Installing the operators using the Openshift console

The following list of operators is available to use in Installing operators, step 4. You can install any combination of operators. Any dependencies are pulled in automatically. Note that not all operators are supported on every environment.

IBM recommends installing the operators for Platform UI, Automation Foundation assets, and Operations Dashboard because they assist in the deployment and management of the other capabilities.

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration

Provides a dashboard and central services for other Cloud Pak for Integration capabilities. Should be installed for most Cloud Pak for Integration installations.

IBM Automation foundation assets

Stores, manages, retrieves and searches for integration assets for use within the IBM Cloud Pak for Integration and its capabilities.

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration Operations Dashboard

Integration tracing across instances to allow troubleshooting and investigation of errors and latency issues.

IBM API Connect

Provides the API management and Event Endpoint Management capabilities.

Note: You can deploy one instance of each API Connect into a particular namespace. If you want to deploy additional instances, you must deploy them into different namespaces.

IBM App Connect

Provides application integration capabilities and a means to easily create and export flows that run in an App Connect instance.

IBM Aspera HSTS

Provides high speed transfer server runtimes.

IBM DataPower Gateway

Provides gateway runtimes.

IBM Event Streams

Provides Event Streams runtimes.

IBM MQ

Provides messaging runtimes.

The following table indicating which operators are supported for a given environment.

When installing operators, follow these guidelines. For additional details and deployment recommendations, see Structuring your deployment.

The term namespace (Kubernetes) as used here means the same thing as project (OpenShift).

Roles and permissions

• Typically, a cluster administrator installs the operators, and an automation administrator creates the custom resources (installed instance of the operator) and configures the instances. For more information about these functions, see Roles and permissions.

Installation modes When installing operators, you can choose to install an operator in one of two modes:

• All namespaces on the cluster mode runs the operator in the openshift-operators namespace and can process resources within any namespace on the cluster. This is the default installation mode.

• A specific namespace on the cluster mode runs the operator in the selected namespace, and the operator only processes resources created in that namespace.

When installing the CP4I operators, only use one of these installation modes. If you combine the two installation modes, Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) will not pick up the latest operator version.

Cloud Pak for Integration operators, in general

• Operators can be installed at cluster scope (in all namespaces in the cluster) or at namespace scope (in an individual namespace).

  • If the operators are installed at cluster scope, the entire cluster effectively behaves as one large tenant.

  • If the operators are installed at namespace scope, each namespace effectively behaves as a different tenant.

• Install all operators in the same mode, whether All namespaces on the cluster or A specific namespace on the cluster; do not combine the two modes.

• When operators are installed in the All namespaces on the cluster installation mode, each operator must be installed in the openshift-operators namespace.

Installing multiple Cloud Paks

• All IBM Cloud Paks installed in a cluster must be installed in the same mode, whether All namespaces on the cluster or A specific namespace on the cluster. If you are installing one of more Cloud Paks with Cloud Pak for Integration, you can't use both mode types together.

IBM Cloud Pak for Integration operator

• When Cloud Pak for Integration is installed in the All namespaces on the cluster installation mode, there can be only one Platform UI installed per cluster, and all Cloud Pak instances are owned by that Platform UI.

• When Cloud Pak for Integration is installed in A specific namespace on the cluster mode, one Platform UI can be installed in each namespace, and that Platform UI owns only the instances in that namespace.

Foundational services operator

• For both installation modes, by default a single instance of IBM Cloud Pak foundational services is installed in the ibm-common-services namespace if the foundational services operator is not already installed on the cluster. The foundational services operator must be installed in the same mode as the Cloud Pak operators. However, regardless of the mode with which it is installed, by default the foundational services operator will install the Operand Deployment Lifecycle Manager operator in the A specific namespace on the cluster mode in the ibm-common-services namespace. While the Operand Deployment Lifecycle Manager operator is installed in this mode, it will extend its permissions to manage foundational services resources in all the namespaces where components of the Cloud Pak are installed. To use a custom namespace for foundational services, see Installing in a custom namespace before installing Cloud Pak for Integration operators.

Approval considerations

• If you need the entire Cloud Pak for Integration (or only certain of its components) to use manual approval—and not update automatically—see Restricting automatic updates with an approval strategy.

• Installing operators

• Validating an installed operator

• Restricting automatic updates with an approval strategy

• Foundational services approval strategies