Lifecycle policy
The following defines vCluster's lifecycle policy for releases and maintenance.
vCluster follows a regular release cadence and adheres to semantic versioning. We recommend that users run the latest stable release to stay up to date with new features and security patches.
Due to rapid development, each minor version receives active support for 3 months after its release. Active support ends on the End of Support (EOS) date. For 3 months after the EOS date, the version receives only critical security updates. After the End of Life (EOL) date, the version receives no updates. During active support, updates from the active development branch can be backported upon request.
Long Term Support (LTS) releases have longer support windows. See LTS releases.
Versions not on the following list are no longer in any support window.
vCluster releases
| Release | Release Date | End of Support (EOS) Date | End of Life (EOL) Date | Default Kubernetes Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| v0.37 (LTS) | 2026 Sep 08 | 2027 Oct 15 | 2028 Apr 15 | v1.36 (k8s) |
| v0.36 | 2026 Jul 22 | 2026 Oct 22 | 2027 Jan 22 | v1.36 (k8s) |
| v0.35 | 2026 Jun 16 | 2026 Sep 16 | 2026 Dec 16 | v1.36 (k8s) |
| v0.34 | 2026 Apr 29 | 2026 Jul 29 | 2026 Oct 29 | v1.35 (k8s) |
| Versions below are no longer supported | ||||
| v0.33 | 2026 Mar 13 | 2026 Jun 13 | 2026 Sep 13 | v1.35 (k8s) |
| v0.32 | 2026 Feb 18 | 2026 May 18 | 2026 Aug 18 | v1.35 (k8s) |
| v0.31 | 2026 Jan 29 | 2026 Apr 29 | 2026 Jul 29 | v1.34 (k8s) |
| v0.30 | 2025 Oct 28 | 2026 Jan 28 | 2026 Apr 28 | v1.34 (k8s) |
| v0.29 | 2025 Oct 01 | 2026 Jan 01 | 2026 Apr 01 | v1.33 (k8s) |
| v0.28 | 2025 Sep 08 | 2025 Dec 08 | 2026 Mar 08 | v1.33 (k8s) |
| v0.27 | 2025 Aug 12 | 2025 Nov 12 | 2026 Feb 12 | v1.33 (k8s) |
| v0.26 | 2025 Jun 26 | 2025 Sep 26 | 2025 Dec 26 | v1.32 (k8s) |
| v0.25 | 2025 May 15 | 2025 Aug 15 | 2025 Nov 15 | v1.32 (k8s) |
| v0.24 | 2025 Mar 18 | 2025 Jun 16 | 2025 Sep 14 | v1.32 (k8s) |
| v0.23 | 2025 Feb 26 | 2025 May 25 | 2025 Aug 26 | v1.32 (k8s) |
| v0.22 | 2024 Dec 18 | 2025 Mar 18 | 2025 Jun 18 | v1.31 (k8s) |
| v0.21 | 2024 Nov 11 | 2025 Feb 11 | 2025 May 11 | v1.31 (k8s) |
| v0.20 | 2024 Aug 14 | 2024 Nov 14 | 2025 Feb 14 | v1.30 (k8s) |
| v0.19 | 2024 Feb 12 | 2025 Apr 01* | 2025 Jul 01 | v1.29 (k3s) |
* Extended support: Due to the number of breaking changes from v0.19 to v0.20, the active support period for v0.19 has been extended. Review the migration guide to upgrade your v0.19 clusters to v0.20.
The default Kubernetes version reflects the distro and version pinned at the initial vX.Y.0 release of each vCluster version, and does not account for changes made in later patch releases. vCluster's default distro changed from k3s to k8s in v0.20.
LTS releases
vCluster v0.37 and vCluster Platform v4.12 are designated LTS releases. LTS support covers the two releases as a pair, because the platform and the clusters it manages are built and tested together. To stay on LTS, run vCluster v0.37 for your clusters on vCluster Platform v4.12.
| Phase | Standard release | LTS release |
|---|---|---|
| Active support | 3 months | 12 months |
| End of Support (EOS) period | 3 months | 6 months |
During active support, you can request backports of fixes from the active development branch, including support for newer Kubernetes versions. During the EOS period, LTS releases receive only critical security updates. If you need support for a newer Kubernetes version during this period, contact vCluster Labs support.
The LTS dates for v0.37 apply only when vCluster v0.37 runs with vCluster Platform v4.12. Without the platform, vCluster v0.37 follows the standard lifecycle, with EOS on 2026 Dec 08 and EOL on 2027 Mar 08. Upgrading either product past its LTS release takes you off LTS. See the Platform lifecycle policy for Platform dates.
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End of Support (EOS): The period when active support for a version has ended and only critical security updates are provided. This period begins on the EOS date and lasts 3 months, or 6 months for LTS releases.
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End of Life (EOL): The period when all support, including security updates, has ended for a version. This period begins on the EOL date and continues indefinitely.
Kubernetes compatibility matrix
The matrix below shows compatibility between control plane clusters and tenant clusters running vanilla Kubernetes. It specifies which versions of vanilla Kubernetes on the control plane cluster support which versions on the tenant cluster.
When a new Kubernetes version is released, conformance tests are conducted on the latest vCluster version within 30 days.
Kubernetes versions that are no longer supported upstream can still be used but are not guaranteed to work.
| Control plane cluster Kubernetes version | vCluster Kubernetes version | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| v1.36 | v1.35 | v1.34 | |
| v1.36 | ✅ | 🆗 | 🆗 |
| v1.35 | 🆗 | ✅ | 🆗 |
| v1.34 | 🆗 | 🆗 | ✅ |
- ✅ Tested and verified – Officially tested and supported.
- 🆗 Likely compatible – Expected to work, but not officially tested.
- ⚠️ Known issues – Compatible with documented limitations.
Feature Versioning
While most features we release are fully supported, some are introduced at an earlier stage of development. These stages generally align with Kubernetes conventions, with the exception of experimental features which may be removed at any time.
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Alpha: Newly introduced features which may include breaking changes in future releases.
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Beta: Features that are more stable and considered safe, but not recommended for business critical applications.