Installing Watson Knowledge Catalog

A project administrator can install Watson Knowledge Catalog on IBM Cloud Pak® for Data.

What permissions do you need to complete this task?
The permissions that you need depend on which tasks you must complete:
  • To install the Watson Knowledge Catalog operators, you must have the appropriate permissions to create operators and you must be an administrator of the project where the Cloud Pak for Data operators are installed. This project is identified by the ${PROJECT_CPD_OPS} environment variable.
  • To install Watson Knowledge Catalog, you must be an administrator of the project where you will install Watson Knowledge Catalog. This project is identified by the ${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} environment variable.
When do you need to complete this task?
If you didn't install Watson Knowledge Catalog when you installed the platform, you can complete this task to add Watson Knowledge Catalog to your environment.

If you want to install all of the Cloud Pak for Data components at the same time, follow the process in Installing the platform and services instead.

Important: All of the Cloud Pak for Data components in a deployment must be installed at the same release.
Watson Knowledge Catalog has two main versions: the base version and the core version. The default installation of Watson Knowledge Catalog is the base version which contains the core features and the legacy capabilities of the service. The core version of Watson Knowledge Catalog features a reduced installation size but lacks the following legacy capabilities for advanced curation and data quality:
  • Information assets view
  • Metadata import with a bridge or connector
  • Data discovery (automated discovery and access to quick scan results)
  • Automation rules
  • Data quality
  • Custom attribute administration
  • Lineage administration
  • Custom asset display

In addition, you can install other features that provide specific functions. These features can be included in the initial installation or added later. For more information see Specifying installation options.

Information you need to complete this task

Review the following information before you install Watson Knowledge Catalog:

Environment variables
The commands in this task use environment variables so that you can run the commands exactly as written.
  • If you don't have the script that defines the environment variables, see Setting up installation environment variables.
  • To use the environment variables from the script, you must source the environment variables before you run the commands in this task, for example:
    source ./cpd_vars.sh
Security context constraint requirements
Watson Knowledge Catalog uses a custom security context constraint (SCC). For details, see Creating the custom SCC for Watson Knowledge Catalog.
Installation location
Watson Knowledge Catalog must be installed in the same project (namespace) as the Cloud Pak for Data control plane. This project is identified by the ${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} environment variable.
Common core services
Watson Knowledge Catalog requires the Cloud Pak for Data common core services.

If the common core services are not installed in the project where you plan to install Watson Knowledge Catalog, the common core services are automatically installed when you install Watson Knowledge Catalog. This increases the amount of time the installation takes to complete.

Storage requirements
You must tell Watson Knowledge Catalog what storage to use. The following storage classes are recommended. However, if you don't use these storage classes on your cluster, ensure that you specify a storage class with an equivalent definition.
Storage Notes Storage classes
OpenShift® Data Foundation When you install the service, specify file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ocs-storagecluster-cephfs
  • Block storage: ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd
IBM® Storage Fusion When you install the service, specify the same storage class for both file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
  • Block storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
IBM Storage Scale Container Native When you install the service, specify the same storage class for both file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
  • Block storage: ibm-spectrum-scale-sc
Portworx When you install the service, the --storage_vendor=portworx option ensures that the service uses the correct storage classes.
  • File storage: portworx-shared-gp3
  • Block storage:
    • portworx-cassandra-sc
    • portworx-couchdb-sc
    • portworx-db2-rwo-sc
    • portworx-elastic-sc
    • portworx-gp3-sc
    • portworx-kafka-sc
    • portworx-metastoredb-sc
    • portworx-solr-sc
NFS When you install the service, specify the same storage class for both file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: managed-nfs-storage
  • Block storage: managed-nfs-storage
Amazon Elastic storage
When you install the service, you can specify:
  • File storage only
  • File storage and block storage (recommended)

File storage is provided by Amazon Elastic File System. Block storage is provided by Amazon Elastic Block Store.
  • File storage: efs-nfs-client
  • Block storage: gp2-csi or gp3-csi
IBM Cloud storage
When you install the service, you can specify:
  • File storage only
  • File storage and block storage (recommended)

File storage is provided by IBM Cloud File Storage. Block storage is provided by IBM Cloud Block Storage.
  • File storage: ibmc-file-gold-gid or ibm-file-custom-gold-gid
  • Block storage: ibmc-block-gold
NetApp Trident When you install the service, specify the same storage class for both file storage and block storage.
  • File storage: ontap-nas
  • Block storage: ontap-nas

Before you begin

This task assumes that the following prerequisites are met:

Prerequisite Where to find more information
The cluster meets the minimum requirements for installing Watson Knowledge Catalog. If this task is not complete, see System requirements.
The workstation from which you will run the installation is set up as a client workstation and includes the following command-line interfaces:
  • Cloud Pak for Data CLI: cpd-cli
  • OpenShift CLI: oc
 If this task is not complete, see Setting up a client workstation.
The Cloud Pak for Data control plane is installed. If this task is not complete, see Installing the platform and services.
For environments that use a private container registry, such as air-gapped environments, the Watson Knowledge Catalog software images are mirrored to the private container registry. If this task is not complete, see Mirroring images to a private container registry.
The custom security context constraint (SCC) required to run Watson Knowledge Catalog exists. If this task is not complete, see Creating the custom SCC for Watson Knowledge Catalog.
The node settings are adjusted for Watson Knowledge Catalog. If this task is not complete, see Changing required node settings.

Procedure

Complete the following tasks to install Watson Knowledge Catalog:

  1. Logging in to the cluster
  2. Installing the operator
  3. Specifying additional installation options
  4. Installing the service
  5. Validating the installation
  6. What to do next

Logging in to the cluster

To run cpd-cli manage commands, you must log in to the cluster.

To log in to the cluster:

  1. Run the cpd-cli manage login-to-ocp command to log in to the cluster as a user with sufficient permissions to complete this task. For example:
    cpd-cli manage login-to-ocp \
--username=${OCP_USERNAME} \
--password=${OCP_PASSWORD} \
--server=${OCP_URL}
    Tip: The login-to-ocp command takes the same input as the oc login command. Run oc login --help for details.

Installing the operator

The Watson Knowledge Catalog operator simplifies the process of managing the Watson Knowledge Catalog service on Red Hat® OpenShift Container Platform.

To install Watson Knowledge Catalog, you must install the Watson Knowledge Catalog operator and create the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) objects, such as the catalog source and subscription, for the operator.

Who needs to complete this task?
You must be a cluster administrator (or a user with the appropriate permissions to install operators) to create the OLM objects.
When do you need to complete this task?
Complete this task if the Watson Knowledge Catalog operator and other OLM artifacts have not been created for the current release.

If you complete this task and the OLM artifacts already exist on the cluster, the cpd-cli detects that you already have the OLM objects for the components at the specified release, the cpd-cli does not attempt to create the OLM objects again.

To install the operator:

  1. Create the OLM objects for Watson Knowledge Catalog:
    cpd-cli manage apply-olm \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_operator_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_OPS} \
--components=wkc
    • If the command succeeds, it returns [SUCCESS]... The apply-olm command ran successfully.
    • If the command fails, it returns [ERROR] and includes information about the cause of the failure.

What to do next: Install the Watson Knowledge Catalog service.

Specifying installation options

Follow the instructions based on the license you have for Watson Knowledge Catalog:

For users on the Enterprise/Standard license:
If either of the following statements applies to you:
  • You are installing Watson Knowledge Catalog on a managed Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform environment, such as Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud®.
  • You chose to run Db2U with elevated privileges on a self-managed Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform.
You must set the following parameters:
wkc_db2u_set_kernel_params: True
iis_db2u_set_kernel_params: True
For information on setting these parameters, see Changing kernel parameter settings.
You can additionally specify the following settings when you install Watson Knowledge Catalog. You can add these services after the initial install or during the installation process by modifying the Watson Knowledge Catalog custom resource (CR) accordingly and restarting the Watson Knowledge Catalog operator. To enable these features after the initial installation see Enabling optional features after installation or upgrade for Watson Knowledge Catalog.
Important: Enabling any of these options will require additional hardware. For more information, see Hardware requirements.

For more information on these optional features, see Preparing to install Watson Knowledge Catalog.

The following table shows the optional features you can enable and the setting to use to enable it:
Table 1. Optional features for Watson Knowledge Catalog
Feature Description Setting
Watson Knowledge Catalog core Enable the core functionality only. This will disable the legacy features for Watson Knowledge Catalog.
Important: Starting in version 4.6.4, this option is set to True by default. In previous versions, this was set to False by default.
 
install_wkc_core_only: True
Knowledge graph Enable knowledge graph to gain access to the lineage and semantic search features. 
enableKnowledgeGraph: True
Data quality Enable data quality features in analytics projects.
Important: Enabling this option will install DataStage® with Watson Knowledge Catalog. To ensure a smooth installation of this feature see Installing DataStage. Following this link will take you to the DataStage installation documentation.
 
enableDataQuality: True
Advanced metadata import Enable advanced metadata import provided through MANTA Automated Data Lineage.
Important: Before enabling MANTA Automated Data Lineage, ensure that the valid CA (certificate authority) signed certificate has the parameter Subject Alternative Name, and that it matches the route name used to access Watson Knowledge Catalog.
 
enableMANTA: True
Factsheets

Previously a feature you could enable with Watson Knowledge Catalog. This feature is now a separate service you can install with IBM Cloud Pak for Data.

When users upgrade from IBM Cloud Pak for Data version 4.5.x to 4.6.x, installing Watson Knowledge Catalog will remove Factsheet resources. To access the data, you must install the AI Factsheets service on the same cluster where Watson Knowledge Catalog is installed. Additionally, tracking updates will be suspended from the time of the Watson Knowledge Catalog upgrade until AI Factsheets is installed. Tracking will resume after AI Factsheets is installed, but anything during that gap must be manually updated by updating the model metadata like description, name or tags.

For more information about AI Factsheets and about installing it see Installing AI Factsheets.

 N/A
To enable one or more of these optional features, complete the following steps:
  1. Create a file called install-options.yml in the work directory.

    The file path for the IBM Cloud Pak for Data command-line interface work directory is cpd-cli-workspace/olm-utils-workspace/work.

  2. Add the following content to the new file:
    custom_spec:
  wkc:
    #install_wkc_core_only: True
    #enableKnowledgeGraph: True
    #enableDataQuality: True       
    #enableMANTA: True
    Uncomment the options you want to enable by removing the pound symbol (#) next to that option.

    When you install Watson Knowledge Catalog, include the --param-file=/tmp/work/install-options.yml option in the command.

For users on the Data Governance Express license:
If either of the following statements applies to you:
  • You are installing Watson Knowledge Catalog on a managed Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform environment, such as Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud.
  • You chose to run Db2U with elevated privileges on a self-managed Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform.
You must set the following parameters:
wkc_db2u_set_kernel_params: True
iis_db2u_set_kernel_params: True
For information on setting these parameters, see Changing kernel parameter settings.

When using the Data Governance Express license, you can not enable any additional features with Watson Knowledge Catalog. For more information, see Data Governance Express license.

The following table shows the features you can enable and the setting to use to enable it:
Table 2. Features for Watson Knowledge Catalog
Feature Description Setting
Watson Knowledge Catalog core Only the core functionality is enabled. 
install_wkc_core_only: True
To enable this feature, complete the following steps:
  1. Create a file called install-options.yml in the work directory.

    The file path for the IBM Cloud Pak for Data command-line interface work directory is cpd-cli-workspace/olm-utils-workspace/work.

  2. Add the following content to the new file:
    custom_spec:
  wkc:
    #install_wkc_core_only: True
    Uncomment the options you want to enable by removing the pound symbol (#) next to that option.

    When you install Watson Knowledge Catalog, include the --param-file=/tmp/work/install-options.yml option in the command.

Installing the service

After the Watson Knowledge Catalog operator is installed, you can install Watson Knowledge Catalog.

Who needs to complete this task?
You must be an administrator of the project where you will install Watson Knowledge Catalog.
When do you need to complete this task?
Complete this task if you want to add Watson Knowledge Catalog to your environment.

To install the service:

  1. Create the custom resource for Watson Knowledge Catalog.

    The command that you run depends on the storage on your cluster:

    Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    IBM Storage Fusion storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use IBM Storage Fusion storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class, typically ibm-spectrum-scale-sc.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    IBM Storage Scale Container Native storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use IBM Storage Scale Container Native storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class, typically ibm-spectrum-scale-sc.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    Portworx storage 
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--storage_vendor=portworx \
--license_acceptance=true
    NFS storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use NFS storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class, typically managed-nfs-storage.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    AWS with EFS storage only

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use EFS storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same RWX storage class.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    AWS with EFS and EBS storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    IBM Cloud with IBM Cloud File Storage only

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use IBM Cloud File Storage storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class, typically ibmc-file-gold-gid or ibm-file-custom-gold-gid.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    IBM Cloud with IBM Cloud File Storage and IBM Cloud Block Storage

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    NetApp Trident

    Run the following command to create the custom resource.

    Remember: When you use NetApp Trident storage, both ${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} and ${STG_CLASS_FILE} point to the same storage class.
    cpd-cli manage apply-cr \
--components=wkc \
--release=${VERSION} \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--block_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_BLOCK} \
--file_storage_class=${STG_CLASS_FILE} \
--license_acceptance=true
    Remember: To specify advanced installation options for Watson Knowledge Catalog add the following line before the --license_acceptance entry:
    --param-file=/tmp/work/install-options.yml \

Validating the installation

Watson Knowledge Catalog is installed when the apply-cr command returns [SUCCESS]... The apply-cr command ran successfully.

However, you can optionally run the cpd-cli manage get-cr-status command if you want to confirm that the custom resource status is Completed:

cpd-cli manage get-cr-status \
--cpd_instance_ns=${PROJECT_CPD_INSTANCE} \
--components=wkc

What to do next

4.6.3 Only for users on IBM Cloud Pak for Data 4.6.3: If you do not have the data quality optional feature enabled, you will need to address a known issue. For more information see, the Watson Knowledge Catalog roles initialization job fails when the common core service (ccs) operator reconciles.

Complete the steps in Post-installation tasks for Watson Knowledge Catalog.