XenonStack Insights Spinnaker with Kubernetes: Continuous Delivery Guide

Spinnaker is an open-source continuous delivery platform that takes a built artefact, such as a container image, and moves it through test, approval and production stages with deployment strategies and rollbacks. On Kubernetes it works from manifests, so you point it at a cluster, define a pipeline and let it deploy, verify and promote each release.

The short decision for enterprise leaders: Spinnaker earns its place when many teams release to several clusters or clouds and you need one governed release path, with approvals and canary checks. For a single cluster, Helm with a GitOps tool or the native Kubernetes Deployment is usually enough. Spinnaker's own install guide says Halyard is deprecated in favour of Kustomize, so plan new installs around that.

What does Spinnaker do on Kubernetes?

Kubernetes runs and scales containers, and a Deployment can roll out a new version gradually. By default a rolling update keeps at least 75% of the desired Pods up and creates at most 125% (the default 25% maximum unavailable and 25% maximum surge, per the Kubernetes Deployment documentation). Kubernetes does not, by itself, give you a release process across environments. Spinnaker adds that layer: triggers, stages, manual approvals, notifications and analysis of a new version before it takes all traffic.

According to its docs, Spinnaker's Kubernetes provider is manifest-based and is described as the recommended provider for deploying to Kubernetes. It uses the kubectl binary for all API access, so any authentication method or resource type kubectl supports is available to it. The older V1 provider is being deprecated, and there is no automatic pipeline migration, though a V2 account can be added next to a V1 account so teams move gradually (Spinnaker Kubernetes provider docs).

Which Spinnaker concepts matter for delivery?

Spinnaker's core concepts fall into two groups: managing what is running, and deploying new versions.

The docs also describe managed delivery, a declarative layer where you define the desired state of an app across environments and Spinnaker reconciles the actual state with it.

How do blue/green, canary and rolling updates compare?

For canary analysis, Spinnaker's canary overview says you create a canary configuration, a reusable set of metrics with scoring thresholds and weights, then add canary stages to a pipeline. It says Stackdriver, Datadog, Prometheus, Signalfx and New Relic are supported as metric sources, and names Kayenta as the component that makes the judgment.

What does a Kubernetes deployment pipeline look like?

A typical flow keeps continuous integration and delivery separate. This example uses Jenkins and a container registry, but the same shape works with other CI tools.

1. A merge to the main branch of a Git repository triggers a Jenkins job through a GitHub webhook.
2. Jenkins builds the code, builds the container image and pushes it to a registry.
3. The job triggers a Spinnaker pipeline and passes build details, for example as a properties file used as an artefact.
4. The pipeline deploys the Kubernetes manifest to a test environment, runs checks, waits for a manual approval if you require one, then deploys to production with your chosen strategy.
5. If a check fails, the pipeline stops or rolls back, and notifications go to the team.

Prerequisites are a running Kubernetes cluster, a Spinnaker installation with your CI system connected, and a webhook from the repository. Typical stages beyond deploy include manual approval before production, a chat message to the team, a webhook call, or starting another pipeline. See our guides to Kubernetes deployment tools and best practices, Helm and Kubernetes Operators for the pieces that sit around Spinnaker.

What has changed in Spinnaker recently?

The Spinnaker 2026.3.0 changelog (published 7 September 2026) warns that the release has major breaking changes and should be validated carefully. Read the full page before upgrading, because it affects plugins and forks.

Confirm dates and versions on the Spinnaker releases page before you plan an upgrade, as these items can change.

Spinnaker, Helm or a GitOps tool: which fits?

Spinnaker needs real operations effort. Its install guide lists a Kubernetes cluster with at least 18GB of memory and 6 cores for the installation, so weigh that against the problem you are solving.

What should leaders govern around continuous delivery?

Decide who can approve a production stage, which pipelines can reach which clusters, and how a release is recorded. As AI agents start to raise pull requests and trigger releases, the same pipeline needs clear policy on what an agent may deploy and what needs a person. ElixirClaw describes itself as an agentic OS platform to build, orchestrate and govern AI agents. For agile delivery teams, Agent Scrum says it automates sprint planning and Scrum ceremonies and helps teams track blockers.

How should you adopt Spinnaker?

1. Start with one service and one cluster, using a Kustomize-based install.
2. Build a pipeline with deploy, verify and manual approval stages.
3. Add a canary stage once you have trusted metrics.
4. Add further teams and clusters, with account and namespace limits.
5. Review upgrades against the changelog before each release.

More background: Kubernetes architecture and Amazon EKS, or our Kubernetes solution page.

To map one release decision your agents and pipelines should make, and the context and policy it depends on, book a Context Workshop. See what happens in the workshop.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spinnaker used for?

It is a continuous delivery platform that runs deployment pipelines, with stages, triggers, approvals and deployment strategies, across clusters and clouds.

Does Spinnaker replace Kubernetes Deployments?

No. Its Kubernetes provider deploys manifests through kubectl, so it sits above Kubernetes and adds a release process around it.

Is Halyard still the way to install Spinnaker?

No. Spinnaker's install guide says Halyard is deprecated in favour of Kustomize, and the 2026.3.0 changelog says it was removed from the codebase.

Which metric sources work for canary analysis?

Spinnaker's canary overview names Stackdriver, Datadog, Prometheus, Signalfx and New Relic as built-in sources.

Is Spinnaker worth it for one cluster?

Often not. Helm or your CI tool may be enough. It pays off with many teams, several clusters and a need for governed approvals.