Operations | Monitoring | ITSM | DevOps | Cloud

Windows and macOS developers can now use MicroK8s natively! Use kubectl at the Windows or Mac command line to interact with MicroK8s locally just as you would on Linux. Clean integration into the desktop means better workflows to dev, build and test your containerised apps. MicroK8s is a conformant upstream Kubernetes, packaged for simplicity and resilience. It provides sensible defaults and bundles the most commonly used components for at-your-fingertips access.

Security is vital for protecting company assets and data subjects. Evolving data protection regulations, like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), have thrown light on security breaches and the security architecture of those compromised. In 2019, the global average cost for a data breach was $3.9 million, not including reputational damage and hidden costs.

Today Microsoft announced the general availability of Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 in the Windows 10 May 2020 update. WSL 2 is based on a new architecture that provides full Linux binary application compatibility and improved performance. WSL 2 is powered by a real Linux kernel in a lightweight virtual machine that boots in under two seconds. WSL 2 is the best way to experience Ubuntu on WSL.

Kubernetes has enjoyed an unparalleled 5-year growth that has revolutionised the IT industry. It has become a key factor for organisations to be successful and have a competitive advantage. In order to optimise these benefits, organisations look for new ways to reduce Kubernetes complexity and get interoperability with other systems. See how combining MicroK8s and WSL 2 brings a low-ops, fully conformant Kubernetes through a single-command install within Windows.

Microsoft Build, Microsoft’s annual developer conference, is taking place virtually May 19-20. Ubuntu will be featured throughout the event, in announcements of new WSL features, demos of cloud-native development on Microsoft Azure, and by presenters using Ubuntu desktop with native Microsoft applications like Teams, Code, and Edge. In an address by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella the company announced new features coming to WSL 2.

Many organizations already use Docker to containerize their Windows applications and often run mixed Windows and Linux container environments to support complex architectures. With Kubernetes’s support for deploying clusters with Windows nodes, organizations can leverage the orchestration platform to easily automate container provisioning, networking, scaling, and more for their Windows applications.

This is the second blog in our series releasing the WSLConf recordings. Earlier this year, Canonical had the pleasure of hosting WSLConf, a virtual conference dedicated to the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). The conference highlighted ideas and projects from presenters from around the globe with attendees from at least eight different time zones.