Kubernetes and the Open Networking Automation Platform (ONAP) are two of the biggest projects currently housed within the Linux Foundation. A demonstration this week at the Open Networking Summit (ONS) event showed that the two projects could work together.

The two projects demonstrated Kubernetes being used to enable ONAP to run on any public, private, or hybrid cloud. This allows for seamless portability of applications across different infrastructure types.

Arpit Joshipura, the general manager of networking and orchestration at the Linux Foundation, said the demonstration would provide new virtualized infrastructure manager (VIM) options for the ONAP community.

“Kubernetes is another option — a special magical VIM that allows users to work with any cloud environment,” Joshipura noted in a statement. “Our new demo illustrates that Kubernetes and ONAP are key to the future of network virtualization.”

One of the current VIM options is the Multi VIM/Cloud for Infrastructure Providers project. In addition to supporting ONAP across any cloud environment, it provides a cloud mediation layer supporting multiple infrastructure and network back ends to avoid vendor lock-in. It also decouples ONAP enhancements from the underlying cloud infrastructure.

ONAP was developed to allow carriers to automate, design, orchestrate, and manage services and virtual functions. ONAP is housed inside the Linux Foundation and includes support from AT&T, China Mobile, China Telecom, Verizon, and many of the world’s largest equipment vendors. ONAP entered the Linux Foundation by merging source code from the AT&T-developed ECOMP and the China Mobile-developed Open-O.

Kubernetes offers similar orchestration capabilities for the container environment. It’s housed inside of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), which is inside of the Linux Foundation. Kubernetes recently became the first CNCF project to garner graduate status.

It has also seen increased attention from large telecom operators. Ryan van Wyk, assistant vice president of cloud platform development at AT&T, has said the carrier will rely heavily on Kubernetes to power its next-generation AT&T Integrated Cloud platform.