Kubernetes 1.6: Multi-User, Multi-Workloads at Scale
Table of Contents
Introduction
On March 28 2017, Kubernetes version 1.6 was officially released.
This release focused on scale, multi-user support, and production-grade automation, with major enhancements in scheduling, storage, security, and cluster size support (up to 5000 nodes / 150000 pods).
Official Highlights
1. Massive Scale: Clusters up to 5000 Nodes
Kubernetes 1.6 raised the supported cluster size dramatically: up to 5000 nodes and 150000 pods, with improved API latency and startup times.
2. Advanced Scheduling: Affinity, Taints & Multiple Schedulers
This release introduced or graduated scheduling controls such as node/pod affinity/anti-affinity, taints and tolerations, and support for multiple schedulers (all in beta—production users should test carefully before rolling out broadly).
3. Security & Multi-User: RBAC Graduated
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) matured significantly—default roles for control-plane, nodes and controllers improved, enabling multi-user clusters and stronger security (RBAC remained beta in 1.6 but became the recommended default).
4. Dynamic Storage & Other Production Features
StorageClass and dynamic provisioning reached stable in this release (GA), simplifying how storage is managed across cloud and on-prem environments. Several other features improved production readiness.
Upgrade Checklist
- Plan control-plane downtime: cordon the master nodes (or use HA) and upgrade
kube-apiserver,kube-controller-manager,kube-scheduler, andetcdin sequence. - Update kubelets: drain each node, upgrade the kubelet/
kubeadm, and uncordon; ensure--feature-gates=AllAlpha=falseunless testing alpha features. - Review RBAC bootstrap policies: migrate away from legacy ABAC; validate cluster roles/service accounts before enabling RBAC admission controllers cluster-wide.
- Validate storage provisioners: confirm your cloud storage integrations understand the GA
StorageClassAPI. - Smoke test workloads: focus on affinity/taints behaviour, PersistentVolume claims and API latency under load.
Milestones Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Mar 28 2017 | Kubernetes 1.6 released. |
| Apr 2017 | Major cloud providers (e.g., GKE) begin offering 1.6-cluster support. |
| Mid-2017 | Enterprise adoption accelerates; multi-user & large-scale deployments grow. |
Patch Releases for 1.6
Patch releases (1.6.x) include bug fixes, security patches, performance tuning and compatibility updates.
| Patch Version | Release Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1.6.0 | 2017-03-28 | Initial release of 1.6 |
| 1.6.1 | 2017-04-07 | Critical bug fixes plus etcd 3.0.17 upgrade recommendations |
| 1.6.4 | 2017-05-11 | Controller-manager & kubelet stability improvements |
| 1.6.6+ | various dates | Security updates and GCE/GKE compatibility patches |
Legacy and Impact
Kubernetes 1.6 represented a pivotal shift — from smaller scale and early-adopter clusters toward truly large-scale, multi-tenant, production-grade Kubernetes infrastructure.
By scaling to 5 000-node clusters, enhancing scheduling and RBAC, and stabilizing storage features, this release significantly matured Kubernetes for enterprise and cloud-native workloads.
Summary
| Aspect | Description |
|---|---|
| Release Date | March 28, 2017 |
| Key Innovations | 5 000-node support, advanced scheduling controls, RBAC maturity, dynamic storage |
| Significance | Major step toward production, enterprise and multi-tenant Kubernetes usage |
Next in the Series
Up next: Kubernetes 1.7 (June 2017) — we’ll explore security hardening, Stateful application improvements and extensibility features.