Amazon EKS now supports Kubernetes version 1.16

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) now supports Kubernetes version 1.16 for all clusters.

Kubernetes is rapidly evolving, with frequent feature releases and bug fixes. Highlights of the Kubernetes 1.16 release include Volume resizing support, Windows GMSA, and Finalizer Protection for Service LoadBalancers reaching beta status. Additionally, two of the more popular Kubernetes extensibility mechanisms, custom resource definitions and admission webhooks, have both graduated to generally available. Learn more about Kubernetes version 1.16 in the Kubernetes project release notes.

Learn more about the Kubernetes versions available for production workloads on Amazon EKS and how to update your cluster to version 1.16 in the EKS documentation.

A note on Kubernetes version 1.16 API removals:

Kubernetes 1.16 includes a number of deprecated API removals, and you need to ensure your applications and add ons are updated, or workloads could fail after the upgrade is complete. For more information on the API removals, see the Kubernetes blog post. For action you may need to take before upgrading, see the steps in the EKS documentation. All of the replacement APIs are in Kubernetes versions later than 1.10, which means applications on any supported version of Amazon EKS can begin using the updated APIs now.

A note on Kubernetes version 1.13 deprecation:

Amazon EKS support mirrors the Kubernetes community by providing full support for the 3 most recent releases. Kubernetes 1.13, 1.14, 1.15, and 1.16 are all fully supported today, and new clusters can be started using any of these releases. However, given the Kubernetes quarterly release cycle, it is critical for all customers to have an ongoing upgrade plan.

As of today, Kubernetes version 1.13 is deprecated in EKS, and will no longer be supported on June 30th, 2020. On this day, you will no longer be able to create new 1.13 clusters and all EKS clusters running Kubernetes version 1.13 will be updated to the latest available platform version of Kubernetes version 1.14.

We recommend customers upgrade existing 1.13 or 1.14 clusters and worker nodes to at least 1.15 as soon as practical. Learn more about the EKS version lifecycle policies in the documentation.