Support for Kubernetes version 1.33.0 in a preview release of Kubernetes Engine

A preview release of OCI Kubernetes Engine now provides support for Kubernetes version 1.33.0 for early access testing and validation purposes. This preview release is not intended for production workloads, is only available in the OC1 realm, and might contain issues without known workarounds. For production workloads, we recommend waiting for the upcoming release of Kubernetes Engine that will support Kubernetes version 1.33.1. For more information about Kubernetes version 1.33.0, see the Kubernetes Changelog.

Note that the availability of this preview release of Kubernetes Engine for Kubernetes version 1.33.0 does not impact the Kubernetes Engine support window for Kubernetes version 1.30. Kubernetes Engine will maintain support for Kubernetes version 1.30 until 30 days after the announcement of Kubernetes Engine support for Kubernetes version 1.33.1.

To upgrade a cluster to a new Kubernetes minor version:

1. Upgrade the Kubernetes version running on the control plane by following the instructions in Upgrading the Kubernetes Version on Control Plane Nodes in a Cluster.
2. Having upgraded the control plane, upgrade the Kubernetes version running on worker nodes in a node pool by following the instructions in Upgrading the Kubernetes Version on Worker Nodes in a Cluster.

Note:

Always follow the Kubernetes skew policy for Kubernetes minor version support. Note that in Kubernetes version 1.28, the Kubernetes skew policy expanded. Prior to Kubernetes version 1.28, the skew policy required a cluster's control plane nodes to be no more than two versions ahead of worker nodes. From Kubernetes version 1.28, the Kubernetes skew policy allows control plane nodes to be up to three versions ahead of worker nodes.

Example skew policy:

• Kubernetes control plane nodes are at version 1.33.0
• Kubernetes worker nodes must be at version 1.33.0, 1.32.1, 1.31.1, or 1.30.10

Note that although the worker nodes in a node pool must follow the Kubernetes skew policy, you do not have to upgrade them one minor version at a time.

For more information, see Upgrading Clusters to Newer Kubernetes Versions.