Managing a single Kubernetes cluster is relatively solved, but managing the lifecycle of a growing multi-cluster fleet across hybrid cloud footprints is where the cracks begin to show. While Kubernetes Cluster API (CAPI) revolutionised declarative infrastructure management, platform engineers quickly faced a new bottleneck: severe YAML sprawl. Stamping out twenty identical clusters historically meant duplicating pages of infrastructure, control plane, and machine deployment templates.

Enter ClusterClass: the template-driven evolution of Cluster API.

This session explores how to transition your multi-cluster strategy from rigid boilerplate copy-pasting to a dynamic "Cluster Factory" design pattern. We will break down the underlying architecture of ClusterClass and Managed Topologies, examining how platform teams can bundle complex cloud provider configurations into reusable, enterprise-grade blueprints.

Attendees will walk through a live architecture demonstration showcasing how to define a master blueprint once, expose minimal variables to developers, and cleanly execute rolling fleet updates; such as rolling out an upstream Kubernetes version upgrade to dozens of downstream clusters simultaneously.