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Upgrading the cluster from Kubernetes 1.33 to Kubernetes 1.34

Documentation is tailored to each Cluster Stack release. Pick the one your cluster runs.

This guide will detail the process of upgrading your cluster from Kubernetes 1.33 to 1.34.

Not sure which Kubernetes minor and Cluster Stack release your cluster uses? of your cluster.

Upgrading the cluster#

Adding a new Cluster Stack #

Add a new ClusterStack and HetznerClusterStackReleaseTemplate for the newer Kubernetes minor version:

Note

The cluster manifest below uses cluster.x-k8s.io/v1beta2, the current default API version for CAPI core resources. See for more information.

clusterstack.yamlyaml
		apiVersion: clusterstack.x-k8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterStack
metadata:
  name: hetzner-apalla-1-34
spec:
  provider: hetzner
  name: apalla
  kubernetesVersion: "1.34"
  channel: stable
  autoSubscribe: true
  providerRef:
    name: hetzner-apalla-1-34
    kind: HetznerClusterStackReleaseTemplate
    apiVersion: infrastructure.clusterstack.x-k8s.io/v1alpha1
---
apiVersion: infrastructure.clusterstack.x-k8s.io/v1alpha1
kind: HetznerClusterStackReleaseTemplate
metadata:
  name: hetzner-apalla-1-34
spec:
  template:
    spec:
      nodeImages:
        - controlplaneamd64hcloud
        - workeramd64hcloud
	

Apply it to the cluster with your tool of choice.

Tip

For versions before hetzner-apalla-1-35-v1, node images for the new version will start to build. The build process takes around 5 minutes. You can check the status of the newly created Cluster Stack object if something seems wrong.

Checking the available ClusterStackReleases #

The next step is to is to check the available ClusterStackReleases:

		$ kubectl get clusterstackrelease
NAME                      K8S VERSION   READY   AGE   REASON   MESSAGE
hetzner-apalla-1-33-v13   v1.33.13      true    2d
hetzner-apalla-1-34-v10   v1.34.10      true    1m
	

Note down the values of the NAME and K8S VERSION columns from the release you want to upgrade to.

Now we edit our cluster and change the spec.topology.class and spec.topology.version to match the NAME and K8S VERSION of our cluster stack release:

cluster.yamlyaml
		apiVersion: cluster.x-k8s.io/v1beta2
kind: Cluster
metadata:
  name: mycluster
spec:
  topology:
    classRef:
      name: hetzner-apalla-1-34-v10
    version: v1.34.10
    controlPlane:
      replicas: 3
    workers:
      machineDeployments:
        - class: workeramd64hcloud
          name: md-0
          replicas: 1
          failureDomain: nbg1
          variables:
            overrides:
              - name: workerMachineTypeHcloud
                value: cpx42
    variables:
      - name: region
        value: nbg1
      - name: controlPlaneMachineTypeHcloud
        value: cpx42
	

This can be achieved either by editing the resource inside the management cluster, or by updating it in your GitOps repository.

Syself now rolls the cluster to the new Kubernetes minor version, one node at a time. The control plane and the API server stay available throughout. Bare-metal control-plane and worker pools run one fewer node during each step, so size them with headroom; the prechecks cover this.

When the roll finishes, confirm every node reports the new version and Ready, the control plane and etcd are healthy, and your workloads still serve traffic. If a rollout stalls, see Stuck or failed upgrade.

If you are no longer using the old ClusterStack and HetznerClusterStackReleaseTemplate anymore, you can remove them now.