Distributions and platforms such as OpenShift, Rancher and k3s package Kubernetes with tooling for installation, upgrades and fleet management.
Upstream Kubernetes patches each minor version for about 14 months. EKS, GKE and AKS sell paid extended support of up to 24 to 26 months.
A Kubernetes distribution packages upstream Kubernetes with an OS, networking, storage and an upgrade path, so you get a working, supported cluster.
k3s is a lightweight, fully conformant Kubernetes distribution in one binary under 100 MB, built for edge sites, small clusters, CI and ARM devices.
Kubernetes fleet management means operating many clusters as one unit: shared inventory, policy, configuration, upgrades and cross-cluster networking.
Upgrade one minor version at a time: remove deprecated APIs, check add-ons, upgrade the control plane, then replace or drain nodes under PodDisruptionBudgets.
An immutable OS has a read-only system image, is configured declaratively and updates atomically with rollback, so every Kubernetes node stays identical.
A hosted control plane runs a cluster's API server, scheduler and controllers as Pods in a separate management cluster, while worker nodes run elsewhere.
Create a managed Kubernetes cluster in minutes. Every new account gets €200 in credit, so you can explore the full platform with no charge until it's used or expires.