Moving into the Implementation Phase for v1.8!

[Itamar Holder]

Hey all,

Now that all of the exceptions have passed, we have officially ended the VEP design phase of release v1.8.

We are now tracking 24 graduating VEPs [1], which is a huge amount compared to previous releases. According to the v1.7 dashboard [2], only 8 VEPs survived the code freeze and managed to graduate.

On the one hand, this is great news, and I think we all deserve a pat on the back for the great job we did, especially since the VEP freeze was so close to the end-of-year shutdown. On the other hand, such a vast amount of VEPs imposes a challenge to ensure as many as possible would graduate at the end of the cycle.

In order to succeed with graduating as many VEPs as possible, please see the below action items.

As a VEP owner

• Please ensure the VEP tracker is fully updated. Specifically, please update the v1.8 as a target version for your phase (Alpha/Beta/GA).
• Since the VEP should now be merged, add a link to the merged VEP (e.g. this link) to the tracker status. The link should not point to the VEP PR, as the VEP is a live document that will probably be modified later on. Here's a reference for a VEP tracker that's filled up correctly.
• Please start the implementation and pursue for reviews ASAP. The KubeVirt team will periodically check the implementation status for each VEP, and we expect the work to be started early in the cycle. Late implementations would reduce the chance of the VEP implementations being reviewed and merged in time, which might lead to reverts and deferral. Nobody wants that.

As a community member

Open source is all about collaboration.

With such a high amount of VEPs, it is expected that community members would join the effort and help review VEP implementations, which will be necessary in order for the VEPs to be able to graduate.

Please, review others' code just as you want others to review yours.

VEP implementations would be marked with the "approved-vep" label. These are the highest priority PRs to review.

Further important information

According to the schedule, code freeze will be on Feb 25th, 2026.

However, the sooner the PRs are ready to review - the better.

In addition, it is always a good practice to submit VEPs for the next cycle early.

Thank you all for the great work!

Have a great implementation phase!

Itamar.