# Strimzi 1.3.0

> Networking & Messaging · 2026-10-12

A behavior-changing release tightens Kubernetes and CRD requirements, changes feature-gate defaults, and removes Kaniko from Connect image builds. It also adds early-access cluster security and cert-manager integrations, newer Kafka and HTTP Bridge support, service-account token mounts, and dashboard updates; no security fixes are disclosed.

## Action needed
- **[breaking]** The `Kaniko` build tool, removed
  - `Kaniko` is removed, and `Buildah` is the only tool used for building Connect images.
- **[breaking]** The `UseConnectBuildWithBuildah` feature gate, enforced by default
  - The `UseConnectBuildWithBuildah` feature gate moves to GA and is enabled by default without an option to disable it.
- **[breaking]** The `UseBackgroundPodDeletion` feature gate, enabled by default
  - The `UseBackgroundPodDeletion` feature gate moves to beta and is enabled by default. It can still be disabled in the Cluster Operator feature-gates configuration.
- **[breaking]** `Kubernetes` version support, limited to 1.32 and newer
  - From Strimzi 1.3.0, only `Kubernetes` 1.32 and newer are supported. `Kubernetes` 1.30 and 1.31 are no longer supported.

## Check if affected
- **[breaking]** Older CRD APIs removed
  - Applies if you use `v1beta2`, `v1beta1`, or `v1alpha1` for custom resources or CRDs.
  - From Strimzi 1.0.0 onward, only the `v1` CRD API is supported. The `v1beta2`, `v1beta1`, and `v1alpha1` APIs are no longer supported, so custom resources and CRDs using them must be converted before upgrading.

## Plan ahead
- **[deprecated]** PKCS12 certificate generation, deprecated
  - Applies if you use PKCS12 format certificates.
  - removal date not announced
  - PKCS12 format certificates are deprecated. The `STRIMZI_PKCS12_KEYSTORE_GENERATION` environment variable will default to false in a future release and will eventually be removed, after which CA certificate Secrets and User Secrets will contain certificates only in PEM format.

## Other recorded changes
- 7 (value_changed 3, added 2, constraint_changed 2)

[Full analysis](https://ratatosk.io/en/releases/strimzi/1.3.0)

[Original release notes](https://github.com/strimzi/strimzi-kafka-operator/releases/tag/1.3.0)