Rancher Fleet

Spec sheet

Purpose

Fleet is a container management and deployment engine that uses GitOps to manage and monitor Kubernetes clusters.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Security

Fleet uses Kubernetes service accounts with restricted permissions for downstream clusters and individual Git repositories.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Deployment formats

Fleet can deploy raw Kubernetes YAML, Helm charts, Kustomize, or combinations of them from Git repositories.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Feature default

The image scanning feature is disabled by default and must be enabled during installation to use it.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Git integrations

Fleet documents SSH host key entries for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Helm credential handling

Fleet forwards Helm credentials only when helmRepoURLRegex is set and matches the chart repository URL.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Install modes

Fleet supports single-cluster and multi-cluster installation modes, with a central manager for downstream clusters in multi-cluster mode.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Multi-cluster

Fleet can manage a single Kubernetes cluster or large-scale deployments of clusters from a central point.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Network model

Managed cluster agents initiate communication to the Fleet controller, allowing managed clusters to run behind NATs or in private networks.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Notable limitation

Fleet does not support SSH proxy server authentication when cloning private Git repositories or using private Helm repositories.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Repository authentication

Private Git repository authentication supports HTTP basic authentication, SSH keys, and GitHub Apps.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Requirements

Fleet runs as a controller on an existing Kubernetes cluster and is distributed as a Helm chart; the installation documentation requires Helm 3.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

SSH security default

Strict SSH host key checks are enabled by default from Fleet v0.13 onward.Read 2 Oct 2026 · fleet.rancher.io

Plans and prices

Every Rancher Fleet plan and price →

Where Specifiction places it

• GitOps Tools#29 of 357.2