SUSE has announced the release of Rancher 2.7.2, which includes enhancements to its extensibility aimed at ensuring greater adoption of the Kubernetes management platform.



SUSE is also expanding the enterprise-grade value of Rancher Prime, including updates to popular open-source projects such as Rancher Desktop and re-launching Rancher Academy. The new Rancher UI extension framework allows users to independently enhance the Rancher UI and build their own custom UI extensions.

This provides users with the capability to better integrate and customize the Rancher platform according to their specific needs. SUSE's strategy for Rancher is to provide powerful hybrid and multi-cloud multi-cluster management while allowing extension providers to deliver highly tailored user experiences.

Several updates have been made to SUSE's open-source solutions, including Rancher Desktop 1.8 now featuring configurable application behaviors and all applications settings configurable through the command line tool rdctl. Kubewarden 1.6.0 now allows teams to write Policy as Code using programming languages and domain-specific languages.

Opni 0.9 has updated observability features as it approaches GA later in the year, while S3GW (S3 Gateway) 0.14.0 includes lifecycle management and object locking and holds. Epinio 1.7 now has a UI with Dex integration and SUSE's S3GW. SUSE has also relaunched Rancher Academy, a free educational platform designed to help users get started with Rancher and Kubernetes.

Additionally, SUSE has added new components to Rancher Prime, designed to improve the performance and resiliency of enterprise-grade production clusters, including the trusted delivery and extensibility of UI extensions and access to SUSE Collective for efficient problem-solving.

Rancher 2.7.2 by SUSE is a popular container management platform that offers several new and exciting innovations to enhance container orchestration and deployment. Here are some of the latest innovations in Rancher 2.7.2:

1. Support for Kubernetes 1.21: Rancher 2.7.2 now supports the latest version of Kubernetes, providing users with access to all the new features and enhancements introduced in this release.

2. Enhanced UI/UX: The user interface and user experience have been improved in Rancher 2.7.2. This update brings a more intuitive and streamlined interface, making it easier for users to manage and monitor their containerized applications.

3. Fleet Improvements: Rancher's Fleet functionality has been enhanced in version 2.7.2. Fleet is a GitOps-based cluster management tool that allows users to manage and synchronize multiple clusters using Git repositories. The latest updates provide better integration and enhanced functionality for managing clusters at scale.

4. Istio Integration: Rancher now offers seamless integration with Istio, an open-source service mesh platform for connecting, securing, and managing microservices. This integration allows users to easily deploy, manage, and monitor Istio and its components within Rancher.

5. GitLab CI/CD Integration: Rancher 2.7.2 provides improved integration with GitLab CI/CD pipelines. This integration enables users to automate the deployment of their containerized applications directly from GitLab repositories, streamlining the development and deployment process.

6. Enhanced Security Features: Rancher 2.7.2 introduces several security enhancements, including support for Kubernetes PodSecurityPolicy and admission control plugins. These features provide users with more granular control over security policies and help ensure the integrity and security of their containerized environments.


Here are a few more innovations in Rancher 2.7.2 by SUSE:

1. Multi-Cluster Application Management: Rancher 2.7.2 introduces the concept of "Applications," which allows users to define and deploy complex multi-tier applications across multiple clusters easily. This feature streamlines application management and simplifies deployment workflows.

2. GitOps Workflows with Argo CD: Rancher integrates seamlessly with Argo CD, a popular GitOps continuous delivery tool. This integration enables users to manage applications deployed through Rancher using Git repositories, providing a declarative and automated approach to application deployment and synchronization.

3. High Availability and Scalability Improvements: Rancher 2.7.2 brings various enhancements to improve the high availability and scalability of the platform. It introduces the ability to deploy multiple instances of Rancher server in an active-active configuration, ensuring continuous availability and fault tolerance.

4. Enhanced Monitoring and Alerting: The latest version of Rancher includes improvements in monitoring and alerting capabilities. Users can leverage built-in monitoring tools like Prometheus and Grafana to gain visibility into their clusters' performance and set up custom alerts based on predefined thresholds.

5. CIS Benchmark Scanning: Rancher 2.7.2 introduces support for Center for Internet Security (CIS) benchmark scanning. This feature helps users assess the security posture of their Kubernetes clusters based on industry-standard benchmarks and provides recommendations to remediate any identified vulnerabilities.

6. Open Integration Framework: Rancher 2.7.2 offers an open integration framework that allows users to extend and customize the platform's functionalities. This framework supports the development of custom plugins and integrations, enabling users to integrate Rancher with their existing tools and workflows seamlessly.