Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) changelog

AKS provisions StandardV2 NAT Gateway by default for new clusters, with zone redundancy and IPv6GA

Managed platform for distributed Python workloads on Ray, deployed onto AKS clustersGA

Pod name dimension retires from two pod platform metrics on September 30, 2027Deprecation

New Ubuntu2604 OS SKU on Ubuntu Minimal with Linux kernel 7.0 and rollback to Ubuntu 24.04Preview

Hybrid and edge infrastructure as worker nodes connected to an AKS control plane in AzurePreview

Adds Stable ABI, Generation 2 VM default, containerd 2.0 and FIPS by defaultGA

Scale workloads using ACR without waiting for full image pulls into clustersGA

AKS node pools can use confidential VM sizes with Azure Linux 3GA

Workload identity support gives AKS pods pod-level access to SMB file sharesGA

Secure tunnel to AKS cluster API server without public endpoint exposureGA

Moves packet routing into the Linux kernel, with controlled node rotation on existing clustersGA

Managed Prometheus collects metrics from API server, etcd, scheduler, controller-manager and autoscalerGA

Brings Kubernetes Gateway API to ingress management without a service meshGA

Preconfigured node images with container images included so new nodes start ready to runPreview

TLS encryption for NFS v4.1 volumes in AKS via Azure File CSI driverGA

Model-aware routing for self-hosted generative AI workloads on AKS using Gateway API Inference ExtensionPreview

Platform provisions, scales and updates system node pools for core Kubernetes componentsGA

Managed Ray platform running on Azure Kubernetes Service for large-scale Python AI workloadsPreview

AKS add-on now supports provisioning into AKS Automatic clustersPreview

Turns natural-language descriptions into read-only AKS networking diagnostics with recommended next stepsPreview

Node-level encryption of inter-node pod traffic on Azure CNI powered by Cilium with ACNSGA

Configure backup for AKS clusters with a single Azure CLI commandGA

Support retires June 30, 2027; migrate to Ubuntu 24.04 or laterDeprecation

Outbound type with zone-redundant connectivity, up to 100 Gbps throughput and IPv6 outbound supportPreview

Administrators can disable HTTP proxy variables for nodes and pods while keeping control plane configurationGA

Overlay-based clusters can increase pod IP range in place without recreationGA

Blue-green agent pool upgrades create a parallel node pool with rollback pathPreview

Filters which container-level network metrics are collected, using Kubernetes custom resources in ACNSGA

Web-based agent turns natural-language descriptions into read-only Kubernetes networking diagnosticsPreview

Cross-cluster networking adds managed Cilium cluster mesh and global service registry across AKS clustersPreview

NVIDIA GPU node pool metrics flow into managed Prometheus and Grafana without manual exporter setupPreview

Per-flow network metadata across L3/L4 and L7 protocols, with stored and on-demand logsGA

Adds Elastic SAN integration and on-demand installationGA

Application-layer mTLS, authorization policies and traffic telemetry for Kubernetes without a full service meshPreview

Gateway API ingress without sidecars, as migration path after ingress-nginx deprecationPreview

Retires June 8, 2026; node images removed September 8, 2026Deprecation

Add-on retires November 2026; security patches continue through 30 November 2026Deprecation

Retiring May 15, 2026; migrate node pools to Long Term Servicing ChannelDeprecation

Cluster mode runs a shared AI diagnostic agent in the cluster with RBAC controlPreview

New call_az and call_kubectl tools cut total tool count by 30%Preview

Supported in Sovereign CloudGA

Supported on clusters that use node auto-provisioningGA

Adds support for Encryption at Host and disk encryption setsGA

Kubernetes 1.34 support with 58 upstream enhancements, including 23 Stable featuresGA

Generally Available: Deployment safeguards – pod security standard support in AKSGA

Generally Available: Ubuntu 24.04 support in AKSGA

Generally Available: Ubuntu 24.04 support in AKSGA