Red Hat has announced the general availability of OpenShift 4.18, the latest version of its Kubernetes-powered application platform. This release focuses on delivering consistency across cloud-native, virtual machine (VM)-based, and traditional applications, with a range of enhancements designed to simplify management of virtual machines and containers.

One of the key highlights of OpenShift 4.18 is the promotion of user-defined networks (UDN) from technology preview to general availability (GA). This move brings data center networking concepts into Kubernetes, enabling custom Layer 2, Layer 3, and localnet network segments for container pods and VMs using the default OpenShift OVN-Kubernetes networking. Additionally, UDN has been enhanced with Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) support, which improves segmentation and supports use cases such as VM static IP assignment and stronger multi-tenancy.

Another significant feature in OpenShift 4.18 is the GA of VM live storage migration, which allows for non-disruptive movement of data between storage devices and storage classes while a VM is running. This update also includes a preview of tree-view navigation, enabling logical grouping of VMs to folders and allowing for more granular grouping.

Red Hat has also introduced the OpenShift Virtualization Engine, a version of OpenShift designed specifically for running VMs only. Furthermore, the company has announced support for OpenShift bare-metal deployments on Google Cloud Platform and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, building on its existing support for AWS.

In terms of security, OpenShift 4.18 includes a secret container storage interface (CSI) driver, which provides a vendor-agnostic solution for managing credentials and sensitive information for applications. This enables workloads to access external secrets managers without storing secrets on the cluster, enhancing security and reducing risk. The Secret Store CSI Driver also complements solutions such as OpenShift GitOps and OpenShift Pipelines, allowing them to consume secrets from an external secrets manager in a more secure way.

The latest release of OpenShift demonstrates Red Hat's continued commitment to delivering a comprehensive application platform that supports a wide range of deployment scenarios. By bridging the gap between cloud-native and traditional applications, OpenShift 4.18 provides a unified management experience for developers and operators alike.

For users looking to upgrade to OpenShift 4.18, Red Hat has provided detailed information on the process at access.redhat.com. With its enhanced VM support, bare-metal deployments, and robust security features, OpenShift 4.18 is poised to have a significant impact on the cloud computing landscape.

As the adoption of cloud-native technologies continues to accelerate, the need for a unified application platform that can manage diverse workloads becomes increasingly important. With OpenShift 4.18, Red Hat has taken a significant step forward in delivering a platform that can meet the complex needs of modern enterprises.