Bottlerocket 1.13: Secure OS Enhancements and Updates

Introduction

Bottlerocket 1.13, released on September 30, 2023, is most relevant if you’re hardening clusters without turning every deploy into a support ticket. The real value is in rollout safety: tighter controls with fewer false positives, clearer policy outcomes, and smoother day-2 response when something is blocked.

Secure OS Enhancements

• Security improvements provide better protection against attacks and vulnerabilities.
• Kernel updates provide latest security patches and features.
• System hardening enhancements reduce attack surface.
• Compliance features enable better compliance with security standards.

Kubernetes Integration

1. Kubernetes support improvements provide better compatibility with different Kubernetes versions.
2. Container runtime integration enhancements enable better integration with containerd and other runtimes.
3. Networking improvements provide better CNI plugin support.
4. Storage enhancements enable better CSI driver support.

Update Mechanisms

• OTA updates provide seamless over-the-air updates with minimal downtime.
• Rollback capabilities enable quick rollback to previous OS versions.
• Validation improvements ensure updates are safe and tested before deployment.
• Monitoring enhancements enable better visibility into update status and health.

Getting Started

Launch an EC2 instance with Bottlerocket:

aws ec2 run-instances \
  --image-id ami-xxx \
  --instance-type t3.medium \
  --user-data file://user-data.toml

Configure user data:

[settings.kubernetes]
cluster-name = "my-cluster"
api-server = "https://my-api-server:6443"
cluster-certificate = "base64-encoded-cert"

Summary

Bottlerocket 1.13 provides teams with a secure container operating system optimized for Kubernetes with enhanced security and update capabilities.