kernel version can be 4.4 & 4.19+; recommend version 5.8 for cgroup v2

[pacoxu]

For kernel long term support, see https://wiki.linuxfoundation.org/civilinfrastructureplatform/start and https://endoflife.date/linux

• 4.4 & 4.19 are selected as kernel Super Long Term Support (SLTS), and the Civil Infrastructure Platform will provide support until at least 2026.
• For cgroup v2, Kubernetes recommends to use 5.8 and later, and in runc docs, the minimal version is 4.15 and 5.2+ is recommended.

Other comments that may be related:

In Kubernetes 1.31, cgroup v1 is moved to maintenance mode and 4.14 LTS EOF in Jan 2024 (linux, LTS) , besides, centos 7 is EOL in June 30, 2024. I chosen 4.15 as runc.

• for kernel minimal version, choosing 4.15 as runc + cgroup v2 https://github.com/opencontainers/runc/blob/3778ae603c706494fd1e2c2faf83b406e38d687d/docs/cgroup-v2.md?plain=1#L24
  • kernel >= 4.15 with CONFIG_CGROUP_DEVICE and CONFIG_CGROUP_BPF is required. From https://github.com/containerd/containerd/pull/3799#issuecomment-555740694.
  • cpu (since Linux 4.15)
• cgroup v2: Kubernetes recommended kernel version https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/architecture/cgroups/

More details can be found in https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/issues/116799.

The v1.31 KEP https://github.com/kubernetes/enhancements/issues/4569

• https://github.com/kubernetes/enhancements/blob/master/keps/sig-node/4569-cgroup-v1-maintenance-mode/README.md KEP-4569: Moving cgroup v1 support into maintenance mode

Other minimal kernel version candidates

• kernel 4.5 announced that cgroup v2 is not experimental anymore, as it supports io/pids/memory.
• runc recommends 5.2+ as 5.2 supports freezer.