Review your options
You can install Cloud Pak capabilities in multiple environments, and for a number of different reasons. Install a containerized starter deployment at the beginning of a project or install customized deployments for testing and production. The operator lifecycle manager (OLM) is now used in all OpenShift installation options, whether you use the scripts or the Operator Hub in the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) console.
Interactive guide available You can install Cloud Pak for Business Automation for production
(online) by using an interactive guide to step you through the installation process. Get started.
OLM helps you to install, update, and manage the lifecycle of all operators and services that are deployed in OCP clusters. OLM is part of the Operator Framework, which is an open source toolkit that is designed to manage Kubernetes applications.
- Starter deployment on Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud (ROKS classic) and OCP 4.6+
- Production deployment on ROKS classic and OCP 4.6+
- Production deployment in an air gap environment
- IBM Business Automation Insights on an in-house server
- Workflow Process Service on an in-house server
- Traditional installation entitlements
- Moving from traditional installations to the Cloud Pak
- Starter deployment on Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud (ROKS classic) and OCP 4.6+
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You can install Cloud Pak for Business Automation to do demos or evaluations. You might want to demo projects or programs to showcase the Cloud Pak in a particular business sector, or you might want to evaluate one or more components. For more information, see Planning for a starter installation.
Tip: If you are installing Cloud Pak for Business Automation for the first time, use the Quick reference Q&A for starter deployments.The following diagram shows the steps for installing a starter deployment.
- Planning for a starter installation
- Preparing for a starter deployment and then Setting up the cluster in the OpenShift console or Setting up the cluster with the admin script
- Installing the capabilities in the OpenShift console or Installing the capabilities by running the deployment script
A deployment that is intended for demonstration purposes does not need the same preparation that a production deployment does. The patterns that are used to install a "
starter
" deployment take care of dependencies and prerequisites. As a result, a starter deployment takes fewer steps and is much quicker compared to a production deployment. - Production deployment on ROKS classic and OCP 4.6+
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You can now use the interactive guide builder to create your own installation steps. The builder customizes the steps based on your selections, so the guide includes only the steps that apply to your platform and what is in your deployment. Make sure that you select all of the capabilities you want to include in your deployment, and all of their dependencies.
Tip: If you are installing Cloud Pak for Business Automation for the first time, use the Quick reference Q&A for production deployments.The following diagram shows the steps for installing a production deployment.
After you complete all of the steps, you are ready to build a business automation. The choice between running the provided scripts or the Form user interface in OCP "Step 3" might be a company choice or a personal decision.
The Operator Hub catalog helps you to discover all of the certified products and services that you can install on your system. You must install the Cloud Pak for Business Automation operator catalog from the OpenShift Operator Hub to use the Form UI for your deployment.
- Deciding which type of license to attribute to the deployment. Valid values for the sc_deployment_license parameter are non-production and production.
- Planning for a production installation
- Preparing for a production deployment, Preparing capabilities, and Creating a production deployment
- Checking and completing your custom resource and Deploying the custom resource you created with the deployment script
- Completing post-installation tasks
- Production deployment in an air gap environment
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An air gap configuration supports OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) clusters that might be disconnected from the internet (offline) to continue to use the Cloud Pak for Business Automation operator and components.
Tip: If you are installing Cloud Pak for Business Automation for the first time, use the Quick reference Q&A for production air gapped deployments.OCP includes an API (
ImageContentSourcePolicy
) that can automatically redirect image pull requests from a specified registry location to an alternative location. The redirect is fundamental to enabling an air gap for disconnected installations, as it removes the need to update image references in every pod definition. To avoid caching and inconsistency problems, it needs all images to be referenced by an imageid
ordigest
rather than atag
.The operator catalog index image enables the Cloud Pak containers to be installed as an OLM air gap. The catalog image can be included as part of a
CatalogSource
resource to enable an installation from the Operator Hub catalog.The following diagram shows the steps for installing with an air gap environment.
- Planning for a production installation, Preparing an air gap environment, and Preparing capabilities
- Installing a production deployment in the OpenShift console or Generating the custom resource with the deployment script
- Checking and completing your custom resource
- Deploying the custom resource you created with the deployment script
- Completing post-installation tasks
- IBM Business Automation Insights on an in-house server
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For a stand-alone containerized installation of IBM Business Automation Insights, run Docker Compose. For more information, see Installing IBM Business Automation Insights without Kubernetes.
- Workflow Process Service on an in-house server
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To install Workflow Process Service Authoring and Server, you must follow a separate set of instructions. For more information, see Installing Workflow Process Service.
- Traditional installation entitlements
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Information on how to install the entitled software of Cloud Pak for Business Automation on-premises is provided in Cloud Pak traditional license entitlement. Some capabilities like FileNet® Content Manager, Operational Decision Manager, and Business Automation Workflow can also be installed on a private cloud or on ROKS.
- Moving from traditional installations to the Cloud Pak
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Moving your traditional on-premises entitlements to OpenShift container-based deployments is an option that needs preparation and expert guidance. For more information, see Moving from on premises to Cloud Pak for Business Automation.