Consul on Kubernetes Version Compatibility

For every release of Consul on Kubernetes, a Helm chart, consul-k8s-control-plane binary and a consul-k8s CLI binary is built and distributed through a single version. When deploying via Helm, the recommended best path for upgrading Consul on Kubernetes, is to upgrade using the same consul-k8s-control-plane version as the Helm Chart, as the Helm Chart and Control Plane binary are tightly coupled.

Supported Consul versions

Version 0.33.0 and above

Starting with Consul Kubernetes 0.33.0, Consul Kubernetes versions all of its components (consul-k8s CLI, consul-k8s-control-plane, and Helm chart) with a single semantic version.

Consul Version	Compatible consul-k8s Versions
1.12.x	0.43.0 - 0.49.x
1.11.x	0.39.0 - 0.42.0, 0.44.0 - 0.49.x
1.10.x	0.33.0 - 0.38.0

Prior to version 0.33.0

Prior to Consul Kubernetes 0.33.0, a separately versioned Consul Helm chart was distributed to deploy the Consul on Kubernetes binary. The default version of the consul-k8s binary specified by the Helm chart should be used to ensure proper compatibility, since the Helm chart is designed and tested with the default consul-k8s version. To find the default version for the appropriate Helm chart version, navigate to the corresponding tag (i.e. 0.32.1) in values.yaml and retrieve the imageK8S global value.

Consul Version	Compatible Consul Helm Versions (default `consul-k8s` image)
1.10.x	0.32.0 (consul-k8s:0.26.0) - 0.32.1 (consul-k8s:0.26.0)
1.9.x	0.27.0 (consul-k8s:0.21.0) - 0.31.1 (consul-k8s:0.25.0)
1.8.x	0.22.0 (consul-k8s:0.16.0) - 0.26.0 (consul-k8s:0.20.0)
1.7.x	0.17.0 (consul-k8s:0.12.0) - 0.21.0 (consul-k8s:0.15.0)
1.6.x	0.10.0 (consul-k8s:0.9.2) - 0.16.2 (consul-k8s:0.11.0)

Supported Envoy versions

Supported versions of Envoy for Consul versions are also found in Envoy - Supported Versions. The recommended best practice is to use the default version of Envoy that is provided in the Helm values.yml file, as that is the version that has been tested with the default Consul and Consul Kubernetes binaries for a given Helm chart.

Vault as a Secrets Backend compatibility

Starting with Consul K8s 0.39.0 and Consul 1.11.x, Consul Kubernetes supports the ability to utilize Vault as the secrets backend for all the secrets utilized by Consul on Kubernetes.

`consul-k8s` Versions	Compatible Vault Versions	Compatible `vault-k8s` Versions
0.39.0 - latest	1.9.0 - latest	0.14.0 - latest

Platform specific compatibility notes

Red Hat OpenShift

Consul Kubernetes delivered Red Hat OpenShift support starting with Consul Helm chart version 0.25.0 for Consul 1.8.4. Please note the following details regarding OpenShift support.

Red Hat OpenShift is only supported for OpenShift 4.4.x and above.
Only the default CNI Plugin, OpenShift SDN CNI Plugin is currently supported.

VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid and Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition

Consul Kubernetes is certified for both VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, and VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Integrated Edition.

Tanzu Kubernetes Grid is certified for version 1.3.0 and above. Only Calico is supported as the CNI Plugin.
Tanzu Kubernetes Grid Integrated Edition is supported for version 1.11.1 and above. NSX-T CNI Plugin v3.1.2 and greater should be used and configured with the enable_hostport_snat setting set to true.