Posted On: Feb 16, 2021

Kubernetes is rapidly evolving, with frequent feature releases and bug fixes. Highlights of the Kubernetes 1.19 release include Ingress API and Pod Topology Spread reaching stable status, EndpointSlices being enabled by default, and immutable Secrets and ConfigMaps. Learn more about Kubernetes version 1.19 in the Kubernetes project release notes.

Learn more about the Kubernetes versions available for production workloads on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and how to update your cluster to version 1.19 in the EKS documentation. Amazon EKS Distro builds of Kubernetes 1.19 are available through ECR Public Gallery and GitHub.

A note on Kubernetes version 1.15 support:

Amazon EKS provides support for at least 4 Kubernetes versions at any given time. Kubernetes 1.15, 1.16, 1.17, 1.18, and 1.19 are all fully supported by EKS today, and new clusters can be started using any of these releases. However, given the Kubernetes quarterly release cycle, it is critical for all customers to have an ongoing upgrade plan.

Kubernetes version 1.15 will no longer be supported on May 3rd, 2021. On this day, you will no longer be able to create new 1.15 clusters and all existing EKS clusters running Kubernetes version 1.15 will eventually be updated to the latest available platform version of Kubernetes version 1.16.

We recommend customers upgrade existing 1.15 clusters and worker nodes to at least 1.16 as soon as practical. Learn more about the EKS version lifecycle policies in the documentation.