5 kOps release notes for Kubernetes admins

This list highlights the kOps release notes and upgrade signals admins need.

If you run kOps, these five release-note takeaways show what changed, what is dropping support, and what to watch before your next cluster upgrade. The latest stable release on the page is v1.35.1, published on 28 May.

Item	Release	Notable signal
Stable release	v1.35.1	Latest tagged release on the page
Pre-release	v1.36.0-alpha.1	Shows upcoming changes and removals
Support notice	kOps 1.36	Kubernetes 1.30 support will be removed

1. Latest stable release: v1.35.1

The main release to know here is v1.35.1, which is marked Latest on the GitHub page. It bundles a long list of cherry-picked fixes across AWS, GCE, Azure, Hetzner, Cilium, etcd-manager, and the kops-controller path.

For operators, that means this is not just a version bump. It is a maintenance release with bug fixes in cluster lifecycle, networking, and controller behavior, plus updates to Go, containerd, and cluster autoscaler.

• Released: 28 May
• Tagged as Latest
• Includes 20 assets for major OS targets
• Full changelog links from v1.35.0 to v1.35.1

2. Kubernetes 1.30 support is going away

The page summary says support for Kubernetes version 1.30 is deprecated and will be removed in kOps 1.36. That is the clearest forward-looking signal in the release feed, and it gives teams a deadline for planning upgrades.

If your fleets still include Kubernetes 1.30, treat this as a migration trigger. The practical move is to map every cluster to its current control plane version, then schedule upgrade work before you adopt kOps 1.36.

• Deprecation applies to Kubernetes 1.30
• Removal target: kOps 1.36
• Best next step: inventory clusters by version
• Then: test your next minor upgrade path

3. The alpha release shows what is next

The pre-release v1.36.0-alpha.1 is useful because it previews the direction of the next train. It includes removals and cleanup work, such as dropping Amazon Linux 2 support and removing some older mirror references.

Alpha notes are where you spot future friction early. Even if you do not run alpha builds, the list helps you see which platform assumptions are being retired so you can avoid surprises later.

• Amazon Linux 2 support removed in alpha
• Old mirror entries were dropped
• Scenario and test updates continue to move forward
• Good source for pre-upgrade planning

4. Asset downloads cover the main platforms

The release assets for v1.35.1 include binaries for darwin, linux, and windows on amd64 and arm64. That matters if you install kOps from release artifacts rather than from source or package managers, because the page shows exactly what is available for each platform.

The asset list also includes SHA256 files, which are the practical verification step for download integrity. If you automate installs, these hashes are the easiest way to keep your build and release pipeline honest.

kops-linux-amd64 kops-linux-arm64 kops-darwin-amd64 kops-darwin-arm64 kops-windows-amd64 *.sha256

5. The release notes are fix-heavy, not feature-heavy

Most of the v1.35.1 changelog is about fixes and maintenance. You will see entries for control plane availability checks, instance requirements, kubeconfig handling, Cilium flags, GCE cleanup, and controller bug fixes. That mix is a sign that this release is aimed at stability work.

For teams running production clusters, this kind of release is often the safest kind to adopt first. It usually means fewer surprises than a feature-heavy version, especially when you already know your cluster shape and just need a cleaner patch line.

• Control plane availability fix
• Instance requirements bug fix
• kops reconcile cluster adds --use-kubeconfig
• Several cloud-provider-specific fixes

How to decide

If you want the newest stable build, start with v1.35.1. If you are planning ahead, read v1.36.0-alpha.1 next, because it shows what gets removed before the next stable line lands. If your clusters still run Kubernetes 1.30, treat the deprecation notice as a near-term upgrade task, not a background warning.

In short, choose v1.35.1 for routine maintenance, use the alpha notes for forward planning, and use the support notice to time your Kubernetes version upgrades before kOps 1.36 arrives.