# NGINX Ingress Controller 5.6: HSTS without snippets, a faster start on large clusters, and improved configuration safety

**URL:** <https://community.nginx.org/t/nginx-ingress-controller-5-6-hsts-without-snippets-a-faster-start-on-large-clusters-and-improved-configuration-safety/10822>\
**Category:** Announcements\
**Tags:** nginx-ingress, release\
**Created:** [September 3, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/nginx-ingress-controller-5-6-hsts-without-snippets-a-faster-start-on-large-clusters-and-improved-configuration-safety/10822 "2026-09-03T19:06:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![heo](https://drob5swvtjqxg.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/community.nginx.org/heo/32/5_2.png) [@heo](https://community.nginx.org/u/heo)\
**Post date:** [September 3, 2026, 7:06pm UTC](https://community.nginx.org/t/nginx-ingress-controller-5-6-hsts-without-snippets-a-faster-start-on-large-clusters-and-improved-configuration-safety/10822/1 "2026-09-03T19:06:13Z")

</div>

**NGINX Ingress Controller 5.6 is now released!** Find the full write up with changes, impact, and recognition on the [blog](https://blog.nginx.org/blog/nginx-ingress-controller-5-6-hsts-without-snippets-a-faster-start-on-large-clusters-and-improved-configuration-safety).

## Highlights

- HSTS across VirtualServer, VirtualServerRoute, and Ingress
- Finer control over upstream headers and error pages
- Cross-namespace upstream services keep their endpoints current
- A faster start when config safety is on
- NetworkPolicy support in the Helm chart
- Secret rotation reloads NGINX for every secret type

This release also includes smaller enhancements, stability, and bug fixes.

## Community Recognition

Five community members had work land in NGINX Ingress Controller 5.6: three bug fixes, NetworkPolicy support in the Helm chart, and resource limits for the WAF sidecars.  
Thanks to **[dkulchinsky](https://github.com/dkulchinsky)**, **[GabboPenna](https://github.com/GabboPenna)**, **[hugolevino](https://github.com/hugolevino)**, **[jxn](https://github.com/jxn)**, and **[rahulii](https://github.com/rahulii)**. Your contributions in this release have helped shape NGINX Ingress Controller 5.6!

## Resources

Head over to the [GitHub release page](https://github.com/nginx/kubernetes-ingress/releases) for the full changelog, and the [NGINX Ingress Controller docs](https://docs.nginx.com/nginx-ingress-controller/) when you’re ready to upgrade to 5.6. If you’re moving over from Ingress-NGINX, the [Kubernetes NGINX landing page](https://kubernetes.nginx.org/) covers the migration. For more information on the enterprise level features included in this release, check out our [DevCentral article here](https://community.f5.com/kb/technicalarticles/f5-nginx-ingress-controller-5-6-%E2%80%93-improved-waf-management-new-resources-and-impr/347471).

We’re proud of what the team and the community built here, and we hope it makes your clusters easier to run.