Required cluster components

Depending on the services that you plan to install or the features that you want to use in IBM® Cloud Pak for Data, you might need to install one or more required components on your cluster.

These components are different from end-user services, such as the Watson™ Studio or Data Virtualization services. Instead, the components provide required underlying functionality for Cloud Pak for Data services.

Use the following information to determine whether you need to install any of these components on your cluster.

Component Required if... Installation instructions
Cloud Pak for Data Operator

The Cloud Pak for Data Operator enables you to install, upgrade, and scale Cloud Pak for Data and services without providing advanced configuration parameters, such as the location of the registry server.

The Cloud Pak for Data Operator also enables Cloud Pak for Data to use the Operator Lifecycle Manager and Red Hat® Marketplace to pull in upgrades.
You must install the Cloud Pak for Data Operator if either of the following statements are true:
  • You are installing Cloud Pak for Data from the Red Hat Marketplace.
  • You plan to use the Volumes API to create volumes on an external NFS server.
The Cloud Pak for Data Operator is installed once on the cluster and can be used by all instances of Cloud Pak for Data.

You must install the Cloud Pak for Data Operator before you install Cloud Pak for Data.

For details, see:
Cloud Pak for Data Scheduling service
The scheduling service offers enhancements over the default Kubernetes scheduler, such as:
  • Advanced pod placement logic
  • Resource sharing
  • Quota logic
You must install the scheduling service if you plan to use:
  • Refresh 2 or later The quota enforcement feature in Cloud Pak for Data
  • The Watson Machine Learning Accelerator service
The scheduling service is installed once on the cluster and can be used by all instances of Cloud Pak for Data on the cluster.

You must install the scheduling service before you install Cloud Pak for Data. (If you have an existing Cloud Pak for Data installation, you must delete all the pods in the deployment to allow the scheduling service to take over.)

For details, see:

Cloud Pak for Data common core services
The common core services provide features that are used by multiple Cloud Pak for Data services, including:
  • Connections
  • Deployment management
  • Job management
  • Notifications
  • Projects
  • Search
  • Metadata repositories
 You are installing a service that relies on the common core services. The common core services services are installed once in a given Red Hat OpenShift® project. Any services in the project that rely on the common core services can use the same installation.
The common core services are automatically installed by the services that require them:
  • If you install or upgrade a service that requires the common core services and the common core services are not installed or are not at the required level, the service will install or upgrade them.
  • If you install or upgrade a service that requires the common core services and the common core services are already installed at the required level, the service will use the existing installation.

For details, see System requirements for required cluster components.
IBM Cloud Pak® foundational services Events Service

This component enables Cloud Pak for Data services to create and manage Kafka Clusters and Kafka Topics.
You must install this component if you plan to install the following services on Red Hat OpenShift Version 4.5 or later:
  • Watson Assistant
 The Events Service is installed once on the cluster and can be used by all instances of Cloud Pak for Data on the cluster.
For details, see:
IBM Cloud Pak foundational services IAM Service

The Identity and Access Management Service (IAM Service) enables you to create a single point of entry for access management and single sign-on (SSO).

 This service is optional.

Install this service if you plan to install multiple applications that support the IAM Service on your cluster.

The IAM Service is installed once on the cluster and can be used by all instances of Cloud Pak for Data on the cluster.
For details, see:
IBM Cloud Pak foundational services License Service

The License Service enables you to measure your actual VPC use against your license terms.

 This service is optional.

Install this service if it supports your business requirements.

 The License Service is installed once on the cluster and can be used by all instances of Cloud Pak for Data on the cluster.
For details, see: