For GKE Standard CPU node pools, GKE can now upgrade nodes by updating the existing Compute Engine VM in place, instead...

For GKE Standard CPU node pools, GKE can now upgrade nodes by updating the existing Compute Engine VM in place, instead of deleting the VM and creating a new one. Because the node keeps its underlying VM, it also keeps its compute capacity during the upgrade. This lowers the risk that a node upgrade fails or stalls because resources aren't available.

To enable this type of upgrade, use surge upgrades with the maxUnavailable field set to a value greater than 0. For more details about when GKE reuses the same Compute Engine instance, including exceptions, see maxUnavailable: GKE makes an existing node unavailable to recreate it.

This change applies to all GKE versions. To opt out, contact Cloud Customer Care.