diff --git a/content/en/news/kubesphere-community-edition-ga-announcement.md b/content/en/news/kubesphere-community-edition-ga-announcement.md new file mode 100644 index 000000000..40a76a6d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/en/news/kubesphere-community-edition-ga-announcement.md @@ -0,0 +1,149 @@ +--- +title: 'KubeSphere Community Edition Released: Free Forever, Enterprise-Grade Container Management Instantly Available!' +tag: 'Product Updates' +keyword: 'KubeSphere, Community Edition' +description: 'KubeSphere Community Edition officially released, free forever.' +createTime: '2025-10-09' +author: 'KubeSphere' +image: 'http://pek3b.qingstor.com/kubesphere-community/images/v4.2.0%20Community%20Edition%20GA.png' +--- + +Today, we officially announce the release of **KubeSphere Community Edition** — a **free forever** container management platform designed for developers and small-to-medium teams. This marks a major milestone in KubeSphere’s product strategy — representing a concrete step toward lowering the barriers to cloud-native adoption and serving a broader user base. + +## Four Key Advantages — Free, Yet Enterprise-Ready + +### Free Forever, Enterprise-Grade Experience + +**Zero cost, no hidden fees.** KubeSphere Community Edition is permanently free and requires no licensing fees, allowing startups, small businesses, and growing teams to enjoy the benefits of cloud-native technology equally. + +But free doesn’t mean limited in capability. The Community Edition provides **long-term support and continuous iteration** at the same level as enterprise offerings. All features are battle-tested across industries, giving your business a reliable cloud-native foundation. We believe accessibility and quality can coexist. + +### Easy Installation and Immediate Usability + +**Flexible deployment, adaptable to all environments.** +KubeSphere Community Edition supports public cloud, private cloud, and bare metal environments, ensuring seamless compatibility across infrastructures. Whether you’re deploying in a data center, on cloud servers, or on-prem hardware, it runs effortlessly. + +**Lightweight and beginner-friendly.** +The platform offers a streamlined installation process that dramatically simplifies Kubernetes cluster setup and management. No complex scripts or pre-configurations are required—installation takes just minutes, allowing your team to focus on development and operations faster. + +### Open Architecture, Unlimited Extensibility + +**Pluggable design and ecosystem compatibility.** +KubeSphere Community Edition features a highly modular architecture with a UI/API that supports dynamic extensions. You can enable only the extensions you need—keeping the system lightweight and efficient. + +Even better, KubeSphere integrates seamlessly with numerous open-source tools, empowering you to extend capabilities and build a cloud-native operating system that best fits your team. + +### Full-Featured, Cloud-Native Foundation + +KubeSphere Community Edition includes the **core capabilities** for building and managing a cloud-native container platform: + +- **Unified Management**: Multi-cluster management, fine-grained RBAC, and tenant isolation for enterprise-grade governance. +- **Powerful Observability**: Multi-dimensional monitoring, alerting, and notification systems for rapid troubleshooting. +- **Efficient Operations**: Full application lifecycle management, DevOps pipelines, and flexible storage/networking solutions. + +## Extensions: Covering Key Scenarios + +KubeSphere Community Edition includes 18 carefully curated extensions, covering observability, DevOps, security, AI inference, service gateway, and database management: + +**Observability Stack** +- WizTelemetry Platform Service +- WizTelemetry Monitoring +- WizTelemetry Alerting +- WizTelemetry Notification +- WizTelemetry Data Pipeline +- Grafana for WizTelemetry +- Grafana Loki for WizTelemetry +- Metrics Server + +**Gateway & Traffic Management** +- KubeSphere Gateway +- Higress (Cloud-Native API Gateway) + +**DevOps & Continuous Delivery** +- DevOps (Full CI/CD Pipeline) + +**Security & Compliance** +- Gatekeeper (Policy Engine) +- cert-manager (Certificate Management) + +**AI and GPU Support** +- NVIDIA GPU Operator +- DeepSeek (AI Inference) + +**Data Management & Storage** +- ob-operator (OceanBase Operator) +- oceanbase-dashboard (OceanBase Management Console) +- Fluid (Dataset Orchestration and Acceleration) + +These integrations aren’t simple “bundles” — they’re deeply tested and optimized for plug-and-play use within KubeSphere. Each extension can be installed from the Extension Center with one click, reducing learning and maintenance overhead. + +## Quick Start + +### Installation & Upgrade + +#### Online Installation + +If you are **starting from scratch**, follow the [Install Kubernetes and KubeSphere Online Guide](https://docs.kubesphere.com.cn/v4.2.0/03-installation-and-upgrade/02-install-kubesphere/01-online-install-kubernetes-and-kubesphere/) to deploy KubeSphere in an internet-accessible environment. + +If **Kubernetes is already installed**, you can install KubeSphere directly via Helm. Refer to the [Install KubeSphere](https://docs.kubesphere.com.cn/v4.2.0/03-installation-and-upgrade/02-install-kubesphere/01-online-install-kubernetes-and-kubesphere/#_install_kubesphere) documentation for steps. + +#### Upgrade from Open Source Edition to Community Edition + +If you already use the open-source version of KubeSphere and wish to upgrade, note the following: + +**Usage recommendation**: For optimal experience, the Community Edition supports up to **128 vCPU** per cluster. Beyond that, the system enters read-only mode (view-only access). + +**Before upgrading**: +1. Follow the upgrade guide to run the cluster-size check script. +2. Verify dependency versions according to the documentation. + +Refer to [Upgrade from KubeSphere Open Source to Community Edition v4.2.0](https://docs.kubesphere.com.cn/v4.2.0/03-installation-and-upgrade/03-upgrade-kubesphere/05-online-upgrade-to-community-4.2.x/) for details. + +### License Activation + +**Step 1: Retrieve Cluster ID** + +After installing KubeSphere, navigate to **Component Dock → Platform Settings → Licenses** to find your Cluster ID. + +
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