Canonical Launches Long-Term Support for Kubernetes with 12-Year Commitment

In a significant move within the rapidly evolving cloud infrastructure landscape, Canonical has announced the introduction of a Long-Term Support (LTS) version of Kubernetes that will come with an impressive 12 years of support. This development is particularly noteworthy given the fast-paced nature of cloud technologies.

Kubernetes, the popular container orchestration platform, began its journey on June 6, 2014, and celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2024. It has become integral to the infrastructure of many large organizations. However, the platform's frequent release cycles--new minor versions every four months--pose a considerable challenge for operators striving to keep their systems up to date. Each version receives security updates for 14 months post-release, creating pressure on teams managing extensive environments. Some cloud service providers have already extended the support for certain Kubernetes versions; for instance, Microsoft Azure will support Kubernetes 1.30 until July 2026 instead of the standard July 2025.

To address this issue, Canonical is taking a bold step by offering its customers a Kubernetes LTS version every two years, starting with Kubernetes 1.32 as the inaugural LTS release. This version will be supported with security updates until 2036. For clients with unique requirements who may need to utilize Kubernetes 1.32 beyond this timeframe, Canonical plans to provide additional offerings.

In conjunction with its LTS releases, Canonical will continue to align its Kubernetes distribution with the upstream releases, maintaining the four-month release cycle and the 14-month security update window. This dual approach ensures that customers who prefer to adopt new features promptly will not be affected by the introduction of the LTS version.