Core of DRA
The resource.k8s.io/v1 APIs (ResourceClaim, DeviceClass, ResourceClaimTemplate, ResourceSlice) are stable and on by default, giving a standard way to request and share GPUs, TPUs, NICs and other devices.
Kubernetes minor release · “Of Wind & Will (O' WaW)”
Kubernetes 1.34
Of Wind & Will brings the core Dynamic Resource Allocation APIs to GA, lets kubelet pull images with short-lived ServiceAccount tokens, makes Linux swap support stable, and deprecates manual cgroup driver settings ahead of containerd 1.x support ending.
End of life
End of life since 27 Oct 2026 (5 days ago). No more patches upstream.
Released27 Aug 2025
Maintenance mode27 Aug 2026
End of life27 Oct 2026
Latest patch1.34.1328 Oct 2026
Patch releases13
Support span14.0 months
What 1.34 brought
ServiceAccount tokens for image pulls
Kubelet credential providers can use short-lived, audience-bound ServiceAccount tokens, so private images are pulled with the Pod's own identity instead of long-lived Secrets.
Linux node swap
Swap support is stable. LimitedSwap lets Pods swap within their memory limits; the kubelet still defaults to NoSwap, so nothing swaps unless configured.
Pod-level requests and limits
Resources can be set for a whole Pod and shared by its containers, and the HorizontalPodAutoscaler now understands pod-level resource specs.
Structured authentication configuration
An AuthenticationConfiguration file replaces many API server flags, supporting multiple JWT authenticators, CEL validation and dynamic reloading.
KYAML output in kubectl
kubectl can print KYAML, a stricter, less ambiguous YAML subset, via -o kyaml when KUBECTL_KYAML=true. KYAML files are still valid YAML.
Summarised in our own words from the official “Kubernetes v1.34: Of Wind & Will (O' WaW)” announcement (58 tracked enhancements), © The Kubernetes Authors, CC BY 4.0.
APIs that stopped being served in 1.34
Only alpha or off-by-default beta APIs were removed: they matter only if you switched them on with --runtime-config.
| Kind | API version | Stops being served | Use instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| ValidatingAdmissionPolicy | admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1beta1 beta · off by default | 1.34 | admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1 |
| ValidatingAdmissionPolicyBinding | admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1beta1 beta · off by default | 1.34 | admissionregistration.k8s.io/v1 |
Other removals and deprecations
Deprecated
- The kubelet cgroupDriver config setting is deprecated (the --cgroup-driver flag already was); rely on automatic detection from the CRI. Removal will not happen before v1.36.
- Early warning: v1.35 will be the last release supporting containerd 1.x. Plan a move to 2.0+; the kubelet_cri_losing_support metric flags affected nodes.
- Service trafficDistribution value PreferClose is deprecated; PreferSameZone is its clearer alias, and PreferSameNode adds node-local preference.
From the release announcement; our wording.
API versions deprecated in 1.34
Still served in 1.34, but the API server answers with a deprecation warning and a removal is scheduled.
| Kind | API version | Stops being served | Use instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| ClusterTrustBundle | certificates.k8s.io/v1alpha1 alpha · off |
1.37 | certificates.k8s.io/v1 |
| IPAddress | networking.k8s.io/v1beta1 beta · off by default | 1.37 | networking.k8s.io/v1 |
| ServiceCIDR | networking.k8s.io/v1beta1 beta · off by default | 1.37 | networking.k8s.io/v1 |
| VolumeAttributesClass | storage.k8s.io/v1beta1 beta · off by default | 1.37 | storage.k8s.io/v1 |
Stable (GA) API kinds new in 1.34
DeviceClass resource.k8s.io/v1ResourceClaim resource.k8s.io/v1ResourceClaimTemplate resource.k8s.io/v1ResourceSlice resource.k8s.io/v1VolumeAttributesClass storage.k8s.io/v1
Upgrading
Version skew with a 1.34 API server
- kubelet, kube-proxy: 1.31 to 1.34
- kube-controller-manager, scheduler: 1.33 to 1.34
- kubectl: 1.33 to 1.35
From the official version skew policy as it stands today.
One minor at a time
The API server must not skip minor versions.
1.34 on managed Kubernetes
| Service | Available | End of standard support | End of extended support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upstream Kubernetes | 27 Aug 2025 | 27 Oct 2026 | — |
| Amazon EKS | 2 Oct 2025 | 2 Dec 2026 | 2 Dec 2027 |
| Google Kubernetes Engine | 26 Nov 2025 | 25 Jan 2027 | 25 Nov 2027 |
| Azure Kubernetes Service | 2025-11 | 30 Nov 2026 | 30 Nov 2027 |
As published by each provider; see managed Kubernetes support for what “extended” means on each and when we last checked.