Installing IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps in an air-gapped environment (offline)
If your cluster is not connected to the internet, you can install IBM Cloud Pak® for AIOps in your cluster by using either a bastion host, portable compute device, or a portable storage device.
The IBM Catalog Management Plug-in for IBM Cloud Pak® is used for the deployment of IBM Cloud Paks® in a disconnected environment. It simplifies the process for discovering IBM product images, uses standard tools for registry and cluster access,
and extends the Red Hat OpenShift CLI (oc) capability to streamline the air-gapped deployment process.
Overview
It is common in production to have a cluster that does not have internet access. In these cases, you can still install IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps and Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform in an air-gapped (otherwise known as offline or disconnected) environment. Unlike online installations, air-gapped installations require you to enable the IBM Operator Catalog to mimic 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:
All of these scenarios use Container Application Software for Enterprises (CASE) files. CASE is a specification that defines the metadata and structure for packaging, managing, and unpacking containerized applications.
You can store the product code and images to a portable compute device (like a laptop), portable storage device (like an external hard disk drive), or a bastion host and then transfer them to a local air-gapped network. The images that are stored are large, and you must ensure that each of your airgap devices have enough storage, as follows.
- Bastion host method - the local target registry must have at least 140 GB of storage space.
- Portable device methods - the portable device and the local target registry must each have at least 140 GB of storage space.
| Air-gapped installation approach | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Bastion host | Bastion host | The bastion host has access to the public internet and the air-gapped environment where a local target registry and a Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster are. The IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps images are replicated from the IBM Entitled Registry through the bastion server directly to the local target registry behind the firewall. |
| Portable compute device | Laptop | IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps images are downloaded from the IBM Entitled Registry to a file system on a portable compute device. The portable compute device is then disconnected from the internet and brought into the air-gapped environment so that the images can be copied from the file system to the local target registry behind the firewall. |
| Portable storage device | Portable hard disk drive | IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps images are downloaded from the IBM Entitled Registry through an internet connected device to a file system on a portable storage device. The portable storage device is then disconnected and brought into the air-gapped environment so that the images can be copied from the file system to the local target registry behind the firewall. |
Installation methods
Choose one of the following deployment methods to complete an air-gapped installation.