Installing the operators by using the Red Hat OpenShift console

Install the IBM Cloud Pak® for Integration operators by using the OpenShift web console. Installing the operators allows you to deploy instances later in the installation process.

A cluster administrator must install Cloud Pak for Integration. For more information, see Roles and permissions.

Operators extend a Kubernetes cluster by adding and managing more resource types in the Kubernetes API and enable the installation and management of software by using standard Kubernetes tools. To learn more, see What are Operators? in the Red Hat OpenShift documentation.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the OpenShift web console with your OpenShift cluster administrator credentials.

  2. Make sure that the Administrator perspective is selected.

  3. Click Operators > OperatorHub.

    Select the Administrator perspective, then click Operators > OperatorHub

  4. On the OperatorHub page that opens, use the search filter to locate the tile for the operator you plan to install, for example, IBM Cloud Pak for Integration, and click the tile:

    Click the tile for the operator that you want
    Attention: Do not select the Install all Cloud Pak for Integration operators operator. You can't install it because it is no longer part of Cloud Pak for Integration.

  5. On the operator information page that opens, click Install.

    Click Install

  6. In the Install Operator page that opens:

    • Select the operator channel. The Instana agent doesn't have an operator channel, so you are installing the Instana agent, skip this substep. For more information about available operators and operator channel versions, see Operator channel versions for this release.

      Choose the operator channel

    • Select the option to install either in all namespaces in the cluster or in a specific namespace. The Instana agent can be installed only in all namespaces. For more information, see Guidelines for installing operators.

      Install in a single namespace or in all namespaces

    • If you select the option to install the operator in a specific namespace, create a new project for this purpose. Under Home > Projects, click Create Project, enter the name for your new project, and click Create.

    • For the approval strategy, do not select Manual, because it doesn't allows users to control which updates to apply, and it can block upgrade. The default strategy is Automatic. For more information, see Restricting automatic updates with an approval strategy.

      Selecting the approval strategy: automatic is the default

  7. Click Install. The operator is now installed.

  8. Confirm installation. To confirm the operator is installed:

    1. Make sure that you're logged in to the OpenShift web console.

    2. In the navtigation panel, click Operators > Installed Operators.

    3. From the Project list, select the namespace in which the operator was installed. If you installed the operator by using the All namespaces on the cluster installation mode, the operator pod is located in the openshift-operators project.

    4. Locate your operator in the table and examine the status column. When the operator is ready, the status changes to Succeeded.

      Confirm that the operator is installed

You can now install other Cloud Pak for Integration operators.

Important: After you install the operators, you consider the resources (sizing) for foundational services. For more information, see Hardware requirements and recommendations for foundational services.

Restricting automatic updates with an approval strategy

Controlling updates by using dedicated and declarative catalog sources is the only way to ensure that the cluster never upgrades. To use this method, follow the procedure in the "Adding specific catalog sources for each operator" section of Adding catalog sources to a cluster.

However, if you know you will always want automatic upgrades of operators, and you do not require declarative installs, you can use the IBM Operator catalog for installations.

Important: The built-in approval strategies for operators do not allow users to control what upgrades to apply. These strategies allow users to control only when to apply all available upgrades in a namespace. Therefore, if your use case requires that you control what upgrades to apply, use the procedure for "Adding specific catalog sources for each operator" as already described.

There are two approval strategies that provide an extra control mechanism, Automatic and Manual.

  • Do not use the Manual strategy, because users cannot control what upgrades to apply; this strategy forces all possible upgrades to be done at the same time. It can also block an upgrade. If your use case requires that you control what upgrades to apply, follow the procedure for "Adding specific catalog sources for each operator" as already described.

  • The Automatic strategy is the default strategy. As new operator versions are made available on the subscription channel (only if the catalog source is updated), they are installed automatically, but only on fix packs. Minor version changes always require user input to change subscription channels.

Operators available to install

The following table describes the operators that are available to install. You can install any combination of operators, and any dependencies are pulled in automatically.

Important: Not all operators are supported on every environment. For more information, see "Supported environments for operators" in Guidelines for installing operators

Installing the IBM Cloud Pak for Integration operator enables deployment of the Platform UI, which facilitates the deployment and management of the other capabilities.

Operator name Capabilities
IBM Cloud Pak for Integration Provides a dashboard and central services for other Cloud Pak for Integration capabilities. Is 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. You can deploy one instance of each API Connect into a particular namespace (project). If you need to deploy more 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 the High-speed Transfer Server capability.
IBM DataPower Gateway Provides the gateway capability.
IBM Event Streams Provides the Event Streams capability.
IBM MQ Provides the messaging capability.
IBM Instana Agent Provides IBM Instana for proactive monitoring of cluster-based metrics and operators in Cloud Pak for Integration.
Attention: The operator that installs all Cloud Pak for Integration operators (ibm-cp-integration), which was available in previous releases of Cloud Pak for Integration, is no longer part of the product. Do not install this operator. If it is already installed, uninstall it using the procedure in Uninstalling the operators and catalog sources.