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Buoyant has released Linkerd 2.18, the latest version of its open source service mesh. This update introduces protocol declarations, GitOps-compatible multicluster support, and enhanced Gateway API flexibility, all driven by lessons from real-world customer deployments. The “battlescars” release also features a preliminary build of the Linkerd proxy for Windows environments, marking the first step toward full Windows support.
Now in its ninth year of development, Linkerd continues to prioritize operational simplicity and long-term reliability, aiming to create infrastructure software that can be trusted for a century. The 2.18 release comes as the second major update since Buoyant announced profitability and long-term sustainability in late 2024.
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Key Features in Linkerd 2.18
- Protocol Declarations: Users can now specify the application protocol using the appProtocol field on Kubernetes Service objects, bypassing automatic protocol detection to improve reliability under extreme load.
- GitOps-Compatible Multicluster: The multicluster feature now fully supports declarative configuration, enabling seamless management across large-scale, GitOps-driven environments with hundreds or thousands of clusters.
- Gateway API Decoupling: Linkerd 2.18 adds support for Gateway API v1.2.1 and improves flexibility by ceasing the automatic installation of Gateway API types in future releases. This prepares users for broader ecosystem compatibility.
- Experimental Windows Build: For the first time, Linkerd includes an experimental proxy build for Windows. Buoyant invites users interested in Windows environments to test and provide feedback.
Background and Philosophy
The release reflects hard-earned insights from helping customers run Linkerd at the bleeding edge of scale and complexity. It continues Linkerd’s core philosophy: making complex infrastructure tooling usable and human-friendly.
Linkerd has long championed ease of adoption, starting with its “zero config” protocol detection. However, as production usage scaled, optional manual protocol configuration became necessary for maximum reliability and observability.
The same user-driven evolution applies to Linkerd’s multicluster capabilities, which now support everything from multi-cloud to federated deployments. Similarly, the new approach to Gateway API adoption aligns with the increasing maturity of the broader Kubernetes ecosystem.
Availability
Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd (BEL) 2.18.0 is now available. BEL is free for non-production use and for production deployments by companies with fewer than 50 employees. It includes all the features of Linkerd 2.18, along with full documentation and a five-minute quickstart guide.
