The Oracle Linux team recently announced the release of Oracle Cloud Native Environment 1.8, a scalable Kubernetes distribution designed for deploying containerized applications in both public cloud environments and on-premise setups. This release includes Kubernetes 1.28 and introduces support for the latest Oracle Linux 8 and Oracle Linux 9 releases on x86_64 and aarch64 architectures.
Simon Coter, director of product management, Oracle Linux and Virtualization at Oracle, summarised this release in a blog post. Oracle Cloud Native Environment includes a suite of software solutions aimed at facilitating the development and management of cloud-native applications. Adhering to standards set by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and the Open Container Initiative, this release offers a streamlined approach to installing, updating, upgrading, and configuring essential functionalities necessary for orchestrating microservices via Kubernetes.
This release supports deployment on 64-bit ARM processor hardware, enabling mixed processor types (x86-64 and aarch64) within a Kubernetes cluster. The process of detecting the processor type is simplified and requires no additional steps during installation. Furthermore, the update brings a set of commands designed to manage logs for long-running Platform CLI operations. These improvements enable log viewing across all operations, including the ability to monitor ongoing operations and review logs from completed ones.
Additionally, the release achieves CNCF Kubernetes Conformance certification as part of Kubernetes 1.28. This certification is based on a subset of end-to-end tests approved by the SIG Architecture, which outline a core set of interoperable features essential for all Kubernetes clusters.
In this release, users can also explore the NGINX Ingress Controller through a technology preview. This preview is open to customers, partners, and the broader community, allowing them to test the functionality of the NGINX Ingress Controller within the Oracle Cloud Native Environment.
The NGINX Ingress Controller serves as an important component for Kubernetes, acting as a gateway that directs incoming traffic from outside the Kubernetes cluster to the appropriate containers inside the platform. Additionally, it handles the outward traffic from the cluster to external services, adjusting load-balancing rules automatically as containers are added or removed from a service. However, the NGINX Ingress Controller in Oracle Cloud Native Environment 1.8 is not recommended for use in production environments.
Earlier this year Oracle Cloud Infrastructure was in the news as it announced the general availability of Oracle Database@Azure and Graal Cloud Native 4.2.1. The Graal Cloud Native brings support for Java 21 and includes Graal Native Image along with cloud integration with Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The Oracle Database@Azure allows Azure customers to procure, deploy, and use Oracle Database@Azure with the Azure portal and APIs.
Practitioners interested in exploring the Oracle Cloud Native Environment can utilize Luna Labs for live testing environments. The Oracle Linux Premier Support subscription includes support for the Oracle Cloud Native Environment. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure subscriptions and Oracle Premier Support for Systems include Oracle Linux Premier Support without any extra charges.