Upgrade Amazon EKS clusters with confidence using Kubernetes version rollbacks | Amazon Web Services (opens in new tab)

Amazon EKS now supports rolling back Kubernetes minor-version upgrades within seven days, providing a safety net that open-source Kubernetes traditionally lacks. The rollback returns a cluster to its previously validated production version rather than placing it in an emulated transitional state. This can help organizations upgrade more confidently, reduce lengthy upgrade cycles, and avoid remaining on outdated versions.

Kubernetes Version Rollbacks

• Rollbacks support one minor version at a time, matching EKS upgrade behavior.
• Administrators can revert an upgrade such as Kubernetes 1.35 to 1.34 within the seven-day rollback window.
• EKS uses cluster insights to check rollback readiness, including:
  • Node version compatibility
  • Add-on dependencies
  • Other potential upgrade issues
• The --force option bypasses these checks when administrators need to proceed quickly.
• The capability applies to both self-managed-node clusters and clusters using AWS-managed infrastructure.

EKS Auto Mode Rollbacks

• EKS Auto Mode must roll back both the control plane and managed nodes.
• Node rollback operations honor pod disruption budgets, so completion time depends on workload configuration.
• A cancel API allows administrators to stop an in-progress node rollback.
• Disruption budgets are never bypassed automatically; users can modify or remove them if they need to accelerate the process.

Rollback Experience and Availability

• Rollbacks can be initiated from the EKS console after selecting an eligible cluster.
• The console displays the remaining rollback window and relevant readiness insights.
• In the example, the control plane rollback took about 20 minutes, while Auto Mode nodes rolled back according to their disruption budgets.
• Rollbacks are available at no additional cost in all commercial AWS Regions where EKS operates.
• Control plane rollbacks support all EKS clusters; node rollbacks are available for EKS Auto Mode.
• Supported Kubernetes versions include those under standard or extended EKS support.

Administrators can use the EKS console or documentation to begin using rollbacks, making incremental Kubernetes upgrades safer and easier to recover from.