AetherKubePreview
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OFFICIAL PUBLIC BETA RELEASE · v1.0.0 Public Beta

AetherKube v1.0.0 Public Beta Release Notes

Release Date: October 15, 2026 · Channel: Public Beta · Product: AetherKube

Download for WindowsBeta Guide

1. Public Beta Status & Scope

AetherKube is an AI-assisted Kubernetes troubleshooting, observability, cluster diagnostics, and managed infrastructure platform. This public beta release makes AetherKube broadly available for community evaluation, homelabs, and enterprise testing on Windows and Docker platforms.

Beta Status Notice

AetherKube is actively evolving. While all core diagnostic and lifecycle routines pass automated regressions, this release is designated as a Public Beta. It is not warranted as bug-free or production-certified for critical workloads without administrator supervision. We strongly recommend testing on staging or non-critical clusters first.

2. What's New in v1.0.0 Public Beta

Streamlined Infrastructure Catalog

Retired legacy Jenkins and Azure DevOps Agent from user-facing selectors. Focused on canonical cloud-native tools: Loki, Prometheus, Grafana, Portainer, and Argo CD.

Portainer First-Run Lifecycle

Fixed administrator creation flow. Fresh Portainer instances now accurately display the setup wizard and setup token, transitioning to standard login once configured.

Argo CD Stability & CRDs

Resolved prior CrashLoopBackOff defects by embedding official Argo CD CRDs and static server flags. Argo CD 3/3 pods now achieve healthy running state.

Isolated Persistent Storage

Independent PVC allocation by default, preventing unintended data collisions across deployments while retaining explicit opt-in for existing volume attachment.

3. Supported Platforms & Distribution Formats

Officially Verified & Tested Platforms
  • Windows (x86_64): Windows 10, Windows 11, and Windows Server 2019+ via Inno Setup (.exe) and Standalone Portable (.zip).
  • Docker Distribution: Staged for upcoming v1.1.0 milestone (Linux, macOS, and container environments).
Pipeline Prepared Platforms (Untested Native Binaries)

Native macOS (.dmg) and Linux (.AppImage / .deb) packages have build scripts prepared in the repository, but native binary builds have not been compiled on Apple Silicon or Linux runners for this beta release. macOS and Linux operators should run AetherKube via the verified Docker distribution.

4. Authoritative Artifacts & Cryptographic Checksums

Artifact NameSizeSHA-256 ChecksumVerification
AetherKube-Windows-v1.0.0.exe4.0 MB7D079DCE20BEE44DD8EE6E40D0482686160223A6F764B33AD2442A1D85F0D092Verified & Tested
AetherKube-Docker-v1.0.0.zip18.8 KB3756EAF5A2743547310481EF72845F115EFBBB3DC5DBDAF4EA53FBE59EB98DB0Upcoming in v1.1.0
docker-compose.commercial.yml1.7 KBE70C2A74B4F02ED4383B959D358E0445760B4E83573DEE44F768E1532878E2F1Upcoming in v1.1.0

Download the canonical digest: SHA256SUMS.txt

5. System Requirements

Minimum Hardware
  • • CPU: 2 Core x86_64
  • • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • • Storage: 500 MB free space
  • • Network: Outbound HTTPS to cluster
Software Prerequisites
  • • OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit or Server 2019+
  • • Kubernetes: v1.24+ (EKS, GKE, AKS, or local Kind/Minikube)
  • • Access: Valid kubeconfig or cluster service account
  • • Docker: Optional (for Docker stack deployment)

6. Installation & First-Start Instructions

Option A: Windows Setup Installer (.exe)

  1. Download AetherKube-Windows-v1.0.0.exe from the Download portal.
  2. Run the installer. Accept the EULA and select your destination folder (no admin privileges required).
  3. Launch AetherKube from your Desktop or Start Menu shortcut.
  4. Open your browser at http://localhost:8080 (or launcher default).

Option B: Docker Compose

  1. Download docker-compose.commercial.yml.
  2. Run: docker compose -f docker-compose.commercial.yml up -d
  3. Navigate to http://localhost:8080.

7. Initial Setup & Licensing Activation

Upon first launch, AetherKube greets you with the First-Time Administrator Setup screen:

  • Create Root Admin: Provide your root administrator email and secure password (minimum 8 characters).
  • Free Tier Access: The Free Edition is active automatically with zero payment, zero credit card, and zero telemetry mandate.
  • Pro/Max License Activation: To unlock multi-cluster management and autonomous self-healing, enter your issued license key in the Activation drawer.

8. Known Beta Limitations & Feedback

Known Limitations:
  • Portainer initial security timeout: If Portainer is left unconfigured for 5 minutes after fresh deployment, Portainer automatically closes setup for security. Restart the deployment from the runner card to re-open the wizard.
  • Air-gapped clusters: AI Copilot requires outbound connectivity to an LLM provider unless a local Ollama instance is configured. Deterministic RCA diagnostics remain 100% functional offline.

Found a bug or have feedback? Click below or submit an issue to our GitHub release repository:

GitHub Issues