Releases

Rook v1.20.1 is a patch release focused on Ceph operator stability: Ceph CSI driver compatibility, OSD major-version handling, and CSI-addons disabled by default to reduce unexpected behavior.

• breakingCSI-addons disabled by default — check cluster dependencies

  CSI-addons (snapshot, clone, and expansion features) are now disabled by default in v1.20.1. If your workloads rely on these features, you must explicitly enable them in the Ceph cluster spec or your RWX volume snapshots and clones will fail. Review helm values and operator configs to enable addons before upgrade if needed.

• enhancementUse node labels for OSD device class assignment instead of manual mapping

  Instead of hardcoding device class assignment per node, you can now use Kubernetes node labels (like `disk-type: ssd`) to automatically classify OSDs. This simplifies scaling clusters with mixed hardware. Apply node labels, then reference them in the Ceph cluster spec to avoid per-node configuration drift.

• enhancementOSD require-osd-release is now enforced after major Ceph upgrades

  After a major Ceph version upgrade (e.g., Quincy to Reef), Rook now sets `require-osd-release` automatically to prevent old OSDs from rejoining before the cluster is ready. Before upgrade, ensure all OSDs can be updated together; if you have pinned some OSDs to an older version, they will be blocked from joining until unpinned.

Rook v1.20 hands CSI driver management to the Ceph CSI operator — a breaking change for anyone with custom CSI config — while adding encrypted OSD resize, Vault Agent SSE-S3, and stabilizing concurrent cluster reconciliation.

• breakingMigrate CSI config to Ceph-CSI operator before customizing anything

  Existing clusters will survive the upgrade with previously applied CSI settings, but any future CSI changes must go through the Ceph-CSI OperatorConfig and Driver CRs — not the Rook configmap. Helm users need the ceph-csi-drivers chart for operator settings (custom images stay in rook-ceph chart values). Audit your current CSI customizations now and plan the migration path before upgrading. Don't wait until you need to change a CSI setting post-upgrade to figure this out.

• enhancementAudit CRUSH rules before upgrading if you rely on custom ones

  Rook now deletes unused CRUSH rules by default on mgr startup. If your environment has CRUSH rules that appear unused but are intentionally retained for failover or manual placement, set ROOK_DELETE_UNUSED_CRUSH_RULES=false in the operator config before upgrading. Losing custom CRUSH rules silently is the kind of thing that only hurts when you need them most.

• enhancementEnable concurrent cluster reconciliation if running multiple Ceph clusters

  ROOK_RECONCILE_CONCURRENT_CLUSTERS is now marked stable after testing in prior releases. If you manage multiple CephCluster objects in one operator, enable this setting to reduce reconciliation bottlenecks. This is especially useful in multi-tenant or multi-cluster operator deployments where one slow cluster previously blocked others.

Rook v1.18.11 patches liveness probe stability, OSD disk handling, and CSI priority class assignment. No major breaking changes, but one CSI component fix may shift pod scheduling.

• breakingCSI priority class name correction

  CSI provisioner and plugin priority class names were swapped in earlier v1.18.x releases (PR #17361). If you've set custom CSI priority classes, check your PVCs and plugin pods after upgrade — the correct priority class will now apply to the right component, potentially changing scheduling behavior for storage workloads.

• enhancementFix liveness probe script formatting

  Rook v1.18.11 removes newlines from liveness probe scripts (PR #17420). If your Ceph cluster's liveness probes are flaky or generating spurious restarts, upgrade immediately — the whitespace issue could be interfering with probe output parsing. No breaking changes, but the fix eliminates a source of operational noise.

• enhancementDisk zapping for forced OSD installation

  The disk zapping feature for forced OSD installation (PR #17533) gives you explicit control over device reuse. If you're adding storage to existing nodes or recovering failed OSD slots, update to v1.18.11 and review your OSD discovery workflow — you can now force installation on previously used disks without manual intervention.

Rook v1.19.5 patches several operator bugs including a CSI priority class swap, OSD CRUSH device class fix, and more reliable mon drain behavior.

• breakingAudit CSI priority classes after upgrade — they were swapped

  The provisioner and plugin priority class names were assigned to the wrong CSI components. If you set custom values for these fields, verify that your workloads are getting the priority you intended post-upgrade. Clusters running latency-sensitive storage I/O with tiered priority classes are most at risk. Check the assigned priority classes on CSI pods after the upgrade and adjust your Helm values if needed.

• enhancementUpgrade if you've hit silent CRUSH device class failures on OSD re-discovery

  When OSDs were re-discovered (e.g., after node replacement or OSD recreation), the CRUSH device class wasn't being reapplied. This caused OSDs to land in the wrong CRUSH bucket, potentially breaking data placement rules. If you use device classes (hdd/ssd/nvme) for pool or rule targeting, verify your OSD tree after upgrading to confirm correct class assignments.

• enhancementSet ROOK_UNREACHABLE_NODE_TOLERATION_SECONDS via Helm now

  Previously this required patching the operator deployment directly. With this release it's a first-class Helm value. If you've been working around this with post-install patches or custom operator manifests, clean those up and move the setting into your values file to avoid drift.

Rook v1.19.4 is a focused patch release fixing CephObjectStoreUser capabilities, adding multi-cluster RBAC fixes, and improving OSD disk handling with forceful zap support.

• breakingMulti-cluster deployments: apply the RBAC fix immediately

  The missing ceph-mgr RBAC role in secondary clusters could cause silent permission failures that are hard to diagnose. If you're running Rook in a multi-cluster setup, upgrade to v1.19.4 and verify ceph-mgr is operating correctly post-upgrade. Don't wait on this one.

• enhancementForceful OSD replacement is now cleaner with disk zap

  The new disk zap behavior during forceful OSD installation removes the manual cleanup step that previously caused headaches when replacing failed OSDs. If you've been scripting around this limitation, review your runbooks — the operator now handles it directly.

• enhancementAdd labels to RGW services for better traffic routing

  CephObjectStore RGW services now accept custom labels, which opens up more precise service mesh, load balancer, and network policy targeting. Worth adopting if you're running multiple object stores or need finer-grained traffic control.

Rook v1.19.3 delivers targeted fixes and additions across CSI, pool management, OSD operations, and RGW — with a notable shift to ceph-csi-operator for CSI deployments.

• breakingCSI now deploys via ceph-csi-operator — verify your deployment model

  The shift to ceph-csi-operator for deploying Ceph-CSI/NVMe-oF changes how CSI components are managed. If you have customized CSI sidecar configurations or rely on specific deployment behavior, audit your setup before upgrading. The ceph-csi-operator introduces its own CRDs and reconciliation loop, so any direct overrides you've applied to CSI DaemonSets or Deployments may be overwritten or ignored post-upgrade.

• enhancementEncrypted OSD users: apply the lockbox key rotation fix now

  The lockbox key rotation bug for encrypted OSDs could leave your cluster in an inconsistent encryption state over time. If you're running encrypted OSDs, upgrade to v1.19.3 and verify key rotation is functioning correctly afterward. This is especially relevant if you've observed any anomalies during OSD replacement or key rotation workflows.

• enhancementRGW on IPv6? The secret formatting fix is a must

  The incorrect IPv6 formatting in object store user secrets would cause connection failures in IPv6-only or dual-stack environments. If your RGW deployment uses IPv6 addressing, this fix directly unblocks proper user secret generation. After upgrading, recreate or reconcile affected object store users to pick up correctly formatted secrets.

Rook v1.18.10 patches several OSD reliability issues, tightens RBAC permissions, and adds minor operational improvements to the Ceph exporter and NFS server.

• securityAudit your Rook RBAC after upgrading — nodes/proxy grant is gone

  The operator's nodes/proxy RBAC permission has been removed. If any custom tooling or monitoring in your environment relied on Rook's ServiceAccount having that grant, it will break silently after upgrade. Review any pipelines or dashboards that use the Rook operator ServiceAccount before rolling this out to production.

• breakingEncrypted OSD users should test key rotation after upgrading

  The lockbox key rotation logic for encrypted OSDs was updated. Encrypted OSD clusters should run a non-production upgrade first and explicitly verify key rotation still works end-to-end. The CephX key init fix (no overwrite on failure) also changes behavior during error recovery — test any failure/retry scenarios you have documented.

• enhancementUse the new CephNFS image fields to pin or customize NFS server images

  The new spec.server.image and spec.server.imagePullPolicy fields let you specify a custom NFS Ganesha image per CephNFS resource. This is useful if you need to pin a specific version for compliance or test a patched image without waiting for a Rook release. Update your CephNFS manifests if you currently work around this with other hacks.