SUSE Unveils Rancher 2.7.2, Enhanced Kubernetes Management
As Kubernetes users know, Rancher is a popular complete software stack for running and managing multiple Kubernetes clusters across any infrastructure. At KubeCon Europe, SUSE released its latest and greatest version, Rancher 2.7.2.
This update aims to foster stronger ecosystem adoption. It does this by decoupling the Rancher Manager‘s user functionality (UF) so users can independently extend and enhance the Rancher UI. This enables them to build on top of the Rancher platform and better integrate Rancher into their environments by building custom, peer-developed, or Rancher-developed UI extensions.
First Three
The first three Rancher-developed extensions are:
- Kubewarden Extension, which delivers a comprehensive way to manage the lifecycle of Kubernetes policies across Rancher clusters.
- Elemental Extension, which provides operators with the ability to manage their cloud native OS and Edge devices from Rancher.
- Harvester Extension, which helps operators load their virtualized Harvester cluster into Rancher to manage and inspect easily.
The idea is for Rancher to provide hybrid and multicloud multicluster management within the same pane of glass. While, at the same time, extension providers can deliver a highly customized user experience to users.
As Peter Smails, SUSE’s General Manager of Enterprise Container Management, explained, “As the Kubernetes ecosystem expands and becomes more complex, innovation, interoperability, and simplicity have never been more important. Our free-to-use Rancher UI extension framework empowers users and independent software vendors (ISVs) to create customized user experiences, significantly enhancing the operationalization of their entire Kubernetes environment.”
Ecosystem
The updated Rancher ecosystem also includes:
- Rancher Desktop 1.8 with configurable application behaviors such as auto-start login and all applications settings configurable via its command line interface and new experimental updates.
- Kubewarden 1.6.0 now allows DevSecOps teams to write Policy as Code using both traditional programming languages and domain-specific languages.
- Opni 0.9 , the Multicluster Observability tool, has several observability feature updates as it approaches its planned GA later in the year.
- S3GW (S3 Gateway)14.0 has new features such as lifecycle management, object locking and holds, and UI improvements.
- Epinio 1.7, an opinionated Kubernetes platform, can take you from App to URL in one step. now has a UI with Dex integration, the identity service that uses OpenID Connect to drive authentication for other apps, and SUSE’s S3GW, an AWS S3-compatible gateway based on the Ceph RADOS Gateway (RGW).
The latest core Rancher also provides better value with SUSE’s commercial open source support subscription service for Rancher, Rancher Prime, It now includes Service-Level Agreement (SLA) -backed support for Policy and OS Management natively within the Rancher platform via the Kubewarden and Elemental extensions. Prime subscribers also now have access to SUSE’s customer engagement platform SUSE Collective, This includes access to peers, exclusive roadmap materials, reference architectures, operating-at-scale documentation, and on-demand start-up guides.
Puzzled by all this technology? Join the crowd. SUSE feels your pain. So, Tom Callway, SUSE’s VP of Product Marketing and Community, announced that since “Cloud native expertise remains one of the biggest inhibitors to Kubernetes’ adoption,” SUSE is re-launching Rancher Academy. Its “aim is to help demystify the complexities of cloud native platforms like Kubernetes and break down the barriers faced by users when deploying new workloads by offering free, high-quality educational resources. Course cover: Kubernetes, Container Fundamentals, Rancher Multicluster Management, Container Security, and more.
For these classes alone, you should check out Rancher. That said, SUSE and Rancher are doing some very interesting things for Kubernetes managers.
