Event-based CD and automation control plane Keptn can be downloaded in version 0.9. Highlights of the release include controls for pausing, aborting, and resuming tasks, as well support for Apple’s M1 chip. The update also comes with a hardened core and refactored Bridge component, which is meant to work better with custom sequences and tasks. Moreover, users get the option to create and delete Keptn projects via Bridge. There are new defaults for sequence execution that, for example, let the plane queue certain sequences if there’s already one running in the same stage.

D2iQ Kaptain goes all visual in 1.2 release

Version 1.2 of D2iQ’s machine learning platform Kaptain has been pushed out this week as well, sporting a new dashboard for visually monitoring the resource consumption and state of Kaptain workloads. The Kaptain developers also looked to provide data scientists with a bit of additional free rein by implementing self-service dataset mounts and an integration for TensorFlow visualisation project TensorBoard into the platform. Meanwhile the SDK has been reworked to support canary model deployments and is now decoupled from the Kaptain release cycle so users can look forward to more timely patch releases.

Calico Enterprise 3.9 lends admins a helping hand for troubleshooting

Kubernetes security and observability platform Calico Enterprise is now on version 3.9, which fits the project with better live troubleshooting capabilities via dynamic packet capture and promises less overhead for application-level observability. The latter is said to be realised through a DaemonSet-based approach that is meant to be less invasive than its sidecar-using predecessor. Other than that the Calico Enterprise team worked a bit on the security of their project, which now comes with pod-to-pod encryption with Microsoft AKS and AWS EKS with AWS CNI.

Google extends support for Istio 1.9

The team behind service mesh Istio is on a path to improve day-two operations for users of the project. As part of the initiative, the team has decided to extend the support window of Istio 1.9 by six weeks, meaning users will receive CVE and critical bug fixes until October 5, 2021. The extension is meant to make things easier for those looking to update from version 1.9 straight to 1.11 and might become the new normal should the team get enough feedback indicating the additional work needed for the longer support period is useful to users.

Notcurses makes the jump onto macOS and Windows

After 120 days of work, Notcurses 2.4 has landed and comes packed with nice improvements. Though most will surely use it in Linux-based environments, the text user interface and character graphics library gets a bit of a broader appeal by finally being able to run on Windows and macOS. Notcurses also learned to handle bitmap graphics on the Linux framebuffer console, allows scrolling on the standard plane, and includes a binary to explore Unicode conformance and terminal capabilities. Version 2.4 comes with a CLI mode that is aimed to replace Direct Mode, and supports synchronised updates.

Icinga for Windows adds JEA support, simplifies component management

The latest version of monitoring product Icinga for Windows has dropped, and looks to make life easier for admins. Version 1.6 includes built-in repository management, so that admins don’t have to manually specify the location of all the installed components, and support for Just-Enough-Administration profiles. The update also sees the Icinga Management Console maturing into stable, which goes hand in hand with a simplified base installation process as well as capabilities to export installation commands and files to automate the process.