The product described by this documentation, GKE on Azure, is now in maintenance mode
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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 and Kubernetes binaries
Ubuntu
Kubernetes 1.32
Kubernetes 1.31
Kubernetes 1.30
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Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC.
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[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Hard to understand","hardToUnderstand","thumb-down"],["Incorrect information or sample code","incorrectInformationOrSampleCode","thumb-down"],["Missing the information/samples I need","missingTheInformationSamplesINeed","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[],[],null,["Operating system details\n\nGKE on Azure manages the Azure virtual machine instances and the\noperating system running on these instances. In Kubernetes versions 1.26 and\nhigher, GKE on Azure uses Ubuntu 22.04 LTS base images for Linux\nnodes. In Kubernetes versions 1.25 and lower, GKE on Azure uses\nUbuntu 20.04 LTS.\n\nThe base Azure VM is maintained by Canonical. Google tests these images as part\nof the GKE on Azure release process. When a cluster or node pool is\nupgraded, the underlying virtual machine instances are terminated and recreated\nwith the latest OS version.\n\nWhen an instance launches, GKE on Azure performs\nadditional configuration including:\n\n- Optimizing network settings for Kubernetes\n- Installing packages from the Ubuntu archive (Ubuntu only)\n- Disabling unattended apt package upgrades and reboots (Ubuntu only)\n- Installing Google Kubernetes Engine and Kubernetes binaries\n\n| **Note:** GKE on Azure is not affected by the [dockershim deprecation](/kubernetes-engine/docs/deprecations/docker-containerd) as clusters use the containerd runtime.\n\nUbuntu\n\nKubernetes 1.32\n\n| Kubernetes version | Publisher | Offer | SKU | Version |\n|--------------------|-----------|------------------------------|----------------|-----------------|\n| 1.32.4-gke.200 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202505210 |\n\nKubernetes 1.31\n\n| Kubernetes version | Publisher | Offer | SKU | Version |\n|--------------------|-----------|------------------------------|----------------|-----------------|\n| 1.31.1-gke.1800 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202410020 |\n| 1.31.4-gke.500 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202501080 |\n| 1.31.6-gke.200 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202502280 |\n| 1.31.7-gke.1000 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202505210 |\n\nKubernetes 1.30\n\n| Kubernetes version | Publisher | Offer | SKU | Version |\n|--------------------|-----------|------------------------------|----------------|-----------------|\n| 1.30.3-gke.100 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202408010 |\n| 1.30.4-gke.400 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202409040 |\n| 1.30.5-gke.200 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202410020 |\n| 1.30.5-gke.1000 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202410020 |\n| 1.30.8-gke.100 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202501080 |\n| 1.30.10-gke.200 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202502280 |\n| 1.30.11-gke.800 | Canonical | 0001-com-ubuntu-server-jammy | 22_04-lts-gen2 | 22.04.202505210 |"]]
