Installing IBM Software Hub

A Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform cluster administrator and an instance administrator can work together to prepare the cluster and install IBM® Software Hub.

Before you begin

Before you install IBM Software Hub, review the information in the Planning section. Specifically ensure that you review the following sections:

Section What you need to know
System requirements You must install the software on a cluster that has sufficient resources and that aligns with the guidance in the System requirements. For example, if you do not follow the specified disk requirements, you can encounter out of memory errors.
Storage considerations You must install the software on persistent storage that is accessible to your cluster, meets the stated requirements, and works with the services that you plan to install. For example, if your network speeds are too slow or if the disks do not have sufficient I/O performance, services can experience poor performance or cluster instability.

Installation overview

The IBM Software Hub installation is broken up into the following phases:

1. Setting up a client workstation

To install IBM Software Hub, you must have a client workstation that can connect to the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

User icon All administrators When icon Repeat as needed

Client workstation requirements
The client workstation must be a Windows, Mac OS, or Linux® machine with the following software installed:
  • IBM Software Hub command-line interface (cpd-cli) Version 14.1.1 or later.
  • OpenShift command-line interface (oc) at a version that is compatible with your cluster.

For a complete list of requirements, see Client workstation requirements.

What to do
  1. Review the guidance in Setting up a client workstation to install IBM Software Hub.
  2. Complete the following tasks to install the required software on the client workstation:
    1. Installing the IBM Software Hub command-line interface.
    2. Installing the OpenShift command-line interface.
  3. Go to 2. Setting up a cluster.

2. Setting up a cluster

Before you install IBM Software Hub, you must install and setup a Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

User icon Cluster administrator When icon One-time setup

a. Do you have an existing Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster?
Supported versions of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform

IBM Software Hub can be installed on the following versions of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform:

  • Version 4.12 or later fixes
  • Version 4.14 or later fixes
  • Version 4.15 or later fixes
  • Version 4.16 or later fixes
  • Version 4.17 or later fixes
Restriction: Data Virtualization and Db2 Big SQL are not supported on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Version 4.12. If you plan to install either of these services, you must install Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Version 4.14 or later.
Options What to do
You are running a supported version of OpenShift
  1. Go to c. Do you have supported persistent storage on your cluster?
You have an older version of OpenShift
  1. Upgrade your cluster.
  2. Go to b. Do you have the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cert-manager Operator on your cluster?
You don't have an OpenShift cluster
  1. Complete Installing Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform for IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to b. Do you have the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cert-manager Operator on your cluster?
b. Do you have the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cert-manager Operator on your cluster?

IBM Software Hub requires a certificate manager; however, the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cert-manager Operator is not installed by default when you install Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform.

Options What to do
You have the cert-manager Operator on your cluster
  1. Go to c. Do you have supported persistent storage on your cluster?
You don't have the cert-manager Operator on your cluster
  1. Complete Installing the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cert-manager Operator
  2. Go to c. Do you have supported persistent storage on your cluster?
c. Do you have supported persistent storage on your cluster?

IBM Software Hub software requires persistent storage. You must have persistent storage that is accessible from your cluster.

Supported storage for the IBM Software Hub platform
Storage option Version Notes
OpenShift Data Foundation
  • Version 4.12 or later fixes
  • Version 4.14 or later fixes
  • Version 4.15 or later fixes
  • Version 4.16 or later fixes
  • Version 4.17 or later fixes
 Available in Red Hat OpenShift Platform Plus.

Ensure that you install a version of OpenShift Data Foundation that is compatible with the version of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform that you are running. For details, see https://access.redhat.com/articles/4731161.
IBM Fusion Data Foundation
  • Version 2.8.2 with the latest hotfix or later fixes
  • Version 2.9.0 with the latest hotfix or later fixes (Recommended)
 Available in IBM Fusion.

Ensure that you install a version of IBM Fusion Data Foundation that is compatible with the version of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform that you are running.

It is strongly recommended that you use IBM Fusion Version 2.9, which offers performance and scalability improvements.

Important: If you upgrade to IBM Fusion Version 2.9, the first backup after the upgrade is a full backup, not an incremental backup. After the full backup, the subsequent backups are incremental.
IBM Fusion Global Data Platform
  • Version 2.8.2 with the latest hotfix or later fixes
  • Version 2.9.0 with the latest hotfix or later fixes (Recommended)
 Available in IBM Fusion or IBM Fusion HCI System.

It is strongly recommended that you use IBM Fusion Version 2.9, which offers performance and scalability improvements.

Important: If you upgrade to IBM Fusion Version 2.9, the first backup after the upgrade is a full backup, not an incremental backup. After the full backup, the subsequent backups are incremental.
IBM Storage Scale Container Native (with IBM Storage Scale Container Storage Interface) Version 5.1.7 or later fixes, with CSI Version 2.9.0 or later fixes Available in the following storage:
  • IBM Fusion
  • IBM Storage Suite for IBM Cloud Paks

Ensure that you install a version of IBM Storage Scale Container Native that is compatible with the version of Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform that you are running. For more information, see the IBM Storage Scale Container Native software requirements.
Portworx
  • Version 2.13.3 or later fixes
  • Version 3.0.2 or later fixes
 If you are running Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Version 4.12, you must use Portworx Version 2.13.3 or later.

If you are running Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Version 4.14, you must use Portworx Version 3.0.2 or later.
NFS Version 3 or 4
Version 3 is recommended if you are using any of the following services:
  • Data Product Hub
  • DataStage
  • Data Virtualization
  • Db2
  • Db2 Big SQL
  • Db2 Warehouse
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard
  • IBM Manta Data Lineage
  • OpenPages (with an internal database)
  • watsonx.governance™ Risk and Compliance Foundation (with an internal database)

If you use Version 4, ensure that your storage class uses NFS Version 3 as the mount option. For details, see Setting up dynamic provisioning.
Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) Not applicable In addition to EBS storage, your environment must also include EFS storage.
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) Not applicable It is recommended that you use both EBS and EFS storage.
NetApp Trident Version 23.07 or later fixes This information applies to both self-managed and managed NetApp Trident.
Nutanix Installing the following versions of each component:
  • Nutanix Prism Central Version pc.2024.1.0.2 or later fixes
  • Nutanix AOS Version 6.8.1 or later fixes
  • Nutanix AHV Version el8.nutanix.20230302.101026 or later fixes
  • Nutanix Files Version 5.1.0 or later fixes
  • Nutanix CSI Version 3.1.0 or later fixes
  
Options What to do
You have supported storage
  1. Go to d. Do you have a private container registry?.
You don't have supported storage
  1. Complete Installing persistent storage for IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to d. Do you have a private container registry?.
d. Do you have a private container registry?

IBM Software Hub software images are accessible from the IBM Entitled Registry. In most situations, it is strongly recommended that you mirror the necessary software images from the IBM Entitled Registry to a private container registry.

Where should you pull images from?
Important:
You must mirror the IBM Software Hub software images to your private container registry in the following situations:
  • Your cluster is air-gapped (also called an offline or disconnected cluster).
  • Your cluster uses an allowlist to permit direct access by specific sites, and the allowlist does not include the IBM Entitled Registry.
  • Your cluster uses a blocklist to prevent direct access by specific sites, and the blocklist includes the IBM Entitled Registry.
Even if these situations do not apply to your environment, you should consider using a private container registry if you want to:
  • Run security scans against the software images before you install them on your cluster
  • Ensure that you have the same images available for multiple deployments, such as development or test environments and production environments

The only situation in which you might consider pulling images directly from the IBM Entitled Registry is when your cluster is not air-gapped, your network is extremely reliable, and latency is not a concern. However, for predictable and reliable performance, you should mirror the images to a private container registry.

Options What to do
You plan to pull images from the IBM Entitled Registry
  1. Go to 3. Collecting required information
You plan to pull images from your existing private container registry
  1. Go to 3. Collecting required information
You plan to pull images from a private container registry but don't have one yet
  1. Complete Setting up a private container registry for IBM Software Hub
  2. Go to 3. Collecting required information

3. Collecting required information

To successfully install IBM Software Hub, you must have specific information about your environment.

User icon Operations team Cluster administrator When icon Repeat as needed

a. Obtaining your IBM entitlement API key
All IBM Software Hub images are accessible from the IBM Entitled Registry. The IBM entitlement API key enables you to pull software images from the IBM Entitled Registry, either for installation or for mirroring to a private container registry.
Options What to do
You already have your API key
  1. Go to b. Determining the list of components that you plan to install.
You don't have your API key
  1. Complete Obtaining your IBM entitlement API key for IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to b. Determining the list of components that you plan to install.
b. Determining the list of components that you plan to install
IBM Software Hub supports numerous solutions and services. Before you install IBM Software Hub, determine which components you need to install to support your business requirements.
What to do
  1. Complete Determining which components to install.
  2. Go to c. Collecting information about your cluster that can be used to set up environment variables.
c. Collecting information about your cluster that can be used to set up environment variables
The commands for installing and upgrading IBM Software Hub use variables with the format ${VARIABLE_NAME}. You can create a script to automatically export the appropriate values as environment variables before you run the installation commands. After you source the script, you will be able to copy most install and upgrade commands from the documentation and run them without making any changes.
What to do
  1. Complete Setting up installation environment variables.
  2. Go to the appropriate section based on your environment:

4. Preparing to run installs in a restricted network

If you will run the IBM Software Hub installation commands in a restricted network, you must prepare the client workstations before you move them behind your firewall.

User icon All administrators When icon Repeat as needed

What to do
  1. Complete Obtaining the olm-utils-v3 image before running IBM Software Hub installation commands in a restricted network.
  2. Complete Downloading CASE packages before running IBM Software Hub installation commands in a restricted network.
  3. Go to the appropriate section based on your environment:

5. Preparing to run installs from a private container registry

If you plan to use a private container registry to host the IBM Software Hub software images, you must mirror the images from the IBM Entitled Registry and configure the cluster to pull the images from the private container registry.

User icon Different users need to complete the appropriate tasks.

When icon Some of these tasks can be completed once, but some of the tasks must be repeated for each user involved in the installation.

a. Mirroring the IBM Software Hub images to the private container registry

If your cluster is in a restricted network or if you want to ensure that all images are pulled from a trusted source, mirror the IBM Software Hub images to your private container registry.

User icon Registry administrator When icon Repeat as needed

What to do
  1. Complete Mirroring IBM Software Hub images to a private container registry.
  2. Go to b. Configuring an image content source policy
b. Configuring an image content source policy

If you mirror images to a private container registry, you must tell your cluster where to find the software images by creating an image content source policy or image digest mirror set.

User icon Cluster administrator When icon One-time setup

What to do
  1. Complete Configuring an image content source policy for IBM Software Hub software images.
  2. Go to c. Do users need to pull the olm-utils-v3 image from the private container registry?
c. Do users need to pull the olm-utils-v3 image from the private container registry?

If the olm-utils-v3 image is available in the private container registry, you must update the cpd-cli to pull the image from the private container registry.

User icon All administrators When icon Repeat as needed

Options What to do
Your cluster is not in a restricted network, and users can pull the image from the IBM Entitled Registry Go to 6. Preparing the cluster for IBM Software Hub.
Your cluster is not in a restricted network, but you want users to pull the image from the private container registry
  1. Complete Pulling the olm-utils-v3 image from the private container registry.
  2. Go to 6. Preparing the cluster for IBM Software Hub.
Your cluster is in a restricted network
  1. Complete Pulling the olm-utils-v3 image from the private container registry.
  2. Go to 6. Preparing the cluster for IBM Software Hub.

6. Preparing the cluster for IBM Software Hub

Before you install IBM Software Hub, you must prepare your Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

User icon Cluster administrator When icon One-time setup

a. Updating the global image pull secret
The global image pull secret ensures that your cluster has the necessary credentials to pull images. The credentials that you add to the global image pull secret depend on where you want to pull images from.
What to do
  1. Complete Updating the global image pull secret for IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to b. Do you want to allow the cpd-cli to create projects (namespaces) for you?
b. Do you want to allow the cpd-cli to create projects (namespaces) for you?

The IBM Software Hub command-line interface can automatically create any projects that don't exist on the cluster. However, you can choose to create the projects for the shared cluster components manually.

Options What to do
You will allow the cpd-cli to create projects
  1. Go to c. Installing shared cluster components.
You won't allow the cpd-cli to create projects
  1. Complete Manually creating projects (namespaces) for the shared cluster components for IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to c. Installing shared cluster components.
c. Installing shared cluster components

Before you install IBM Software Hub, you must install the IBM Cloud Pak foundational services License Service and the IBM Software Hub scheduling service.

What to do
  1. Complete Installing shared cluster components for IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to d. Configuring persistent storage for IBM Software Hub.
d. Configuring persistent storage for IBM Software Hub

Before you can install IBM Software Hub, you must ensure that the persistent storage on your Red Hat OpenShift cluster is configured for dynamic provisioning and includes the appropriate storage classes.

What to do
  1. Complete the appropriate tasks in Configuring persistent storage for IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to e. Do you plan to install any services that require custom SCCs?
e. Do you plan to install any services that require custom SCCs?

If you plan to install services that require a custom security context constraint, you might need to create the appropriate SCCs manually. However, some custom SCCs are created automatically.

Services that require custom SCCs
Service Required SCCs
Data Product Hub
Data Product Hub uses an embedded Db2 database, which requires a custom SCC. The SCC is used only by the instance of Data Product Hub that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
Data Virtualization
Data Virtualization uses an embedded Db2 database, which requires a custom SCC. The SCC is used only by the instance of Data Virtualization that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
Db2
Db2 requires a custom SCC.

By default, the SCC is created automatically; however, you can choose to create the SCC manually.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for Db2.
Db2 Big SQL
Db2 Big SQL uses an embedded Db2 database, which requires a custom SCC. The SCC is used only by the instance of Db2 Big SQL that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
Db2 Warehouse
Db2 Warehouse requires a custom SCC.

By default, the SCC is created automatically; however, you can choose to create the SCC manually.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for Db2 Warehouse.
IBM Knowledge Catalog
IBM Knowledge Catalog uses an embedded Db2 database, which requires a custom SCC. The SCC is used only by the instance of IBM Knowledge Catalog that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium
IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium uses an embedded Db2 database, which requires a custom SCC. The SCC is used only by the instance of IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard
IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard uses an embedded Db2 database, which requires a custom SCC. The SCC is used only by the instance of IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
IBM Manta Data Lineage
IBM Manta Data Lineage uses an embedded Db2 database, which requires a custom SCC. The SCC is used only by the instance of IBM Manta Data Lineage that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
Informix

Informix requires a custom SCC.

You must create this SCC manually.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for Informix.
OpenPages
The OpenPages service can optionally embed a Db2 database.

If you chose to use an embedded Db2 database, OpenPages requires a custom SCC for the Db2 database. The SCC is used only by the instance of OpenPages that embeds the Db2 database.

The required SCC is created automatically.

For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.

If you choose to use an external database, the custom SCC is not required.
watsonx.governance
If you install the OpenPages component of watsonx.governance, you can either:
  • Use an existing OpenPages service instance
  • Use the default OpenPages service instance that is created when you install watsonx.governance.

    The default OpenPages instance uses an embedded Db2 database.

    The embedded Db2 database requires a custom SCC, which is created automatically. For details, see Creating the custom security context constraint for embedded Db2 databases.
Options What to do
You are not installing services that require custom SCCs
  1. Go to f. Do you plan to install any services that require specific node settings?
You are installing services that require custom SCCs, but all of the SCCs are created automatically
  1. Go to f. Do you plan to install any services that require specific node settings?
You are installing services that require custom SCCs, but you want to create the SCCs manually
  1. Complete the appropriate tasks in Creating custom security context constraints for services.
  2. Go to f. Do you plan to install any services that require specific node settings?
You are installing services that require custom SCCs, and you must create the SCC manually
  1. Complete the appropriate tasks in Creating custom security context constraints for services.
  2. Go to f. Do you plan to install any services that require specific node settings?
f. Do you plan to install any services that require specific node settings?
Some services that run on IBM Software Hub require specific settings on the nodes in the cluster. To ensure that the cluster has the required settings for these services, adjust the settings on the appropriate nodes in the cluster.
Services that require specific node settings
Node setting Services that require changes to the setting
Load balancer timeout
  • Cognos Dashboards
  • Data Gate
  • Data Product Hub
  • Data Replication
  • Data Virtualization
  • Db2
  • Db2 Warehouse
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard
  • OpenPages
  • Watson Discovery
  • Watson Speech services
  • Watson Studio
  • watsonx.ai™
  • watsonx Code Assistant™ for Z
  • watsonx.data™

Even if you don't plan to install the preceding services, you might need to adjust the timeout settings if you are working with large data sets or you have slower network speeds. For example, you might need to increase the timeout value if you receive a timeout or failure when you upload a large file.
Process IDs limit
  • Data Product Hub
  • Data Virtualization
  • DataStage
  • Db2
  • Db2 Big SQL
  • Db2 Warehouse
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard
  • Watson Studio
Kernel parameter settings
  • Data Product Hub
  • Data Virtualization
  • Db2
  • Db2 Big SQL
  • Db2 Warehouse
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard
  • OpenPages
Options What to do
You are not installing services that require specific node settings
  1. Go to g. Are you installing software on a Power cluster?
You are installing services that require specific node settings
  1. Complete the appropriate tasks in Changing required node settings.
  2. Go to g. Are you installing software on a Power cluster?
g. Are you installing software on a Power cluster?
On PowerVM capable systems, you must change the simultaneous multithreading (SMT) settings.
Options What to do
You are not installing software on a Power cluster
  1. Go to h. Do you plan to install services that have a dependency on prerequisite software?
You are installing software on a Power cluster, but not on a PowerVM capable system
  1. Go to h. Do you plan to install services that have a dependency on prerequisite software?
You are installing software on a PowerVM capable system
  1. Complete Changing Power settings.
  2. Go to h. Do you plan to install services that have a dependency on prerequisite software?
h. Do you plan to install services that have a dependency on prerequisite software?
Services with a dependency on prerequisite software:
Services that have prerequisites Prerequisite software
IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium To install this service, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard To install this service, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
Watson Discovery To install this service, you must install the following software:
  • Multicloud Object Gateway
Watson Machine Learning If you plan to use the deep learning experiment builder or models that require GPUs, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
Watson Speech services To install this service, you must install the following software:
  • Multicloud Object Gateway
Watson Studio Runtimes If you plan to use runtimes that require GPU, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
watsonx.ai To install this service, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
watsonx Assistant To install this service, you must install the following software:
  • Multicloud Object Gateway
  • Red Hat OpenShift Serverless Knative Eventing

If you plan to use conversational skills or conversational search features, you must install the following operators:

  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
watsonx Code Assistant To install this service, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
watsonx Code Assistant for Red Hat Ansible® Lightspeed To install this service, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
watsonx Code Assistant for Z To install this service, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
watsonx.data
If you plan to use indexes in Milvus that require GPUs, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
watsonx™ Orchestrate To install this service, you must install the following software:
  • Multicloud Object Gateway
  • Red Hat OpenShift Serverless Knative Eventing
  • IBM App Connect in containers
In addition, you must install the following operators:
  • Node Feature Discovery Operator
  • NVIDIA GPU Operator
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI Operator
Options What to do
You are not installing services with a dependency on prerequisite software
  1. Go to 7. Preparing to install an instance of IBM Software Hub.
You are installing services with a dependency on prerequisite software that must be installed on the cluster
  1. Complete the appropriate tasks for your environment:
  2. Go to 7. Preparing to install an instance of IBM Software Hub

7. Preparing to install an instance of IBM Software Hub

Before you can install IBM Software Hub, you must create and configure the projects for an instance of IBM Software Hub.

User icon Cluster administrator When icon Repeat as needed

a. Checking the health of your cluster

The IBM Software Hub command-line interface includes commands that you can use the validate the health of your cluster before you install IBM Software Hub. If you do not validate the health of your cluster before you install IBM Software Hub, you might encounter issues during the installation.

What to do
  1. Complete Checking the health of your cluster before installing IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to b. Do you want to allow the cpd-cli to create projects (namespaces) for you?
b. Do you want to allow the cpd-cli to create projects (namespaces) for you?

The IBM Software Hub command-line interface can automatically create any projects that don't exist on the cluster. However, you can optionally create the projects manually.

Options What to do
You will allow the cpd-cli to create projects
  1. Go to c. Applying the required permissions to projects.
You won't allow the cpd-cli to create projects
  1. Complete Manually creating projects (namespaces) for an instance of IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to c. Applying the required permissions to projects.
c. Applying the required permissions to projects

Before you install an instance of IBM Software Hub, you must ensure that the project where the operators will be installed can watch the project where the control plane and services are installed.

What to do
  1. Complete the appropriate task for your environment in Applying the required permissions to the projects (namespaces) for an instance of IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to d. Who will install and manage the instance?
d. Who will install and manage the instance?

If a user other than the cluster administrator will install IBM Software Hub, you must give a Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform user the required roles to install the IBM Software Hub software in the instance projects.

Options What to do
The cluster administrator will install the instance
  1. Go to e. Do you plan to install any services with a dependency on Multicloud Object Gateway in the instance?
Another user will install the instance
  1. Complete the appropriate task for your environment in Authorizing a user to act as an IBM Software Hub instance administrator.
  2. Go to e. Do you plan to install any services with a dependency on Multicloud Object Gateway in the instance?
e. Do you plan to install any services with a dependency on Multicloud Object Gateway in the instance?

If you plan to install services with a dependency on Multicloud Object Gateway in this instance of IBM Software Hub, you must create the secrets that the services use to communicate with Multicloud Object Gateway.

Options What to do
The instance will not include services with a dependency on Multicloud Object Gateway
  1. Go to 8. Installing an instance of IBM Software Hub.
The instance will include one or more services with a dependency on Multicloud Object Gateway
  1. Complete Creating secrets for services that use Multicloud Object Gateway.
  2. Go to 8. Installing an instance of IBM Software Hub.

8. Installing an instance of IBM Software Hub

You can install one or more instances of IBM Software Hub on your Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster. Each instance of IBM Software Hub has its own project for operators and its own project for the custom resources for the IBM Software Hub control plane and services (also called operands).

User icon Instance administrator When icon Repeat as needed

a. Installing IBM Software Hub

To install an instance of IBM Software Hub, you must install the required operators and custom resources for the instance.

What to do
  1. Complete Installing the required components for an instance of IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to b. Do you plan to tether any projects to this instance of IBM Software Hub?.
b. Do you plan to tether any projects to this instance of IBM Software Hub?

You can use tethered projects to isolate service instances or workloads from the rest of your IBM Software Hub deployment. After you install IBM Software Hub, you can tether projects to the IBM Software Hub control plane.

Remember: Not all services support tethered projects. For information about which services can deploy service instances to tethered projects, see Multitenancy support.
Options What to do
You don't plan to use tethered projects
  1. Go to 9. Setting up the control plane.
The instance will not include services with installation options
  1. Complete Tethering projects to the IBM Software Hub control plane.
  2. Go to 9. Setting up the control plane.

9. Setting up the control plane

After you install IBM Software Hub, a cluster administrator must complete several setup tasks that require cluster administrator authority.

User icon Cluster administrator When icon Repeat as needed

a. Do you want to install the privileged monitors?
Privileged monitors provide additional information about the health of the cluster and resources that are not typically included in the platform monitors.
Privileged monitors
Cluster operator status check (check-cluster-operator-status)
Checks the status of the cluster operators that comprise the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform infrastructure to determine whether:
  • All of the operators are AVAILABLE
  • Any of the operators are DEGRADED
Network status check (check-network-status)
Checks the status of the PodNetworkConnectivityCheck objects for cluster resources to determine whether the objects are Reachable.
Node imbalance status check (check-node-imbalance-status)
Checks whether vCPU requests are balanced across nodes or whether one node is supporting a disproportionately high load.
Node status check (check-node-status)
Checks whether the nodes on the cluster are ready and whether the nodes are using too many resources.
Volume usage status check (check-volume-status)
Checks whether the persistent volume claims associated with the deployment are running out of space.
Restriction: Only persistent volume claims that are mounted by a running pod are monitored.
Operator namespace status check (check-operator-namespace-status)
Checks whether the resources in the operators project for the deployment are healthy.
Important: If you also want to check the status of the operators in the project where the scheduling service is installed, you must run the apply-privileged-monitoring-service command with the --cluster_components_ns=${PROJECT_SCHEDULING_SERVICE} option.
EDB cluster status check (check-edb-cluster-status)
Checks whether any instances of EDB Postgres that are associated with the deployment are healthy. For example, whether the database that IBM Software Hub uses to store metadata for the deployment is healthy.
Options What to do
You don't want to install privileged monitors
  1. Go to b. Do you need to install the configuration admission controller webhook?.
You want to install privileged monitors
  1. Complete Installing privileged monitors for an instance of IBM Software Hub.
  2. Go to b. Do you need to install the configuration admission controller webhook?.
b. Do you need to install the configuration admission controller webhook?
You must install the configuration admission controller webhook if you want use a set of shared custom certificates across multiple services.
Services that support shared custom certificates
  • AI Factsheets
  • Analytics Engine powered by Apache Spark
  • Cognos Analytics
  • Data Privacy
  • DataStage
  • Data Virtualization
  • Db2 Big SQL
  • IBM Match 360
  • OpenPages
  • watsonx Assistant
  • watsonx.data
  • watsonx Orchestrate 5.1.1 and later
Options What to do
You don't need to install the configuration admission controller webhook
  1. Go to c. Applying your entitlements.
You need to install the configuration admission controller webhook
  1. Complete Installing the IBM Software Hub configuration admission controller webhook.
  2. Go to c. Applying your entitlements.
c. Applying your entitlements

You are required to keep a record of the size of deployments to report to IBM as requested. Use the License Service to measure your use against your license terms.

What to do
  1. Complete the appropriate task for your environment in Applying your entitlements to monitor and report use against license terms.
  2. Go to 10. Installing solutions and services.

10. Installing solutions and services

You can choose whether to install each service individually or in a batch. However, depending on the services you plan to install, you might need to complete additional pre-installation tasks.

User icon Instance administrator When icon Repeat as needed

a. Do you plan to install services that support or require installation options in the instance?
Some services have required or optional settings that you must specify when you install them. Create an install-options.yml file to specify the installation options for the services that you plan to install.
Services that support or require installation options
Service Details
Analytics Engine powered by Apache Spark The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
Data Replication The settings are required. You must specify the license that you purchased.
IBM Knowledge Catalog The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
IBM Match 360 The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
Informix The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
Voice Gateway The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
Watson Discovery The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
Watson Speech services The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
watsonx.ai The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
watsonx Assistant The settings are optional. If you do not specify installation options, the default values are used.
watsonx.governance The settings are required. You must specify the license that you purchased.
Options What to do
The instance will not include services with installation options
  1. Go to b. Do you plan to install any services with a dependency on Db2U in the instance?.
The instance will include one or more services that support installation options
  1. Review Specifying installation options for services to determine whether you want to adjust any of the installation options.
  2. Go to b. Do you plan to install any services with a dependency on Db2U in the instance?.
The instance will include one or more services that require installation options
  1. Complete Specifying installation options for services.
  2. Go to b. Do you plan to install any services with a dependency on Db2U in the instance?.
b. Do you plan to install any services with a dependency on Db2U in the instance?

If you install services with a dependency on Db2U, create a db2u-product-cm ConfigMap to specify whether Db2U runs with limited privileges or elevated privileges.

Services with a dependency on Db2U
  • Data Product Hub
  • Data Virtualization
  • Db2
  • Db2 Big SQL
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog
  • Db2 Warehouse
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Premium
  • IBM Knowledge Catalog Standard
  • OpenPages with an embedded Db2 database.
Options What to do
The instance will not include services with a dependency on Db2U
  1. Go to c. Do you want to run a batch installation of solutions and services?
The instance will include one or more services with a dependency on Db2U
  1. Complete Specifying the privileges that Db2U runs with.
  2. Go to c. Do you want to run a batch installation of solutions and services?
c. Do you want to run a batch installation of solutions and services?

Run a batch installation to install multiple services at the same time, which enables you to complete your installation in fewer steps. Batch installations also support parallel installation of some components, which reduces installation time.

However, if you want more granular control over the installation process, you can install services one at a time. See the instructions for installing each service individually in Services.

Options What to do
You want to install services individually
  1. Install the services that you want to use. See the instructions for installing each service individually in Services.
  2. Go to 11. Completing post-installation tasks.
You want to install services in a batch
  1. Complete Running a batch installation of solutions and services.
  2. Go to 11. Completing post-installation tasks.

11. Completing post-installation tasks

After you install IBM Software Hub, make sure your cluster is secure and complete tasks that will impact how users interact with IBM Software Hub, such as configuring SSO or changing the route to the platform.

User icon Instance administrator When icon Repeat as needed

What to do
  1. Complete Post-installation setup (Day 1 operations).
  2. Complete Setting up services after install or upgrade.
  3. Best practice Review Getting started.