- Service session affinity timeout tests are no longer required for Kubernetes network plugin conformance due to variations in existing implementations. New conformance tests will be developed to better express conformance in future releases. ([#112806](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/112806), [@dcbw](https://github.com/dcbw)) [SIG Architecture, Network and Testing]

## Dependencies

### Added
_Nothing has changed._

- Fixing issue with Winkernel Proxier - IPV6 load balancer policies are missing when service is configured with ipFamilyPolicy: RequireDualStack ([#115614](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/115614), [@princepereira](https://github.com/princepereira)) [SIG Network]

- Promote PodHostIPs condition to beta. ([#121477](https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/pull/121477), [@wzshiming](https://github.com/wzshiming)) [SIG Network and Testing]

- Fixes a problem with 63-second or 1-second connection delays with some VXLAN-based
  network plugins which was first widely noticed in 1.16 (though some users saw it
  earlier than that, possibly only with specific network plugins). If you were previously
  using ethtool to disable checksum offload on your primary network interface, you should

    - [Storage](#storage)
    - [Windows](#windows)
    - [OpenStack](#openstack)
    - [API-machinery](#api-machinery)
    - [Auth](#auth)
    - [Azure](#azure)
    - [CLI](#cli)
    - [Network](#network)
  - [Before Upgrading](#before-upgrading)
  - [Known Issues](#known-issues)
  - [Deprecations](#deprecations)
  - [Other Notable Changes](#other-notable-changes-13)
    - [Apps](#apps)
    - [AWS](#aws)

    - [Apps](#apps)
    - [Auth](#auth)
    - [AWS](#aws)
    - [Azure](#azure)
    - [CLI](#cli)
    - [Cloud Provider](#cloud-provider)
    - [Cluster Lifecycle](#cluster-lifecycle)
    - [GCP](#gcp)
    - [Network](#network)
    - [Node](#node)
    - [Scheduling](#scheduling)
    - [Storage](#storage)
    - [Testing](#testing)
    - [VMware](#vmware)
    - [Windows](#windows)
  - [External Dependencies](#external-dependencies)

- Fixes a problem with 63-second or 1-second connection delays with some VXLAN-based
  network plugins which was first widely noticed in 1.16 (though some users saw it
  earlier than that, possibly only with specific network plugins). If you were previously
  using ethtool to disable checksum offload on your primary network interface, you should

      - [API Machinery](#api-machinery)
      - [Apps](#apps)
      - [Auth](#auth)
      - [AWS](#aws)
      - [Azure](#azure)
      - [CLI](#cli)
      - [Lifecycle](#lifecycle)
      - [Network](#network)
      - [Node](#node)
      - [Storage](#storage)
    - [Deprecations and Removals](#deprecations-and-removals)
    - [Metrics Changes](#metrics-changes)
      - [Added metrics](#added-metrics)

    - [Server Binaries](#server-binaries-16)
    - [Node Binaries](#node-binaries-16)
  - [**Major Themes**](#major-themes)
  - [**Action Required Before Upgrading**](#action-required-before-upgrading)
    - [Network](#network)
    - [Storage](#storage)
    - [API Machinery](#api-machinery)
    - [Controller Manager](#controller-manager)
    - [kubectl (CLI)](#kubectl-cli)
    - [kubeadm](#kubeadm)

    - [SIG Cloud Provider](#sig-cloud-provider-1)
    - [SIG Cluster Lifecycle](#sig-cluster-lifecycle-1)
    - [SIG GCP](#sig-gcp)
    - [SIG Instrumentation](#sig-instrumentation-1)
    - [SIG Network](#sig-network)
    - [SIG Node](#sig-node-1)
    - [SIG OpenStack](#sig-openstack-1)
    - [SIG Scheduling](#sig-scheduling-1)
    - [SIG Storage](#sig-storage-1)
    - [SIG VMWare](#sig-vmware-1)