Kubernetes

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Kubernetes (K8s)
Original author(s)	Google
Developer(s)	Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Initial release	0.2[1] / 9 September 2014; 10 years ago (2014-09-09)
Stable release	1.33.2[2] / 18 June 2025; 8 days ago (18 June 2025)
Repository	github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes
Written in	Go
Type	Cluster management software
License	Apache License 2.0
Website	kubernetes.io

Kubernetes (/ˌk(j)uːbərˈnɛtɪs, -ˈneɪtɪs, -ˈneɪtiːz, -ˈnɛtiːz/), also known as K8s is an open-source container orchestration system for automating software deployment, scaling, and management.^[3][4] Originally designed by Google, the project is now maintained by a worldwide community of contributors, and the trademark is held by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation.

The name Kubernetes originates from the Greek κυβερνήτης (kubernḗtēs), meaning 'governor', 'helmsman' or 'pilot'. Kubernetes is often abbreviated as K8s, counting the eight letters between the K and the s (a numeronym).^[5]

Kubernetes assembles one or more computers, either virtual machines or bare metal, into a cluster which can run workloads in containers. It works with various container runtimes, such as containerd and CRI-O.^[6] Its suitability for running and managing workloads of all sizes and styles has led to its widespread adoption in clouds and data centers. There are multiple distributions of this platform – from independent software vendors (ISVs) as well as hosted-on-cloud offerings from all the major public cloud vendors.^[7]

The software consists of a control plane and nodes on which the actual applications run. It includes tools like kubeadm and kubectl which can be used to interact with its REST-based API.^[8]