November 2023 Summaries

Replicated announced the end-of-life for several kURL add-ons, including Docker, Weave, Antrea, and Longhorn, as of April 2023, with no further support offered post-February 1, 2024, unless vendors update their Kubernetes installers to supported versions. Vendors who fail to upgrade their systems will not receive support for instances running outdated add-ons, as Replicated transitions to a new and improved v2 of their embedded cluster, available only for installations with supported add-ons. Migration assistance is provided for transitioning from EOL add-ons to supported alternatives, such as replacing Docker with containerd, Weave with Flannel, Antrea with Flannel, and Longhorn with OpenEBS or Rook. Replicated encourages vendors to update their systems and offers further information through previews of the new embedded cluster v2 from the recent RepliCon conference, while also providing resources and support through their website and newsletter.

Replicated's Instance Insights feature leverages telemetry data from customer clusters to facilitate application testing across diverse customer-representative environments using GitHub actions. This approach, demonstrated by Chuck D'Antonio, integrates Replicated's Compatibility Matrix and telemetry insights to automatically test software across various Kubernetes distributions such as GKE, OpenShift, AKS, and K3S. By accessing detailed cluster information through the Replicated Vendor Portal, developers can run tests tailored to the specific environments their customers use, enhancing the reliability and compatibility of applications by surfacing configurations that might be overlooked in traditional test planning. This method ensures that applications perform as expected in real-world customer settings, offering an efficient way to address any compatibility issues preemptively.

Replicated's November 2023 release highlights showcase a range of new features and improvements across its platform, particularly focusing on the Compatibility Matrix, Vendor Portal, and SDK. The Compatibility Matrix has transitioned from Beta to General Availability (GA), offering enhancements such as better OpenShift 4.10 support, improved cluster availability, and a new Terraform provider, alongside the introduction of a 50-cent per cluster charge. The Vendor Portal now allows for JSON exports, tabular views, and bulk-exporting instance events, while also providing accessible release notes. The SDK has been made more customizable, supporting arbitrary environment variables and custom tolerations, with an advisory for vendors to install the SDK to minimize future issues. Additionally, the product documentation has been refined with improved content for Compatibility Matrix users and examples for KOTS installations, inviting users to schedule a demo for further insights into the platform's capabilities.

Replicated has enhanced its SDK to better support software vendors delivering applications with Helm, allowing for seamless integration regardless of whether the KOTS installer is used. The SDK now includes custom metrics and functions independently of the installation method, and Replicated advises all vendors to incorporate it to unlock additional application functionality. The SDK can be easily packaged with applications, either as a Helm subchart or alongside Kubernetes manifests, resolving previous issues with KOTS compatibility. This update aligns with the growing enterprise demand for applications to be installed via Helm, often through automation tools like GitOps pipelines, allowing vendors to maintain a single application release suitable for various installation methods without needing separate versions. Replicated encourages vendors to start using the SDK, offering a tutorial to assist with implementation and inviting feedback to refine their offerings further.

Replicated has announced enhancements to its customer data export capabilities, allowing users to export and analyze customer and instance data more effectively. The new features include CSV for quick analyses, an Instance Export Endpoint for repeatable reporting, and a Bulk Events Export for time-series data analysis, addressing the needs of over 100 software vendors using Replicated. These improvements aim to help teams make informed decisions by integrating data into systems like CRMs, data warehouses, and BI tools, enabling better product, sales, and strategic decision-making. The updates focus on improving the accuracy and granularity of data exports, providing new data points, and introducing a JSON API for easier data consumption. Additionally, Replicated is working on telemetry collection for air-gapped environments and invites feedback and collaboration from users to enhance these functionalities further.

KubeCon Chicago 2023 was a successful event for Replicated, where they engaged with attendees, showcased their latest developments, and offered a range of incentives. A key focus was their new Compatibility Matrix, designed to test applications across over 60,000 different configurations, thus helping to identify bugs before applications reach customers. They offered $100 in free credits for this service to qualifying attendees and challenged visitors to beat their record in spinning up an OpenShift cluster, with a $500 credit prize at stake. The booth also featured live demos, various giveaways, and a chance for personal interaction with the Replicated team. The event highlighted significant changes in the company over the past year and set the stage for future engagements, with anticipation building for the upcoming KubeCon EU in Paris.