What is the support scope for the Kubernetes versions of a Rancher release?

Article Number: 000021365

Environment

A Rancher-managed RKE, RKE2 or k3s Kubernetes cluster

Situation

When configuring a Rancher local/upstream cluster, or a downstream cluster, you may be concerned about the support scope of those clusters based on their Kubernetes version. This is, the date until you are completely covered by SUSE support, in the case of having an active support entitlement.

Cause

The support scope may be misunderstood when checking our Product Support Lifecycle page for RKE/RKE/k3s. That page should only be consulted when using RKE/RKE2/k3s standalone, without a Rancher installation.

Resolution

As long as the configured version of RKE/RKE2/k3s is included under the Support Matrix for the running Rancher version, and that version of Rancher that is still under support, per the SUSE Product Lifecycle, it is covered by SUSE support. Then, the critical EOL date to take into account is always the Rancher one, and also to verify that the RKE/RKE2/k3s version is under the Support Matrix.