Preparing your cluster

Before you install IBM Cloud Pak® for Data, complete the following tasks to prepare your cluster.

Installing Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform
IBM Cloud Pak for Data is deployed on a Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster. If you don't have an existing cluster, complete the appropriate steps to install Red Hat OpenShift on your environment.
Running cpd-cli manage commands in a restricted network
If you need to run cpd-cli manage commands against a cluster in a restricted network, you must make the olm-utils image available inside the cluster network.
Setting up persistent storage
Before you can install IBM Cloud Pak for Data, you must set up persistent storage on your Red Hat OpenShift cluster.
Setting up projects (namespaces) on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform
Before you install IBM Cloud Pak for Data on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, an administrator must create and configure the OpenShift projects (Kubernetes namespaces) where you plan to deploy the Cloud Pak for Data software.
Creating custom security context constraints for services
Most Cloud Pak for Data services use the restricted security context constraint (SCC) that is provided by Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform. However, if you plan to install certain Cloud Pak for Data services, you might need to create one or more custom SCCs.
Changing required node settings
Some services that run on IBM Cloud Pak for Data require specific settings on the nodes in the cluster. To ensure that the cluster has the required settings for these services, review and adjust the settings on the appropriate nodes in the cluster.
Updating the global image pull secret
The global image pull secret ensures that your cluster has the necessary credentials to pull images. The credentials that you add to the global image pull secret depend on where you want to pull images from.
Mirroring images to a private container registry
IBM Cloud Pak for Data images are accessible from the IBM® Entitled Registry. In most situations, it is strongly recommended that you mirror the necessary software images from the IBM Entitled Registry to a private container registry.

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