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Working group aims to standardise Kubernetes app testing across hybrid clouds
VMware is leading a new Kubernetes community working group to develop a shared standard for testing whether applications run reliably across different Kubernetes environments, including hybrid clouds. The proposal addresses a gap in existing conformance tests, which assess clusters but not individual workloads, and could reduce repeated manual checks before upgrades or maintenance.
The group is still defining which workload behaviours to cover, including security, resilience, resource use, networking, storage, API usage and observability. It has not set specific requirements or testing methods, but says each requirement must have an objective, automated test. Separately, VMware has moved its VM API to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation’s Sandbox, alongside KubeVirt, as Kubernetes users continue to run both containers and virtual machines.
In short
- VMware is helping develop shared tests for Kubernetes applications.
- The proposed standard covers hybrid cloud workload behaviour.
- VMware has also moved its VM API to the CNCF Sandbox.
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The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
A shared, automated standard could give teams a clearer way to check that applications behave reliably across different Kubernetes environments, reducing duplicated manual work and making upgrades and maintenance less risky. Including areas such as security, resilience, storage and networking could help organisations that rely on hybrid clouds compare results consistently and identify problems earlier.
The case against
A standard developed before the group has settled which behaviours matter or how to test them could impose uneven or incomplete expectations across very different applications and environments. Automated checks may also create false confidence if they do not reflect real workloads; keeping the scope narrow and requirements objective will matter if the standard is to be useful rather than burdensome.
Explained simply
Kubernetes is software for managing applications packaged in containers across groups of computers. Companies may use it in their own data centres and with cloud providers, creating hybrid setups where the same application may need to work in several different environments.
Existing Kubernetes conformance tests check whether a cluster follows agreed rules, but they do not establish that a particular application will behave reliably there. VMware is leading a community working group to consider shared, automated tests for application behaviour, including security, networking and storage; the group has not yet settled what to test or how.
A common approach could help organisations check applications across environments and reduce repeated manual work before upgrades or maintenance. The separate move of VMware’s VM API into the Cloud Native Computing Foundation Sandbox reflects Kubernetes users’ interest in running virtual machines as well as containers.
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Originally published by The Register as “VMware floats new standard to make sure apps don’t break in hybrid K8s environments”.