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.
Before you begin
Review Guidelines for installing operators before you install the operators.
Procedure
Log in to the OpenShift web console with your OpenShift cluster administrator credentials.
Make sure that the Administrator perspective is selected.
Click Operators > OperatorHub.
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:
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.On the operator information page that opens, click Install.
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.
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.
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.
Click Install. The operator is now installed.
Confirm installation. To confirm the operator is installed:
Make sure that you're logged in to the OpenShift web console.
In the navtigation panel, click Operators > Installed Operators.
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.
Locate your operator in the table and examine the
status
column. When the operator is ready, the status changes toSucceeded
.
You can now install other Cloud Pak for Integration operators.
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.
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.
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. |
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.What's next?
If you are installing:
in an online environment, see Finding and applying your entitlement key by using the CLI (online installation).
in an air-gapped environment, see Deploying the Platform UI.