Today is a big day for the Tanzu team at VMware. It’s a day we’ve long been looking forward to, and a day that we’d like to celebrate with you.
Just this morning we released VMware Tanzu Community Edition, a freely available, community-supported, open source distribution of VMware Tanzu that you can install and configure in minutes on your local workstation or your favorite cloud. This release is big news for us, and exciting news for you too! You can now easily access a full-featured, easy-to-manage Kubernetes platform that’s perfect for users and learners alike.
As the leader of the Tanzu Community Edition engineering team and head of the Tanzu team’s cloud native community engagement efforts, I am thrilled to share some insights about the new offering and community with you. But first, let’s get some outside perspective.
We’ve been sharing Tanzu Community Edition for a few weeks now with a small group of folks. Scott Brandhuber, senior analyst and development team lead with Alabama State University, is one of those people. Here’s what he has to say about it:
“We are still in the early stages of our Kubernetes adoption, which means we are doing a lot of experimenting and learning about what it can do and how to use it. Tanzu Community Edition is making it very easy and cost effective for us to do that. As a developer, I especially like that I can use it on my local workstation. It has allowed us to use our local workstations to integrate Tanzu into our development flow in a way that will match the production workflows in our commercially supported Tanzu environment.”
What’s going on here?
It’s simple, really. We all know that the world is moving to cloud native infrastructure built on and around Kubernetes. That’s why, of course, we created VMware Tanzu. But technology itself is not enough—even great technology goes nowhere without developers, infrastructure and platform operators, site reliability engineers, and others who have the knowledge and skills needed to use it. That spells opportunity for you. If you are a cloud native practitioner today, or if you aspire to become one, you can use Tanzu Community Edition and the community resources that surround it to help you build your skills and experience. And if you fall in love with Tanzu along the way, well then we’re happy about that too.
Take on new challenges confidently
It can be difficult to set up a useful Kubernetes environment using software that is freely available from open source communities (have you looked at the Cloud Native Computing Landscape lately?). Simple solutions may suffice for basic use cases but leave you at a dead end as your needs and experience grow. On the other hand, who wants to face all of the complexity of a full-scale implementation on day one?
With Tanzu Community Edition, you can take on new challenges confidently. Tanzu is a proven, enterprise-grade Kubernetes platform designed, built, and backed by one of the world’s most trusted and respected technology providers. You’re on solid footing when you start your Kubernetes journey here.
What’s more, all of the open source technologies you’ll need to automate end-to-end application delivery with Kubernetes are included in Tanzu Community Edition, as is the ability to customize your platform. That means you can start small, then easily add new capabilities at any time, as your needs grow. And, wherever the future takes you, the knowledge, skills, and artifacts you develop with Tanzu Community Edition can go with you, and are fully transferable to Tanzu commercial offerings.
Explore independently
When I want to get started with a new technology I find it really helpful to be able to get my hands on a version that I can explore and experiment with. So I go to open source communities where I can freely download interesting software—and where I can also find help when I need it. We all do it. And now you can get Tanzu software and support that same way.
Tanzu Community Edition is no-cost, open source software that is unencumbered by usage limitations or functional restrictions. You can download and use it freely too, without any expiration date, without any scaling restrictions, and without being denied access to any “turned off” features. So yes, this is a Kubernetes platform distribution that you can freely access and use. Excellent.
There’s more you’ll want to take advantage of too, all freely accessible to the community. If you’re not quite ready to download, you can try Tanzu Community Edition in a hosted sandbox environment. To help you get through that steep Kubernetes learning curve, you’ll find top-notch education and training resources from KubeAcademy, the Tanzu Developer Center, and more. And of course, when you need help you can get support from a community that’s backed by committed and knowledgeable experts.
Get up and running in minutes
You’re going to like this part too: it’s fast and easy to get up and running with Tanzu Community Edition using readily available infrastructure. You can install and configure a fully functional cluster that’s customized to your needs in minutes. And you can run it wherever you prefer—in vSphere, in a public cloud, or even on your local workstation. Nice!
An ideal Tanzu for learners and users
So how will you use Tanzu Community Edition?
Are you looking to build or sharpen your cloud native skills? Getting ready for that certification exam? Just plain curious? Use Tanzu Community Edition to gain practical knowledge and skills with a hands-on environment you can get up and running quickly.
Not sure which Kubernetes platform is right for you? Do your due diligence. Put Tanzu Community Edition to the test with the biggest, gnarliest challenges you have. Run a proof of concept, compare with alternatives, and complete the independent, objective research you need to support your strategic platform decision making.
Tanzu Community Edition is free, it's open source, it's full-featured, easy to manage, community supported—and it's yours to use, whatever your objective, no strings attached. Whether you are an application developer, IT operator, DevOps engineer, or just plain curious, you can experience Tanzu right now with Tanzu Community Edition.
We’re celebrating today—come join us! See you at tanzucommunityedition.io.
