How does the Bitnami kubectl deprecation affect ITRS Analytics deployments?

This FAQ provides guidance on migrating from the deprecated bitnami/kubectl image to supported alternatives to prevent deployment issues in ITRS Analytics online installations.

Important

ITRS Analytics versions prior to 2.15.4 will fail to deploy on online installations due to bitnami/kubectl image deprecation. Air-gapped deployments are unaffected.

You must upgrade to version 2.15.4 or later to prevent deployment failures once available. Please note that version 2.15.4 is still an upcoming release and is not yet available in the Stable channel for production use. The ITRS Analytics version 2.15.4 release will be marked as a required release and replaces bitnami/kubectl with chainguard/kubectl.

What is happening with the bitnami/kubectl image? Copied

Bitnami announced that all images in their public catalog will be migrated to a legacy repository on September 2025. After this date, images can no longer be retrieved via docker.io/bitnami. This means the bitnami/kubectl image will no longer be accessible through the standard Docker Hub registry path.

See the official Bitnami announcement for details.

Why does this affect my deployments? Copied

If your deployments, Kubernetes manifests, or ITRS Analytics packages reference bitnami/kubectl images, they will fail to pull the image. This affects:

• All deployment types using the bitnami/kubectl image.
• All Kubernetes distributions that reference these images.
• Installation packages that include bitnami/kubectl dependencies.
• Any automation or CI/CD pipelines using these images.

How does this affect ITRS Analytics packages? Copied

ITRS Analytics utilizes kubectl/bitnami images as part of packages prior to version 2.15.4. This creates critical issues:

• Customers upgrading to versions before 2.15.4 on online installations will experience deployment failures. Air-gapped deployments are unaffected by this issue.
• The kubectl image pull will fail during package installation.
• This affects both new installations and upgrades of older package versions.

Which versions are affected?

• All ITRS Analytics packages using versions prior to 2.15.4.
• Starting with version 2.15.4, ITRS Analytics uses alternative kubectl images. This makes 2.15.4 a required release.
• The upcoming 2.15.4 release replaces the deprecated bitnami/kubectl with chainguard/kubectl.

What should I do if I’m using an affected version? Copied

1. Immediate action:

   • Audit your current deployments to identify bitnami/kubectl usage.
   • Plan migration to ITRS Analytics version 2.15.4 or later.
   • There may be required intermediate releases before 2.15.4 depending on your current version. Please contact ITRS Support to determine the proper upgrade path for your specific deployment.

2. For new deployments:

   • Do not install any ITRS Analytics version below 2.15.4 - these versions will fail due to the deprecated bitnami/kubectl dependency.
   • We strongly recommend making it a standard rule for fresh installations to always use version 2.15.4 or later.
   • Ensure your package manifests reference chainguard/kubectl or approved alternatives.

How to work around online deployment limitations before ITRS Analytics 2.15.4? Copied

If you need to install ITRS Analytics online deployments that don’t come with the Chainguard image, you can use the following workaround procedure. This allows you to install older versions of ITRS Analytics by redirecting the deprecated bitnami/kubectl image to a supported alternative.

Note

Workaround applicability and notes:

• Works for both new installations and upgrades.
• Only needs to be done once; remains effective for future upgrades.
• During upgrades, you may need to:
  • Delete the job.
  • Redeploy the instance to apply image redirection.

This is a temporary workaround and should only be used until you can upgrade to ITRS Analytics version 2.15.4 or later.

Prerequisites Copied

• Ensure you have a cluster ready and perform the necessary preparations.
• Verify you have administrative access to the Kubernetes cluster.

Installation steps Copied

1. Install the latest release of Gatekeeper.

   kubectl apply -f https://raw.githubusercontent.com/open-policy-agent/gatekeeper/v3.20.1/deploy/gatekeeper.yaml
   

   For detailed installation instructions, refer to Gatekeeper’s documentation.

2. Download and apply the assignImage.yaml manifest file:

   kubectl apply -f assignImage.yaml
   

   This manifest will redirect bitnami/kubectl image references to the supported alternative.

3. Deploy ITRS Analytics.

   Proceed with your normal deployment process. The image redirection will ensure that any references to the deprecated bitnami/kubectl image will be automatically redirected to the supported alternative.