Rancher 2.8: Kubernetes Management Platform Evolution

Introduction

Rancher 2.8, released on June 22, 2023, is most relevant if you manage cloud resources from Kubernetes and want safer abstractions. It matters when you manage real infrastructure lifecycles: safer changes, clearer composition behavior, and fewer surprises during provider upgrades.

Multi-Cluster Management

• Cluster management improvements simplify adding, removing, and managing Kubernetes clusters.
• Federation capabilities enable unified management of multiple clusters with shared policies.
• Workload migration simplifies moving applications between clusters.
• Monitoring enhancements provide unified visibility across cluster fleets.

Enhanced UI

1. Dashboard improvements provide better visualization of cluster health and resource usage.
2. Navigation enhancements simplify accessing different cluster resources and features.
3. Resource management improvements provide better tools for managing applications and services.
4. Alerting integration enables proactive monitoring and notification of cluster issues.

Security Improvements

• RBAC enhancements provide granular permissions for cluster and resource management.
• Authentication improvements support multiple identity providers with SSO.
• Compliance features enable better audit logging and compliance reporting.
• Policy enforcement provides consistent security policies across clusters.

Performance & Scalability

• API performance optimizations reduce latency for cluster operations.
• Resource management improvements provide better resource allocation and limits.
• Caching enhancements reduce load on Kubernetes APIs.
• Scalability improvements support managing larger cluster fleets.

Getting Started

docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped \
  -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
  --privileged \
  rancher/rancher:v2.8.0

Access Rancher UI:

# Open https://localhost in browser
# Follow setup wizard to create admin user

Summary

Rancher 2.8 provides teams with powerful tools for managing Kubernetes clusters at scale with improved UI and security features.