Rancher Kubernetes Engine 1 (RKE1) reached end of life on July 31st of 2025, meaning no more security patches, bug fixes, or a direct upgrade path forward. For businesses still running RKE1, the clock is ticking - and the decisions made now will have major implications for security, compliance, and operational continuity.

In this episode, Edward Ionel of Mirantis is back to walk you through what re-platforming actually looks like in practice, the hidden costs and challenges of migration, and how to evaluate your options for moving to RKE2, RKE3, or a more modern Kubernetes platform. Whether you're managing 10 clusters or hundreds, this is a practical guide to navigating one of the most consequential infrastructure transitions your team may face.

A full list of this episode's topics include:

1. Official announcement of EOL for RKE1
2. Why migrating away from RKE1 doesn't work
3. Current evolution in App infrastructure
4. Current evolution of Cloud
5. Common containerization challenges
6. k0rdent by Mirantis
7. Full container solution stack
8. Value of the cloud native/K8s-first approach

If you want to listen to more episodes of Radio Cloud Native, please visit https://www.mirantis.com/radiocloudnative/ to download, or find them wherever you prefer to consume your podcasts.

If you are interested in contributing to Radio Cloud Native, please reach out to our podcast team: [email protected]