### **Cluster Lifecycle**

*   kube-apiserver: `--ssh-user` and `--ssh-keyfile` are now deprecated and will be removed in a future release. Users of SSH tunnel functionality in Google Container Engine for the Master -> Cluster communication should plan alternate methods for bridging master and node networks. ([#54433](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/54433),[ @dims](https://github.com/dims))

From v1.24 onwards, you will need to either use one of the other [supported runtimes](https://kubernetes.io/docs/setup/production-environment/container-runtimes/) (such as containerd or CRI-O)
or use cri-dockerd if you are relying on Docker Engine as your container runtime.
For more information about ensuring your cluster is ready for this removal, please
see [this guide](https://kubernetes.io/blog/2022/03/31/ready-for-dockershim-removal/).

* Kubernetes now automatically installs a StorageClass object when deployed on ([#31617](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/31617), [@jsafrane](https://github.com/jsafrane))
    * AWS, Google Compute Engine, Google Container Engine, and OpenStack using
    * the default kube-up.sh scripts. This StorageClass is marked as default so that
    * a PersistentVolumeClaim without a StorageClass annotation now results in

- GCE/Windows: disabled stackdriver logging agent to prevent node startup failures ([#76099](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/76099), [@yujuhong](https://github.com/yujuhong))