<p>As in the kubeadm doc, we can set --etcd-upgrade=false to refrain upgrading etcd. I just like to know how to avoid upgrading CoreDNS while performing kubeadm upgrade apply?</p>

<p>There is no any word in <a href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/setup-tools/kubeadm/kubeadm-upgrade/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">kubeadm upgrade reference page</a> that you can disable CoreDNS upgrading.</p>
<p><a href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/feature-gates/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kubernetes Feature Gates</a> and <a href="https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/command-line-tools-reference/feature-gates/#feature-gates-for-alpha-or-beta-features" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Feature gates for Alpha or Beta features</a> also doesnt contain such features.</p>
<p>My conclusion - you are not able to</p>
<pre><code>avoid upgrading CoreDNS while performing kubeadm upgrade apply
</code></pre>
