With the ability to manage both Linux and Windows-based containerized workloads side-by-side, IT teams can now eliminate the need for parallel software stacks in environments across the hybrid cloud. Red Hat has announced the ability to run and manage Windows Containers through Red Hat OpenShift enterprise Kubernetes Platform.

Red Hat OpenShift provides organizations running mixed Windows and Linux workloads the benefits of a common Kubernetes platform with a single, cohesive solution to manage containers regardless of whether the cloud-native workloads are running Microsoft Windows or Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

To enable support for Windows Containers, Red Hat OpenShift uses the Windows Machine Config Operator (WMCO), a certified OpenShift operator based on the Kubernetes Operator Framework, jointly supported by both Red Hat and Microsoft.

Red Hat OpenShift users can access the Windows Machine Config Operator via the Operator Hub to begin managing their Windows Containers within the OpenShift console.

With the Windows Machine Config Operator as the linchpin, Red Hat OpenShift orchestrates both Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Windows to run as building blocks of applications and supports .NET Core applications, .NET Framework applications and other Windows applications.

Organizations can then run Windows containers on Red Hat OpenShift wherever it is supported across the open hybrid cloud, including bare-metal servers, Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud and, in the future, VMware vSphere.

Red Hat OpenShift now provides organizations with the ability to move Windows containers to Red Hat OpenShift without needing to completely re-architect or write new code. It also helps lower deployment costs for containerized workloads in heterogeneous IT environments.

Support for Windows Containers in Red Hat OpenShift will be available early 2021.