We are excited to announce the availability of Kubernetes version 1.34 for your clusters that are running in IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service. This marks our 29th release of Kubernetes.

Our Kubernetes service ensures a straightforward upgrade experience by using the IBM Cloud console, sparing you the need for extensive Kubernetes expertise with just a few clicks! For more information and methods on upgrading your cluster, look here.

When you deploy new clusters, the default Kubernetes version remains 1.33 (soon to be 1.34); however, you have the flexibility to opt for immediate deployment of version 1.34. 

Kubernetes Version 1.34 

In addition to all the great Kubernetes features provided in this release, IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service version 1.34 also includes numerous component updates that our community is excited about. Some of the highlights for the release include: 

• Containerd Version Upgrade: The containerd runtime has been upgraded to v2.1.5 from v1.7.27
• User Namespace Support: For containers that must run as a root user within the container but not on the host, use Linux user namespaces to isolate the user running inside the container from the one in the host.

To see the full list of IBM and Kubernetes community enhancements, visit Kubernetes v1.34: Of Wind & Will and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service version 1.34 change log for more details.

Kubernetes version support updates

Now that IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service supports Kubernetes version 1.34, clusters running version 1.31 are deprecated with end of support tentatively scheduled for March 18, 2026. It is important to note clusters that run a deprecated Kubernetes version may not receive fixes for security vulnerabilities until they are updated to a supported version. 

As a reminder, if your cluster runs a deprecated or unsupported Kubernetes version, review the potential impact of each Kubernetes version update, and update today. If your cluster runs an archived Kubernetes version, create a new cluster and deploy your apps to the new cluster. Here is the current support status for IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service clusters running an earlier Kubernetes version: 

• Clusters running Kubernetes version 1.30 remain unsupported with end of support reached on November 16th, 2025. Such clusters will not receive fixes for security vulnerabilities until they are updated to a deprecated or supported version.
• Clusters running Kubernetes version 1.29 or earlier remain archived. For security reasons, IBM reserves the right to shutdown the control planes of such clusters. 

For general questions, engage our team via Slack and join the discussion in the #general channel on our public IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service Slack.