- Pod termination will be faster when the pod has a missing volume reference. ([#117412](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/117412), [@smarterclayton](https://github.com/smarterclayton)) [SIG Node and Testing]

* The runtimeHandler field on the RuntimeClass resource now accepts the empty string. ([#69550](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/69550), [@tallclair](https://github.com/tallclair))
* OpenAPI spec and API reference now reflect dryRun query parameter for POST/PUT/PATCH operations ([#69359](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/69359), [@roycaihw](https://github.com/roycaihw))



# v1.12.1

  
  When adding links which point to resources within git repositories, like
  KEPs or supporting documentation, please reference a specific commit and avoid
  linking directly to the master branch. This ensures that links reference a
  specific point in time, rather than a document that may change over time.
  

  
  When adding links which point to resources within git repositories, like
  KEPs or supporting documentation, please reference a specific commit and avoid
  linking directly to the master branch. This ensures that links reference a
  specific point in time, rather than a document that may change over time.
  

- kubelet now accepts `pid=<number>` in the `--system-reserved` and `--kube-reserved` options to ensure that the specified number of process IDs will be reserved for the system as a whole and for Kubernetes system daemons respectively.  Please reference `Kube Reserved` and `System Reserved` in `Reserve Compute Resources for System Daemons` in the Kubernetes documentation for general discussion of resource reservation.  To utilize this functionality, you must set the feature gate `SupportNodePidsLimit=true`...

    * Add `kubectl apply edit-last-applied` subcommand ([#42256](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/42256), [@shiywang](https://github.com/shiywang))

  * Strategic Merge Patch

    * Reference docs now display the patch type and patch merge key used by `kubectl apply` to merge and identify unique elements in arrays.