Enterprises today run applications and workloads across diverse environments—on-premises, in private clouds, and across multiple public clouds. This diversity helps optimize cost, compliance, and performance, but it also introduces complexity in delivering a consistent Kubernetes experience.

Oracle Cloud Native Environment (Oracle CNE) addresses this challenge with its open, CNCF-certified Kubernetes distribution and Kubernetes Cluster API (CAPI) integration. With Oracle CNE, enterprises can confidently deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters across:

  • Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)
  • KVM-based virtualization, including Oracle Virtualization
  • VMware environments
  • Amazon Web Services (AWS)
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

This unified approach enables true open multicloud operations, giving enterprises flexibility to choose the right infrastructure while maintaining a consistent, secure, and enterprise-grade Kubernetes platform, powered by Oracle.

What is CAPI?

CAPI  is a CNCF project that applies the Kubernetes model of declarative APIs and reconciliation to cluster lifecycle management.

Instead of managing infrastructure with scripts or manual steps, CAPI allows clusters to be defined as code. Kubernetes then takes care of provisioning, scaling, upgrading, and healing those clusters automatically.

How CAPI Works

  • Management Cluster – Runs the CAPI controllers that manage other clusters.
  • Custom Resources (CRDs) – Define the desired state (e.g., Cluster, Machine Deployment).
  • Providers – Infrastructure-specific plugins (OCI, AWS, Azure, GCP, VMware, KVM, bare metal) that translate definitions into real resources.
  • Reconciliation Loop – Helps ensure the actual cluster state matches the declared state.
  • Workload Clusters – The target clusters are created and maintained automatically.

Enabling multicloud with CAPI in Oracle CNE

  • Unified Definitions – The same YAML manifests work across all supported platforms.
  • Consistent Lifecycle – Provision, scale, and upgrade clusters the same way everywhere.
  • Infrastructure Abstraction – Differences between providers are handled by CAPI’s plugins.
  • Single Control Plane – A management cluster orchestrates multiple workload clusters.
  • Predictable Operations – Clusters behave consistently across environments.

This approach unlocks the portability, resilience, and agility required in today’s multicloud strategies.

Key Features of Oracle Cloud Native Environment (Oracle CNE)

  • Oracle Container Host for Kubernetes (OCK) – A secure, immutable runtime for Kubernetes nodes that helps ensure consistent operations and streamlined lifecycle management.
  • Enterprise-Grade Resilience – Delivers high availability, dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 networking, persistent storage, and service mesh capabilities for production workloads.
  • Multicloud Cluster Management – Provides declarative, standards-based cluster creation and management across OCI, VMware, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud, and KVM through Cluster API (CAPI).
  • AI-Powered Headlamp User Interface – Enhances the open-source Headlamp UI with AI-driven insights, guided troubleshooting, and safe action recommendations using natural language queries.
  • Unified Observability and Lifecycle Visibility – Offers centralized monitoring, health checks, and lifecycle management for clusters across all environments from a single pane of glass.
  • Application Catalogs – The Oracle CNE Catalog is a Helm repository containing a curated set of cloud-native applications.
  • CNCF Certified Kubernetes – Ensures openness, portability, and alignment with upstream Kubernetes standards for vendor-neutral, future-ready operations.

By blending observability with AI-powered assistance, Oracle CNE helps enterprises move beyond reactive monitoring into proactive, guided operations—simplifying cluster management and troubleshooting across multicloud environments.

Multicloud with Flexibility

  • Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) – for mission-critical enterprise applications.
  • KVM or VMware – for on-premises and private cloud clusters.
  • AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud – for global reach and elastic scalability.

This flexibility allows businesses to align workloads with cost, compliance, and performance needs—while maintaining consistent operations across platforms.

From Traditional Apps to Cloud-Native Workloads

  • Traditional enterprise systems
  • Cloud-native microservices
  • Data, AI/ML, and analytics pipelines
  • ISV packaged applications
  • Oracle Database containers

It runs seamlessly across physical servers, virtual machines, private and public clouds, edge environments, and even air-gapped deployments.

Why Oracle CNE for multicloud?

  • Portability – Move workloads across providers without costly re-architecture.
  • Resilience – Build disaster recovery strategies across multiple clouds and regions.
  • Agility – Deploy clusters wherever business needs demand—on-premises, in the cloud, or at the edge.
  • Consistency – Unified operations regardless of the underlying infrastructure.
  • Openness – CNCF-aligned standards that prevent lock-in and support future flexibility.
  • Intelligence – AI-assisted insights and guided operations built into the Headlamp UI for safer, faster decisions.

Conclusion

As multicloud becomes the standard operating model, enterprises need a Kubernetes solution that is open, consistent, and intelligent. Oracle Cloud Native Environment delivers exactly that: a unified platform extending Kubernetes across private, public, and hybrid clouds, enhanced with AI-powered management.

With Oracle CNE, organizations gain the freedom to deploy anywhere, the agility to adapt quickly, and the intelligence to optimize operations. It’s multicloud Kubernetes—open, flexible, and future-ready.

References

Here are useful GitHub references for Kubernetes Cluster API and general infrastructure providers: