubernetes strategies and experiences. They are among the thousands of organizations and developers using Kubernetes to automate the management and scaling of containerized applications.
Tectonic is the enterprise Kubernetes distribution delivering stock, upstream Kubernetes with essential integration and support tools and services. Tectonic v1.4 includes all the freshest Kubernetes improvements developed by our teams and the wider community, along with the latest Tectonic tooling and services. The following features and fixes stand out:
Security fixes: We released Tectonic 1.4.3 with a TLS resolution within hours of the announcement of a security vulnerability in Kubernetes.
Self-hosted: CoreOS leads upstream Kubernetes work on self-hosted cluster technology with bootkube, and our bare metal installer now installs self-hosted clusters.
Fine-grained node monitoring: Tectonic users can now see graphs of node usage based on our Prometheus integration.
Better access control: Tectonic users can browse Role Based Access Control (RBAC) policies in the Tectonic Console.
Streamlined authentication: Tectonic Identity now includes Dex 2.0.0-alpha, redesigned as a Kubernetes-native application to be easier to use and more robust.
Tectonic's bare metal installer installs self-hosted Kubernetes clusters on your nodes in your datacenter. Self-hosted means a system can be expressed in terms of itself. In the case of Kubernetes, self-hosted means simplifying the process of installing, managing, and upgrading Kubernetes clusters by making the entire Kubernetes system run on the cluster, as Kubernetes objects. With this groundwork, Kubernetes policies and practices can control the deployment, execution lifecycle, and upgrades of the cluster's own executive components.
The Tectonic Console now displays cluster metrics collected by Prometheus right out of the box. Users get constant, graphical insight into CPU and RAM consumption, the number of pods on each node, network I/O, and filesystem usage.
Image not preserved in the Internet Archive: Prometheus monitoring and alerting in Tectonic Console
Image not preserved in the Internet Archive: Visualizing a Kubernetes pod with Prometheus in Tectonic Console
Tectonic 1.3 shipped with the first version of Kubernetes with integrated Role Based Access Control (RBAC). In Tectonic 1.4, we've added beta graphical RBAC management to the Tectonic Console, where administrators can easily view and configure cluster Roles for cluster Users.
Image not preserved in the Internet Archive: Defining cluster access Roles in Tectonic Console<
Image not preserved in the Internet Archive: Defining cluster access Rules for an access Role in Tectonic Console
Tectonic Identity, built on the open-source Dex, is a federated identity provider for connecting Tectonic cluster authentication to web and enterprise authentication backends. Tectonic Identity now ships with Dex 2.0.0-alpha, a streamlined new version of Dex that provides an easier setup of a simpler, more robust service. Dex 2 is a rewrite of the Tectonic Identity engine that renovates Dex's storage underpinnings to make it easier to deploy, simpler to manage, and prepares the Dex architecture for a host of roadmap feature additions through future Tectonic releases.
Tectonic v1.4 delivers production-grade container cluster infrastructure for deploying, managing, and scaling applications. For more version details, see the release notes. To start using Tectonic right away, grab a free license for Tectonic Starter, or contact sales to learn more about production licenses, professional integration and support services, or just to strike up a conversation with a Kubernetes expert as you plan your journey to GIFEE: Google's Infrastructure for Everyone.
We're hosting a number of events at the Kubernetes conference, KubeCon in Seattle, starting Monday, November 7, 2016. Join us. Check out the full schedule of CoreOS KubeCon events, then stop by and visit our engineers at the CoreOS booth with your Kubernetes and container questions, or request an on-site sales meeting with a specialist.
After KubeCon, keep learning from pioneer Kubernetes developers and enterprise deployers at Tectonic Summit. Join CoreOS at the premier enterprise Kubernetes event in New York City, December 12 and 13.