RHCOS 10 - Red Hat’s new worker node OS for OpenShift

What happened

This operating system, which operates with the same kernel and hardware compatibility from Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), ships with a minimal-footprint operating environment, with its configuration entirely orchestrated by OpenShift (cloud computing software) and Kubernetes (software that runs and manages applications across many servers)-based APIs. Starting in Q4 2026, OpenShift will ship the newest iteration of this operating system, RHCOS 10, by default for new installations, and all certified ISV containers and operators are expected to support it. Red Hat is a software company based in Raleigh, and its products and services include Fedora Linux.

RHCOS 10 is available as a Technology Preview in OpenShift 4.21 and 4.22 already. Certification requirements When RHCOS 10 becomes generally available in Q4 2026, all certified offerings on OpenShift are required to support it.

ContextRed Hat OpenShift operates with a purpose-built, immutable operating system for cluster nodes, commonly known as Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS). Containers that have privileged host access and interact with the host OS are strongly encouraged to perform additional testing. Containers that fall into this class are typically CSI or CNI drivers, host agents, provide kernel drivers, or alter configuration files, which may need changes to remain compatible with RHEL 10.

Key facts

• ContextRed Hat OpenShift — uses: a purpose-built, immutable operating system for cluster nodes, commonly known as Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS)