Karpenter 0.15: Node Autoscaling Improvements and Multi-Cloud Support

Introduction

Karpenter 0.15, released on August 15, 2022, continues to evolve as a high-performance Kubernetes node autoscaler. This release delivers node provisioning improvements, initial multi-cloud support, and enhanced cost optimization features for more efficient cluster management.

This release is most relevant if you’re treating infrastructure as a product—standardizing provisioning and exposing it through controlled, reusable abstractions. The win is less bespoke cloud config and more repeatable self-service.

Node Provisioning Improvements

• Provisioning speed optimizations reduce time to provision new nodes.
• Decision making improvements provide smarter node selection and placement.
• Consolidation enhancements enable better node consolidation strategies.
• Interruption handling improvements provide better handling of spot instance interruptions.

Multi-Cloud Support

1. Azure support introduces initial support for Azure Kubernetes Service.
2. GCP support provides early support for Google Kubernetes Engine.
3. Cloud provider abstraction enables easier addition of new cloud providers.
4. Provider-specific features leverage unique capabilities of each cloud provider.

Cost Optimization Enhancements

• Spot instance management improvements provide better utilization and fallback strategies.
• Instance selection optimizations enable better cost-effective instance selection.
• Consolidation strategies improve automatic consolidation of underutilized nodes.
• Budget controls provide limits and alerts for node provisioning costs.

Getting Started

helm repo add karpenter https://charts.karpenter.sh
helm install karpenter karpenter/karpenter \
  --namespace karpenter \
  --create-namespace \
  --version 0.15.0

Create a NodePool:

apiVersion: karpenter.sh/v1beta1
kind: NodePool
metadata:
  name: default
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      requirements:
      - key: karpenter.k8s.aws/instance-category
        operator: In
        values: ["c", "m", "r"]
      - key: karpenter.sh/capacity-type
        operator: In
        values: ["spot", "on-demand"]
  limits:
    cpu: 1000

Summary

Karpenter 0.15 extends its capabilities with multi-cloud support and improved node provisioning for better cluster efficiency.