KubeCon Europe: Mirantis’ k0s and k0smotron Join CNCF Sandbox
LONDON — Do you like lightweight Kubernetes? Yes? Then, Mirantis announcing that its lightweight Kubernetes distribution, k0s, and its powerful multicluster management tool, k0smotron, have officially joined the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) as Sandbox projects at KubeCon+CloudNativeCon Europe may spark your interest.
This integration marks a crucial step in developing these tools, aiming to make Kubernetes more accessible and efficient for developers and operators worldwide.
K0s is a lightweight, open source Kubernetes distribution designed to simplify the installation and management of Kubernetes clusters. It is characterized by its single-binary architecture, which consolidates multiple Kubernetes components into one executable file, reducing dependencies and operational overhead. It doesn’t require any external dependencies, making it easy to deploy and maintain across different Linux operating systems.
Fewer System Resources
It’s also optimized to consume fewer system resources, making it ideal for edge and Internet of Things (IoT) deployments. For example, companies such as Replicated use it as the basis for its Embedded Cluster product, which allows users to distribute Kubernetes clusters and applications as single appliances.
K0smotron, which was developed alongside k0s, extends its capabilities by providing production-grade multicluster management. While primarily designed to work with k0s, it can also manage any CNCF-certified Kubernetes cluster.
This cluster management program’s key innovation is its ability to host and manage Kubernetes control planes as containers within a cluster, significantly reducing operational overhead and costs compared to traditional methods that require dedicated control plane nodes or virtual machines. This tool simplifies large-scale provisioning and hybrid deployments while reducing operational complexity and enhancing flexibility.
By joining the CNCF Sandbox, Mirantis expects k0s and k0smotron will benefit from community support, enhanced visibility, and collaboration opportunities with other CNCF projects. This move underscores Mirantis’ commitment to open source innovation and its role in driving cloud native ecosystems forward.
The CNCF Sandbox usually serves as an entry point for promising early-stage projects, providing a platform for growth and refinement. K0s, however, is almost five years old, while k0smotron is going on two.
Jussi Nummelin, Senior Principal Engineer at Mirantis, explained in a statement that by “becoming a CNCF Sandbox project [it will] enable us to gather invaluable feedback, foster collaboration, and refine k0s and k0smotron to serve the cloud native community better.” Mirantis’s hope is that this collaboration will improve k0s’ impact on cloud native infrastructure and further establish Mirantis as a leader in open source solutions for modern distributed applications.
