Getting started

Now that you want to get started with IBM Cloud Pak® for AIOps, it's time to learn about all of the capabilities afforded to you by IBM Cloud Pak, and how to take advantage of these capabilities.

Before installing IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps, take the time to understand your needs. IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps includes many features by default. If you have a clear understanding of what you're looking to do with IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps, your installation might be more straightforward.

Choosing the deployment platform

IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps can be installed on Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform or on Linux®.

Red Hat OpenShift is supported on most major cloud providers, and is a robust platform for large-scale Kubernetes deployments like IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps. It also provides a console interface for administering and managing your deployment. Linux is offered as an alternative platform to provide an easier getting started experience for users who are not familiar with Red Hat OpenShift.

Deployments on both platforms offer similar capabilities and scaling, but you must consider the following key differences when you are deciding which platform to install IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on:

  • Hardware requirements: IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps has the same hardware requirements on both platforms, but deployments on Linux use local storage and benefit from reduced resource requirements by not requiring a storage cluster or cloud storage.
  • Ease of installation: The deployment of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Red Hat OpenShift requires you to provision a cluster that is running Red Hat CoreOS, deploy Red Hat OpenShift, deploy and configure storage, and install IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps. You must have knowledge of the installation, configuration and administration of Red Hat OpenShift, and of the storage provider that you select. A deployment on Linux is simpler - it requires you to provision a cluster of virtual machines (VMs) and then use an IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps command line tool to configure local storage and install IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps.
  • Backup and restore: The backup and restore process for deployments of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Linux uses offline VM backups which requires outage time. The backup and restore process for deployments of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Red Hat OpenShift is an online backup that uses IBM Storage Fusion (license restrictions apply), and does not require outage time.
  • Multi-zone high availability: This is a technology preview feature for deployments of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Red Hat OpenShift. This feature is not available for deployments of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Linux (though deployments are still highly available).
  • FIPs mode: This feature is not supported for deployments of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Linux.
  • Secure Tunnel: This feature is not supported for deployments of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Linux.
  • Cognos integration: This feature is not supported for deployments of IBM Cloud Pak for AIOps on Linux.

Workflows

To help first-time users get started, guided tours are included within the UI console. These tours introduce users to the various UI options and components, and demonstrate how to complete key tasks across the platform. Users can access the tours at any time by clicking the Tours icon in the console toolbar, and selecting their preferred tour.

For more information about working with the IBM Cloud Pak, see the following topics: