Our platform was already extensible for a variety of different packaging formats, so we were optimistic about embracing Kubernetes. We were right, working with the Kubernetes project has been a fantastic experience as developers. The design of the project made this incredibly easy, and we were able to utilize plugins and extensions to build a distribution of Kubernetes that leveraged our infrastructure and application services. For instance, we were able to plug in Rancher’s software defined networking, storage management, load balancing, DNS and infrastructure management functions directly into Kubernetes, without even changing the code base.
Even better, we have been able to add a number of services around the core Kubernetes functionality. For instance, we implemented our popular [application catalog on top of Kubernetes](https://github.com/rancher/community-catalog/tree/master/kubernetes-templates). Historically we’ve used Docker Compose to define application templates, but with this release, we now support Kubernetes services, replication controllers and pods to deploy applications. With the catalog, users connect to a git repo and automate deployment and upgrade of an application deployed as Kubernetes services. Users then configure and deploy a complex multi-node enterprise application with one click of a button. Upgrades are fully automated as well, and pushed out centrally to users.
**Giving Back**
Like Kubernetes, Rancher is an open-source software project, free to use by anyone, and given to the community without any restrictions. You can find all of the source code, upcoming releases and issues for Rancher on [GitHub](http://www.github.com/rancher/rancher). We’re thrilled to be joining the Kubernetes community, and look forward to working with all of the other contributors. View a demo of the new Kubernetes support in Rancher [here](http://rancher.com/kubernetes/).