`kars up` fails: hardcoded `kubernetesVersion: '1.33'` is Long-Term-Support-only in some regions

[appliedi]

Summary

After working around the ACR Content Trust issue, kars up fails again because the AKS module pins a Kubernetes version that Azure no longer offers on the standard support plan in all regions.

Version

• @kars-runtime/cli@0.1.26
• Region tested: westus3

Error

K8sVersionNotSupported: Managed cluster <name>-aks is on version 1.33.13, which is
only available for Long-Term Support (LTS). To enable LTS on the cluster, see
https://aka.ms/aks/enable-lts.

Root cause

dist/deploy/bicep/modules/aks.bicep:

kubernetesVersion: '1.33'

Hardcoded, not a Bicep parameter, and not surfaced as a kars up flag — so there is no supported way to override it.

In westus3 today, az aks get-versions reports:

Version	Support plan
1.36	KubernetesOfficial, AKSLongTermSupport
1.35	KubernetesOfficial, AKSLongTermSupport
1.34	KubernetesOfficial, AKSLongTermSupport
1.33	AKSLongTermSupport only
1.32	AKSLongTermSupport only

Suggested fix

Either:

1. Expose kubernetesVersion as a kars up flag and a Bicep parameter, or
2. Omit kubernetesVersion entirely and let AKS pick its default, or
3. Track a currently-supported version and add CI that fails when the pin drops off the standard support plan.

Option 3 combined with 1 would prevent recurrence. This is the second hardcoded value in the same deployment that current Azure rejects, so a general "pinned values drift out of support" check may be worth more than either individual fix.

Setting 1.34 locally was sufficient to get past this error.

[pallakatos]

Thanks Jess (@appliedi) for reporting the regional support-plan failure. We have confirmed that public main still hardcodes Kubernetes 1.33, which can be LTS-only in regions such as West US 3. We are addressing this with #515, #517, and #518 as one kars up deployment-safety workstream: region-aware standard-support version resolution, an explicit CLI override, and fail-fast validation instead of replacing this pin with another value that will age out. We will share the exact regional validation evidence here.

[pallakatos]

Jess (@appliedi), the region-aware AKS version fix is now available in draft #531 and its full CI/security matrix is green. Could you retry the West US 3 scenario using the branch instructions on #531?

The acceptance check is that preflight discovers a currently supported KubernetesOfficial version, prints the selection, and the deployment no longer submits hardcoded 1.33. If you also test --kubernetes-version, an unsupported or LTS-only value should fail before Azure writes. Please report the selected version and any unexpected result on #531 with Azure identifiers redacted.

[pallakatos]

The draft fix is now available in #531 and the complete CI matrix is green. New deployments now resolve and validate a regional KubernetesOfficial patch instead of hardcoding 1.33; existing clusters retain their version without an implicit upgrade.

Jess (@appliedi), a West US 3 rerun from the draft branch would be especially valuable to confirm the standard-support selection in your subscription. The PR remains draft while we collect deployment feedback.