Operating system details

GKE on Azure manages the Azure virtual machine instances and the operating system running on these instances. In Kubernetes versions 1.26 and higher, GKE on Azure uses Ubuntu 22.04 LTS base images for Linux nodes. In Kubernetes versions 1.25 and lower, GKE on Azure uses Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

The base Azure VM is maintained by Canonical. Google tests these images as part of the GKE on Azure release process. When a cluster or node pool is upgraded, the underlying virtual machine instances are terminated and recreated with the latest OS version.

When an instance launches, GKE on Azure performs additional configuration including:

  • Optimizing network settings for Kubernetes
  • Installing packages from the Ubuntu archive (Ubuntu only)
  • Disabling unattended apt package upgrades and reboots (Ubuntu only)
  • Installing Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) Enterprise edition and Kubernetes binaries

Ubuntu

Kubernetes 1.31

Kubernetes version Publisher Offer SKU Version
1.31.1-gke.1800 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202410020

Kubernetes 1.30

Kubernetes version Publisher Offer SKU Version
1.30.3-gke.100 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202408010
1.30.4-gke.400 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202409040
1.30.5-gke.200 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202410020
1.30.5-gke.1000 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202410020

Kubernetes 1.29

Kubernetes version Publisher Offer SKU Version
1.29.3-gke.600 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202403280
1.29.4-gke.200 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202405140
1.29.5-gke.700 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202406140
1.29.5-gke.1100 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202407010
1.29.6-gke.600 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202407160
1.29.7-gke.100 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202408010
1.29.8-gke.600 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202409040
1.29.8-gke.1800 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202410020
1.29.10-gke.100 Canonical 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy 22_04-lts-gen2 22.04.202410020