OpenShift Container Platform 4.

15

About

Introduction to OpenShift Container Platform

Last Updated: 2024-07-09

OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 About
Introduction to OpenShift Container Platform
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Abstract
This document provides an overview of the OpenShift Container Platform features.
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents
.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 1.. .OPENSHIFT
. . . . . . . . . . . . .CONTAINER
. . . . . . . . . . . . .PLATFORM
. . . . . . . . . . . . .4.15
. . . .DOCUMENTATION
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3. . . . . . . . . . . . .
1.1. CLUSTER INSTALLER ACTIVITIES 3
1.2. OTHER CLUSTER INSTALLER ACTIVITIES 4
1.3. DEVELOPER ACTIVITIES 5
1.4. CLUSTER ADMINISTRATOR ACTIVITIES 6
1.4.1. Manage cluster components 6
1.4.2. Change cluster components 7
1.4.3. Observe a cluster 8
1.5. HOSTED CONTROL PLANE ACTIVITIES 8

.CHAPTER
. . . . . . . . . . 2.
. . LEARN
. . . . . . . . MORE
. . . . . . .ABOUT
. . . . . . . . OPENSHIFT
. . . . . . . . . . . . .CONTAINER
. . . . . . . . . . . . . PLATFORM
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
..............
2.1. ARCHITECT 10
2.2. CLUSTER ADMINISTRATOR 10
2.3. APPLICATION SITE RELIABILITY ENGINEER (APP SRE) 10
2.4. DEVELOPER 11

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OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 About

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 CHAPTER 1. OPENSHIFT CONTAINER PLATFORM 4.15 DOCUMENTATION

CHAPTER 1. OPENSHIFT CONTAINER PLATFORM 4.15

DOCUMENTATION
Table of Contents

Welcome to the official OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 documentation, where you can learn about
OpenShift Container Platform and start exploring its features.

To navigate the OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 documentation, you can use one of the following
methods:

Use the left navigation bar to browse the documentation.

Select the task that interests you from the contents of this Welcome page.

Start with Architecture and Security and compliance. Next, view the release notes.

1.1. CLUSTER INSTALLER ACTIVITIES

Explore the following OpenShift Container Platform installation tasks:

OpenShift Container Platform installation overview: Depending on the platform, you can
install OpenShift Container Platform on installer-provisioned or user-provisioned infrastructure.
The OpenShift Container Platform installation program provides the flexibility to deploy
OpenShift Container Platform on a range of different platforms.

Install a cluster on Alibaba: On Alibaba Cloud, you can install OpenShift Container Platform on
installer-provisioned infrastructure. This is currently a Technology Preview feature only.

Install a cluster on AWS: On AWS, you can install OpenShift Container Platform on installer-
provisioned infrastructure or user-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on Azure: On Microsoft Azure, you can install OpenShift Container Platform on
installer-provisioned infrastructure or user-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on Azure Stack Hub: On Microsoft Azure Stack Hub, you can install OpenShift
Container Platform on installer-provisioned infrastructure or user-provisioned infrastructure.

Installing OpenShift Container Platform with the Assisted Installer: The Assisted Installer is
an installation solution that is provided on the Red Hat Red Hat Hybrid Cloud Console. The
Assisted Installer supports installing an OpenShift Container Platform cluster on many
platforms, but with a focus on bare metal, Nutanix, and VMware vSphere infrastructures.

Installing OpenShift Container Platform with the Agent-based Installer: You can use the
Agent-based Installer to generate a bootable ISO image that contains the Assisted discovery
agent, the Assisted Service, and all the other information required to deploy an OpenShift
Container Platform cluster. The Agent-based Installer leverages the advantages of the Assisted
Installer in a disconnected environment

Install a cluster on bare metal: On bare metal, you can install OpenShift Container Platform on
installer-provisioned infrastructure or user-provisioned infrastructure. If none of the available
platform and cloud provider deployment options meet your needs, consider using bare metal
user-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on GCP: On Google Cloud Platform (GCP) you can install OpenShift Container
Platform on installer-provisioned infrastructure or user-provisioned infrastructure.

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OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 About

Install a cluster on IBM Cloud®: On IBM Cloud®, you can install OpenShift Container Platform
on installer-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on IBM Power® Virtual Server: On IBM Power® Virtual Server, you can install
OpenShift Container Platform on installer-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on IBM Power®: On IBM Power®, you can install OpenShift Container Platform
on user-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on IBM Z® and IBM® LinuxONE: On IBM Z® and IBM® LinuxONE, you can install
OpenShift Container Platform on user-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on Oracle® Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): You can use the Assisted Installer or
the Agent-based Installer to install a cluster on OCI. This means that you can run cluster
workloads on infrastructure that supports dedicated, hybrid, public, and multiple cloud
environments. See Installing a cluster on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) by using the
Assisted Installer and Installing a cluster on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) by using the
Agent-based Installer.

Install a cluster on Nutanix: On Nutanix, you can install a cluster on your OpenShift Container
Platform on installer-provisioned infrastructure.

Install a cluster on Red Hat OpenStack Platform (RHOSP): On RHOSP, you can install
OpenShift Container Platform on installer-provisioned infrastructure or user-provisioned
infrastructure.

Install a cluster on VMware vSphere: You can install OpenShift Container Platform on
supported versions of vSphere.

1.2. OTHER CLUSTER INSTALLER ACTIVITIES

Install a cluster in a restricted network: If your cluster uses user-provisioned infrastructure on
AWS, GCP, vSphere, IBM Cloud® , IBM Z® and IBM® LinuxONE , IBM Power® , or bare metal and
the cluster does not have full access to the internet, you must mirror the OpenShift Container
Platform installation images. To do this action, use one of the following methods, so that you
can install a cluster in a restricted network.

Mirroring images for a disconnected installation

Mirroring images for a disconnected installation by using the oc-mirror plug-in

Install a cluster in an existing network: If you use an existing Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) in
AWS or GCP or an existing VNet on Microsoft Azure, you can install a cluster. Also consider
Installing a cluster on GCP into a shared VPC

Install a private cluster: If your cluster does not require external internet access, you can install
a private cluster on AWS, Azure, GCP, or IBM Cloud® . Internet access is still required to access
the cloud APIs and installation media.

Check installation logs: Access installation logs to evaluate issues that occur during OpenShift
Container Platform installation.

Access OpenShift Container Platform: Use credentials output at the end of the installation
process to log in to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster from the command line or web
console.

Install Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation: You can install Red Hat OpenShift Data

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Install Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation: You can install Red Hat OpenShift Data
Foundation as an Operator to provide highly integrated and simplified persistent storage
management for containers.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS (RHCOS) image layering: As a post-installation task, you
can add new images on top of the base RHCOS image. This layering does not modify the base
RHCOS image. Instead, the layering creates a custom layered image that includes all RHCOS
functions and adds additional functions to specific nodes in the cluster.

1.3. DEVELOPER ACTIVITIES

Develop and deploy containerized applications with OpenShift Container Platform. OpenShift Container
Platform is a platform for developing and deploying containerized applications. Read the following
OpenShift Container Platform documentation, so that you can better understand OpenShift Container
Platform functions:

Understand OpenShift Container Platform development: Learn the different types of

containerized applications, from simple containers to advanced Kubernetes deployments and
Operators.

Work with projects: Create projects from the OpenShift Container Platform web console or
OpenShift CLI (oc) to organize and share the software you develop.

Creating applications using the Developer perspective: Use the Developer perspective in the
OpenShift Container Platform web console to easily create and deploy applications.

Viewing application composition using the Topology view: Use the Topology view to visually
interact with your applications, monitor status, connect and group components, and modify your
code base.

Understanding Service Binding Operator: With the Service Binding Operator, an application
developer can bind workloads with Operator-managed backing services by automatically
collecting and sharing binding data with the workloads. The Service Binding Operator improves
the development lifecycle with a consistent and declarative service binding method that
prevents discrepancies in cluster environments.

Create CI/CD Pipelines: Pipelines are serverless, cloud-native, continuous integration and
continuous deployment systems that run in isolated containers. Pipelines use standard Tekton
custom resources to automate deployments and are designed for decentralized teams that
work on microservice-based architecture.

Manage your infrastructure and application configurations: GitOps is a declarative way to

implement continuous deployment for cloud native applications. GitOps defines infrastructure
and application definitions as code. GitOps uses this code to manage multiple workspaces and
clusters to simplify the creation of infrastructure and application configurations. GitOps also
handles and automates complex deployments at a fast pace, which saves time during
deployment and release cycles.

Deploy Helm charts: Helm is a software package manager that simplifies deployment of
applications and services to OpenShift Container Platform clusters. Helm uses a packaging
format called charts. A Helm chart is a collection of files that describes the OpenShift Container
Platform resources.

Understand image builds: Choose from different build strategies (Docker, S2I, custom, and
pipeline) that can include different kinds of source materials, such as Git repositories, local
binary inputs, and external artifacts. You can follow examples of build types from basic builds to

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OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 About

advanced builds.

Create container images: A container image is the most basic building block in OpenShift
Container Platform and Kubernetes applications. By defining image streams, you can gather
multiple versions of an image in one place as you continue to develop the image stream. With
S2I containers, you can insert your source code into a base container. The base container is
configured to run code of a particular type, such as Ruby, Node.js, or Python.

Create deployments: Use Deployment objects to exert fine-grained management over

applications. Deployments create replica sets according to the rollout strategy, which
orchestrates pod lifecycles.

Create templates: Use existing templates or create your own templates that describe how an
application is built or deployed. A template can combine images with descriptions, parameters,
replicas, exposed ports and other content that defines how an application can be run or built.

Understand Operators: Operators are the preferred method for creating on-cluster
applications for OpenShift Container Platform 4.15. Learn about the Operator Framework and
how to deploy applications by using installed Operators into your projects.

Develop Operators: Operators are the preferred method for creating on-cluster applications
for OpenShift Container Platform 4.15. Learn the workflow for building, testing, and deploying
Operators. You can then create your own Operators based on Ansible or Helm, or configure
built-in Prometheus monitoring by using the Operator SDK.

Reference the REST API index: Learn about OpenShift Container Platform application
programming interface endpoints.

Software Supply Chain Security enhancements: The PipelineRun details page in the
Developer or Administrator perspective of the web console provides a visual representation of
identified vulnerabilities, which are categorized by severity. Additionally, these enhancements
provide an option to download or view Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) for enhanced
transparency and control within your supply chain. Learn about setting up OpenShift Pipelines in
the web console to view Software Supply Chain Security elements.

1.4. CLUSTER ADMINISTRATOR ACTIVITIES

Manage machines, provide services to users, and follow monitoring and logging reports. Read the
following OpenShift Container Platform documentation, so that you can better understand OpenShift
Container Platform functions:

Understand OpenShift Container Platform management: Learn about components of the

OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 control plane. See how OpenShift Container Platform
control plane and compute nodes are managed and updated through the Machine API and
Operators.

Enable cluster capabilities: As a cluster administrator, you can enable cluster capabilities that
were disabled prior to installation.

1.4.1. Manage cluster components

Manage machines: Manage compute and control plane machines in your cluster with machine
sets, by deploying health checks , and applying autoscaling.

Manage container registries: Each OpenShift Container Platform cluster includes a built-in
container registry for storing its images. You can also configure a separate Red Hat Quay

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registry to use with OpenShift Container Platform. The Quay.io website provides a public
container registry that stores OpenShift Container Platform containers and Operators.

Manage users and groups: Add users and groups with different levels of permissions to use or
modify clusters.

Manage authentication: Learn how user, group, and API authentication works in OpenShift
Container Platform. OpenShift Container Platform supports multiple identity providers.

Manage ingress, API server, and service certificates: OpenShift Container Platform creates
certificates by default for the Ingress Operator, the API server, and for services needed by
complex middleware applications that require encryption. You might need to change, add, or
rotate these certificates.

Manage networking: The cluster network in OpenShift Container Platform is managed by the
Cluster Network Operator (CNO). The CNO uses iptables rules in kube-proxy to direct traffic
between nodes and pods running on those nodes. The Multus Container Network Interface
adds the capability to attach multiple network interfaces to a pod. By using network policy
features, you can isolate your pods or permit selected traffic.

Manage storage: With OpenShift Container Platform, a cluster administrator can configure
persistent storage by using Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation , AWS Elastic Block Store, NFS,
iSCSI, Container Storage Interface (CSI) , and more. You can expand persistent volumes,
configure dynamic provisioning, and use CSI to configure, clone, and use snapshots of
persistent storage.

Manage Operators: Lists of Red Hat, ISV, and community Operators can be reviewed by cluster
administrators and installed on their clusters . After you install them, you can run, upgrade, back
up, or otherwise manage the Operator on your cluster.

Understanding Windows container workloads. You can use the Red Hat OpenShift support
for Windows Containers feature to run Windows compute nodes in an OpenShift Container
Platform cluster. This is possible by using the Red Hat Windows Machine Config Operator
(WMCO) to install and manage Windows nodes.

1.4.2. Change cluster components

Use custom resource definitions (CRDs) to modify the cluster: Cluster features implemented
with Operators can be modified with CRDs. Learn to create a CRD and manage resources from
CRDs.

Set resource quotas: Choose from CPU, memory, and other system resources to set quotas.

Prune and reclaim resources: Reclaim space by pruning unneeded Operators, groups,
deployments, builds, images, registries, and cron jobs.

Scale and tune clusters: Set cluster limits, tune nodes, scale cluster monitoring, and optimize
networking, storage, and routes for your environment.

Update a cluster: Use the Cluster Version Operator (CVO) to upgrade your OpenShift
Container Platform cluster. If an update is available from the OpenShift Update Service (OSUS),
you apply that cluster update from the OpenShift Container Platform web console or the
OpenShift CLI (oc).

Using the OpenShift Update Service in a disconnected environment: You can use the
OpenShift Update Service for recommending OpenShift Container Platform updates in
disconnected environments.

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OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 About

Improving cluster stability in high latency environments by using worker latency profiles: If
your network has latency issues, you can use one of three worker latency profiles to help ensure
that your control plane does not accidentally evict pods in case it cannot reach a worker node.
You can configure or modify the profile at any time during the life of the cluster.

1.4.3. Observe a cluster

OpenShift Logging: Learn about logging and configure different logging components, such as
log storage, log collectors, and the logging web console plugin.

Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing platform: Store and visualize large volumes of requests
passing through distributed systems, across the whole stack of microservices, and under heavy
loads. Use the distributed tracing platform for monitoring distributed transactions, gathering
insights into your instrumented services, network profiling, performance and latency
optimization, root cause analysis, and troubleshooting the interaction between components in
modern cloud-native microservices-based applications.

Red Hat build of OpenTelemetry: Instrument, generate, collect, and export telemetry traces,
metrics, and logs to analyze and understand your software’s performance and behavior. Use
open source backends like Tempo or Prometheus, or use commercial offerings. Learn a single
set of APIs and conventions, and own the data that you generate.

Network Observability: Observe network traffic for OpenShift Container Platform clusters by
using eBPF technology to create and enrich network flows. You can view dashboards,
customize alerts, and analyze network flow information for further insight and troubleshooting.

In-cluster monitoring: Learn to configure the monitoring stack. After configuring monitoring,
use the web console to access monitoring dashboards. In addition to infrastructure metrics, you
can also scrape and view metrics for your own services.

Remote health monitoring: OpenShift Container Platform collects anonymized aggregated

information about your cluster. By using Telemetry and the Insights Operator, this data is
received by Red Hat and used to improve OpenShift Container Platform. You can view the data
collected by remote health monitoring.

Power monitoring for Red Hat OpenShift (Technology Preview): You can use power
monitoring for Red Hat OpenShift to monitor the power usage and identify power-consuming
containers running in an OpenShift Container Platform cluster. Power monitoring collects and
exports energy-related system statistics from various components, such as CPU and DRAM.
Power monitoring provides granular power consumption data for Kubernetes pods,
namespaces, and nodes.

1.5. HOSTED CONTROL PLANE ACTIVITIES

Support for bare metal and OpenShift Virtualization: Hosted control planes for OpenShift
Container Platform is now Generally Available on bare metal and OpenShift Virtualization
platforms. For more information, see the following documentation:

Configuring hosted control plane clusters on bare metal

Managing hosted control plane clusters on OpenShift Virtualization

Technology Preview features: Hosted control planes remains available as a Technology

Preview feature on the Amazon Web Services, IBM Power®, and IBM Z® platforms. You can now
provision a hosted control plane cluster by using the non bare metal agent machines. For more
information, see the following documentation:

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Configuring the hosting cluster on AWS (Technology Preview)

Configuring the hosting cluster on a 64-bit x86 OpenShift Container Platform cluster to
create hosted control planes for IBM Power® compute nodes (Technology Preview)

Configuring the hosted cluster on 64-bit x86 bare metal for IBM Z® compute nodes
(Technology Preview)

Configuring hosted control plane clusters using non bare metal agent machines
(Technology Preview)

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OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 About

CHAPTER 2. LEARN MORE ABOUT OPENSHIFT CONTAINER

PLATFORM
Use the following sections to find content to help you learn about and use OpenShift Container
Platform.

2.1. ARCHITECT

Learn about OpenShift Plan an OpenShift Container Additional resources

Container Platform Platform deployment

Enterprise Kubernetes with Tested platforms OpenShift blog

OpenShift

Architecture Security and compliance What’s new in OpenShift

Container Platform

Networking OpenShift Container Platform life

cycle

Backup and restore

2.2. CLUSTER ADMINISTRATOR

Learn about OpenShift Deploy OpenShift Manage OpenShift Additional resources

Container Platform Container Platform Container Platform

Enterprise Kubernetes Installing OpenShift Using Insights to identify Getting Support

with OpenShift Container Platform issues with your cluster

Architecture Post installation Logging OpenShift

configuration Knowledgebase articles

OpenShift Interactive Networking Monitoring overview OpenShift Container

Learning Portal Platform Life Cycle

Storage

Backup and restore

Updating a cluster

2.3. APPLICATION SITE RELIABILITY ENGINEER (APP SRE)

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 CHAPTER 2. LEARN MORE ABOUT OPENSHIFT CONTAINER PLATFORM

Learn about OpenShift Deploy and manage applications Additional resources

Container Platform

OpenShift Interactive Learning Projects Getting Support

Portal

Architecture Operators OpenShift Knowledgebase

articles

Logging OpenShift Container Platform

Life Cycle

Blogs about logging

Monitoring

2.4. DEVELOPER

Learn about application development in OpenShift Deploy applications

Container Platform

Getting started with OpenShift for developers Creating applications

(interactive tutorial)

Red Hat Developers site Builds

Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces (formerly Red Hat Operators

CodeReady Workspaces)

Images

Developer-focused CLI

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