Mirroring images for an air-gapped OpenShift cluster

If your OpenShift cluster is not connected to the internet, you can install IBM Cloud Pak® for Integration by using either a bastion host, or a portable compute device or storage device (file system).

Background

In production, it is common to have an OpenShift cluster that does not have internet access. You can install IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, other IBM Cloud Pak® solutions, and OpenShift Container Platform in an air-gapped (otherwise known as offline or disconnected) cluster environment. Air-gapped installations require that you mirror a typical online installation by using images in your own registry.

The following diagram provides an overview of air-gapped installation scenarios for portable compute, portable storage, and bastion hosts: In the bastion host scenario, the bastion host fetches from an online image registry, then pushes to a local image registry in the air-gapped environment, where the OpenShift cluster pulls the image from the local image registry. in the portable compute scenario, the portable compute device fetches from an online image registry, which then connects to and then disconnects from a local compute device in the air-gapped environment. The local compute device pushes to a local image registry, and the OpenShift cluster pulls the image from the local image registry. In the portable storage scenario, the connected compute device fetches from an online registry, and also saves to a portable storage device. which then communicates with a local compute device. The device connects to, then disconnects from the air-gapped environment, and copies to a local compute device. This device pushes to a local image registry, and the OpenShift cluster pulls the image from the local image registry.

All of these scenarios use operator package files to mirror content from a source to a target.

You can store the product code and images in a file system (such as a portable compute device or portable storage device), or in a bastion host, and then transfer them to a local air-gapped network. If you are using a file system, you don't need a bastion host to install in your air-gapped environment.

Sizing for operator packages

Before you begin installation, calculate the total size (in GiB) for all operator packages that you intend to export. This total represents the amount of space that you need to have available on the image registry.

Operator package Operator package name Version Package size (GiB)
IBM Cloud Pak for Integration ibm-integration-platform-navigator 8.1.4 6.22
IBM Automation foundation assets ibm-integration-asset-repository 1.9.4 1.91
IBM API Connect ibm-apiconnect 6.2.0 29.21
IBM App Connect ibm-appconnect 12.17.0 31.66
IBM MQ ibm-mq 3.7.2 5.47
IBM Event Streams ibm-eventstreams 12.1.0 14.39
IBM Event Endpoint Management ibm-eventendpointmanagement 11.6.4 2.00
IBM Event Processing ibm-eventprocessing 1.4.6 2.75
IBM Operator for Apache Flink ibm-eventautomation-flink 1.4.6 6.55
IBM DataPower Gateway ibm-datapower-operator 1.16.0 66.78
IBM Aspera HSTS ibm-aspera-hsts-operator 1.5.18 6.12
IBM Cloud Pak foundational services ibm-cp-common-services 4.6.19 5.58
EDB Postgres for Kubernetes ibm-cloud-native-postgresql 4.22.0 5.89