NKP 2.16.0 Features and Enhancements

The following improvements are included in this release:

Kubernetes 1.33 Support

NKP 2.16 now supports Kubernetes version 1.33.

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Rocky Linux 9.6 Support

NKP 2.16 supports Rocky Linux version 9.6.

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External Secrets Operator Installation in the Management Cluster

NKP 2.16 includes the latest version of external secrets operator (ESO) pre-installed in the management cluster for both Pro and Starter licenses.

Note: Before upgrading to NKP 2.16, you must disable or uninstall any existing ESO deployment in your management cluster to avoid conflicts.

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vGPU Node Pools on NKP Clusters

NKP supports vGPU-enabled node pools along with passthrough GPUs in Nutanix infrastructure to optimize GPU resource utilization. You can create vGPU node pools with preloaded vGPU drivers in the operating system images through NKP user interface or CLI.

Supported operating system includes RHEL 8.x and Ubuntu 22.04. Nutanix Pulse telemetry tracks the vGPU count, types, and node pool usage in an NKP cluster.

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Pre-flight Checks for NKP Clusters

The NKP CLI includes pre-flight validation checks to detect common configuration and environment issues that might hinder cluster deployment or upgrade.

The pre-flight checks apply only to NKP clusters that run on Nutanix infrastructure.

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Air-gapped Deployment with Internal Registry Mirror

NKP now automatically deploys an internal registry mirror to store platform container images.

This simplifies the deployment of NKP clusters in air-gapped environments by eliminating the need to push NKP platform images to your registry.

The air-gapped deployment with internal registry mirror applies only to NKP clusters that run on Nutanix infrastructure.

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Failure Domain Support for NKP Clusters

NKP supports configuring a failure domain on a new cluster. The control plane nodes are distributed across multiple failure domains.

The failure domain support applies only to NKP clusters that run on Nutanix infrastructure.

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Automated Certificate Renewal

NKP supports automated renewal of control plane certificates during cluster creation and for existing clusters. When the certificates are renewed, the control plane machines are re-created

NKP Insights create alerts when control plane certificates are about to expire, have already expired, or when the certificate rotation has failed.

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NKP Pro Infrastructure Provider Improvements

NKP Pro now supports creating additional infrastructure providers for the same type of infrastructure as the management cluster. For example, you can now deploy workload clusters managed by two or more Prism Central instances.

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Pulse Integration for NKP

NKP integrates with Nutanix Pulse to collect telemetry data on cluster usage and feature adoption for Nutanix infrastructure.

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Partner Catalog Support in NKP

NKP introduces a centralized partner catalog offering a repository with wide range of partner applications. This application catalog enables seamless selection, publishing, and deployment of the latest version of applications across hybrid-cloud, multi-cloud, and multi-cluster environments.

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License Upgrade From NKP User Interface

You can upgrade the NKP licenses from the NKP user interface without the requirement of removing the older or existing license.

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TLS Support for Nutanix COSI in NKP

The container object storage interface (COSI) driver for Nutanix now supports custom transport layer security (TLS) certificates for the Prism Central and Object store endpoints using NKP

user interface and CLI.

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Enhancements in Nutanix Enterprise AI Deployment on NKP

The deployment of Nutanix Enterprise AI (NAI) on NKP is now automated, eliminating the usage of CLI-based set-up.

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CIS Compliant Rocky and Ubuntu Images

NKP now ships only the CIS compliant Rocky and Ubuntu images.

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Access Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) Cluster Using Floating IP

You can now use a floating IP address to access an NKP cluster created in a VPC from outside the VPC.

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