Lifecycle of Kubernetes Engine
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This page provides the key dates for SKE lifecycle events and is kept up to date as schedules evolve.
Kubernetes end-of-life dates
Section titled “Kubernetes end-of-life dates”Starting with Kubernetes v1.33, we remove minor versions on the patch day that precedes the upstream maintenance end-of-life (EOL) date. The following table below lists the upstream EOL date for each Kubernetes minor version and the corresponding expiration date in SKE:
| Kubernetes minor version | End-of-life date | Expiration in SKE |
|---|---|---|
v1.32 | 2026-02-28 | 2026-04-15 |
v1.33 | 2026-06-28 | 2026-06-10 |
v1.34 | 2026-10-27 | 2026-10-14 |
v1.35 | 2027-02-28 | 2027-02-10 |
Please refer to the official Kubernetes Release History for up-to-date announcements of new versions.
Operating system patch days
Section titled “Operating system patch days”SKE provides new operating system versions on planned patch days. New OS versions will at first be provided as preview version. These versions become supported on the next patch day. Once a new image becomes supported, then previous versions are deprecated. Moreover, deprecated images will be expired on the next patch day.
Clusters update to new operating system versions according to the auto update and forceful update mechanisms described under Basics > Version updates > SKE update types.
The following patch days are set:
| Patch day date |
|---|
| 2026-01-14 |
| 2026-02-11 |
| 2026-03-11 |
| 2026-04-08 |
| 2026-05-13 |
| 2026-06-10 |
| 2026-07-08 |
| 2026-08-12 |
| 2026-09-09 |
| 2026-10-14 |
| 2026-11-11 |
| 2026-12-09 |