Installing IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation with a private container registry

If your OpenShift® Container Platform cluster is air-gapped (also called an offline or disconnected cluster), you can install your IBM Cloud Pak® by mirroring the software images to a private container registry that is accessible from the cluster.

Viewing a PDF version of the guide to installing with a private container registry:

The installation guide for installing with a private container registry is also available in PDF format. See Installing IBM® Cloud Pak for Network Automation with a private container registry.

Overview

It is common in production to have a cluster that does not have internet access or cannot directly access the images in the IBM Cloud® Container Registry. In these cases, you can install IBM Cloud Pak for Network Automation by mirroring the images from the online registry to a private container registry that is accessible from the cluster.

In addition to the air-gapped cluster scenario, you must also mirror your IBM Cloud Pak images to a private container registry in the following scenarios:
  • Your cluster uses an allowlist to permit direct access by specific sites, and the allowlist does not include the IBM Cloud Container Registry.
  • Your cluster uses a blocklist to prevent direct access by specific sites, and the blocklist includes the IBM Cloud Container Registry.

When you install with a private container registry, you use a bastion host. A bastion host is a server that has access to the internet and the restricted network where the private container registry and your OpenShift Container Platform cluster are located. From the bastion host, you can replicate the images directly from the online registry to the private container registry.

For more information about the storage space that you need to install with a private container registry, see Hardware requirements and supported architectures.