Deploying an accelerator from Cloud Pak System user interface

From the Provision accelerators page, you can click to select a software tile from the available list to provision a cluster that runs on OpenShift Container Platform. This deployment efficiently runs workloads, manages all integrated components, monitors the health of the system, and administers and manages application deployments.

Before you begin

  • If there are any pending prerequisites, then Prerequisites required section is expanded by default. Click the Item value of a pending prerequisite row to configure it from System management user interface. For more information about configuring a prerequisite, click the appropriate View documentation link and go through the information in IBM Knowledge Center.

    If you do not see your most recent status updates in the Prerequisites required section, click Refresh.

    If all the prerequisites are met, then the Prerequisites met section is available in collapsed format. Expand it to view the information.

  • To see all Cloud Paks in ready to deploy state, make sure that the logged in user has access to Environment profile, Cloud Group, IP Group, and Shared Services.

  • This procedure assumes that you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.0 or later.

About the task

  • The Software catalog displays a list of the following IBM Cloud Paks and other enterprise software accelerators for deployment:

    • OpenShift Container Platform
    • OpenShift Container Platform with OCS/ODF
    • IBM Cloud Pak® for Applications
    • IBM Cloud Pak® for Automation
    • IBM Cloud Pak® for Integration (with NFS, which is deprecated from IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6)
    • IBM Cloud Pak® for Integration with OCS (renamed to IBM Cloud Pak® for Integration in IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6)
    • IBM Cloud Pak® for Multicloud Management
    • IBM Cloud Pak® for Security
    • IBM Cloud Pak® for Watson AIOps (introduced in IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6)
    • Cloud Paks Docker Private Registry
    • IBM Edge Computing Manager (deprecated from IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6)

    The number mentioned within parenthesis next to Software indicates the quantity of available software to provision a cluster.

  • You can add a Cloud Pak tile by using REST API. For more information about the REST API, see Using REST API to add a Cloud Pak tile in IBM Cloud Pak System user interface External link icon.

Procedure

  1. In the Provisioning accelerators page, click the tile record or search for the software. On the right side, an appropriate Cloud Pak or enterprise application deployment window appears. To search for the software, enter the name of the software in the Find software text box. The search results that match the filter criteria display a list of tiles. The software is tagged as Ready to deploy, License and installation file required, or Prerequisites required.

    Notes:

    • The software must be in Ready to deploy state.
    • If the available software is not ready for deployment, it is tagged as License and installation file required.
    • If any requirement is not met, it is tagged as Prerequisites required. Go through the Prerequisites required section to take necessary actions.
    • If you do not have an installation file to deploy, contact your administrator or IBM Sales representative for more information.

  2. Enter the following details on the deployment window:

    1. Select the Accelerator version from the list that is based on your requirement.

    2. Select Deployment options. By default, the Default option is selected. Select Customized if you want to make advanced settings for the nodes and OpenShift Container Platform options.

    3. Optionally, select components if you want install them. For example, Accelerators for Teams and IBM Mobile Foundation are components of IBM Cloud Pak for Applications. The components selection option is not available for IBM Cloud Pak for Integration and IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps in IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6.

    4. Click Continue. The Configure deployment tab is open by default. Based on your selected accelerator, an appropriate Cloud Pak or enterprise software accelerator page appears with some or all of the following tabs:

      • Configure deployment - This tab is available for Customized and Default options.
      • Accelerator options - This tab is available for Customized and Default options only if you want to install components. This tab is always available for IBM Cloud Pak for Integration and IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps in IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6.
      • Configure nodes - This tab is available only for the Customized option.
      • OpenShift options (optional) - This tab is available only for the Customized option.
      • Review and deploy - This tab is available for Customized and Default options.

      Note: When you move between these tabs, the following indicators are available:

      • A blue check mark indicates that you have filled in all necessary information.
      • A red mark indicates that mandatory information is missing.
      • The "This field is mandatory" description is specified only for those mandatory fields that do not have a default value.

  3. Enter the following details in the Configure deployment tab:

    Note: For the Multi Cloud environment profile, the list displays Multi Cloud and Single Cloud as options. If you select Multi Cloud, you do not need to select Cloud group or IP group.

    • Deployment name - Name of the deployment that gets referenced in IBM Cloud Pak System.

    • Environment profile -Specifies the environment profile group-related deployment configuration, such as virtual machine names, IP address assignments, and cloud groups.

      The value of Cloud group and IP group changes based on the selected environment profile value. If there is only one Environment profile value, then it is selected by default.

    • Cloud group - Specifies the organized collection of compute nodes and IP groups.

      If more than one cloud groups are associated to the selected environment profile, a default value is selected automatically. You can change the value based on your requirement. The IP group value changes based on the selected cloud group. If there is only one Cloud group value, then it is selected by default.

    • IP group - Specifies the collection of IP addresses that can be assigned to deployments.

      If there is only one IP group, then it is auto-selected. If there is more than one IP group for a cloud group, then the default value is selected. You can change the value based on your requirement. If there is only one IP group value, then it is selected by default.

      Note: If there is only one Environment profile value, Cloud group value, and IP group value, then they are selected automatically.

  4. Enter the following details in the Helper node credentials section:

    • Specify and verify password for Root and Virtual user.

      Note: For OCS/ODF patterns, the OpenShift pull-secret appears in the Configure deployment tab. Paste the contents from the downloaded OpenShift pull-secret.json file.

    • In the Optional section, enter or select the following values:

      • Use SSH key - Select this option if you want to use or generate an SSH key. If you select this value, the Generate button is enabled.
      • Click Generate to generate SSH key pair or provide your public SSH key to access the virtual machine. After an SSH key is generated, the Generate button gets disabled. If you want to enable it to generate a new value, delete the generated SSH key.
      • Click Download to download the SSH key to a text file. It is enabled only after you click Generate.
      • In the Deployment priority, select High, Medium, or Low for resource allocation.
      • From Start on, make one of the following selections.
        • Click Deploy now to start the deployment process right away.
        • Click Schedule deployment to schedule it start on a different date and time:
        • From Start on, click the calendar to specify a date for the deployment to start.
        • From Choose a time, specify the time for the deployment to start.
        • Click Run indefinitely to continue the deployment process for an indefinite time.
        • Click Stop on and schedule it to run until a specified date and time:
      • From Run until, click the calendar to specify a date for the deployment to run.
        • From Choose a time, specify the time for the deployment to run.

  5. Click Accelerator options tab.

    Note: The Accelerator options tab is available for both Customized option and Default option only if you had selected components to be installed in the initial page. This tab is always available for IBM Cloud Pak for Integration and IBM Cloud Pak for Watson AIOps in IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6.

  6. In the Accelerator options tab, enter the values that are required for the installation of the selected component. For example, if you selected Accelerator for teams in the initial page for IBM Cloud Pak for Applications, then enter the following details:

    • Installer tag
    • Entitled registry - Docker images are drawn from this registry.
    • Entitled registry user - It is the credential to access the entitled registry. It is available along with the license.
    • Entitled registry key - To get the entitled registry key, log in to your account and copy the key.
    • Enter the values for the selected components. This value varies from one component to another. For example, if you select Mobile Foundation component during IBM Cloud Pak for Applications deployment, enter the following values:
      • Project name
      • Database name
      • Database password
      • Database server
      • Schema prefix
      • Database username
      • Verify database password
      • Database server schema prefix
      • Database port number
    • If you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6, enter values for the following new options that are available:
      • Entitlement key - If you do not have an entitlement key, see the Entitlement keys External link icon section to obtain it.
      • Entitlement registry - The Entitlement Registry URL.
      • Entitlement registry user - The Red Hat user who has access to the entitlement registry.
      • Channel - It is the operator channel. If not specified, the default latest stable channel is used.
      • Namespace - It is the Red Hat OpenShift namespace where the operator is installed.

  7. In the Configure nodes tab, set the values.

    Note: The Configure nodes tab is not available for default deployment.

    The Hardware allocation section shows a graphical representation of the hardware allocation of the cloud group that is based on the selected cluster configuration. The Default configuration is open by default. You can select the configuration for worker nodes from the available list. If you want to customize the configurations, select Advanced toggle and edit the following nodes according to your requirement (refer to the respective accelerator for the nodes):

    • Worker nodes:

      • Drag the handler to increase the worker nodes:
        • Number of worker nodes (default is 2)
        • vCPUs allocated to each worker node (default is 2) (If you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6, the default is 8.)
        • Memory allocated to each worker node (default is 8 GB) (If you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6, the default is 32.)

      Notes:

      • Click Reset to revert to the default values.
      • The default number value within the parenthesis changes based on the topology and accelerator version.
      • When you add worker nodes post deployment, the OpenShift Container Platform node gets scaled up. There is no change to the Cloud Pak workload pod replicas.

    • Storage worker nodes: (available on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6)

      • Drag the handler to increase the storage worker nodes:
        • Number of worker nodes (default is 3)
        • vCPUs allocated to each worker node (default is 16)
        • Memory allocated to each worker node (default is 64 GB)

    • Primary helper node:

      • Drag the slider to increase the following Primary helper node values:

        • vCPU allocated to this node (default is 4)
        • Memory allocated to this node (default is 16 GB)

      • Select a value for Export disk size. The minimum size is 110 GB and maximum size is 1.8 TB. If you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6, the minimum size is 200 GB.

      • Select a value for CS disk size (GB). The minimum size is 110 GB and maximum size is 1.8 TB. If you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6, the minimum size is 200 GB.

        Notes:

        • Click Reset to revert to the default values.
        • The default number value within the parenthesis changes based on the topology and accelerator version.

    • Secondary helper node:

      • Drag the handler to increase the following Secondary helper node values:

        • vCPUs allocated to this node (default is 4)
        • Memory allocated to this node (default is 16 GB)

        Note:

        • Click Reset to revert to the default values.
        • The default number value within the parenthesis changes based on the topology and accelerator version.

    • Master nodes:

      • Drag the handler to increase the following Master node values:

        • Number of master nodes (default is 3)
        • vCPUs allocated to each master node (default is 4) (If you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6, the default is 8.)

        Note: When you deploy OpenShift Container Platform V4.x accelerators or Cloud Pak accelerators that are on OpenShift Container Platform V4.x, the master nodes are distributed among the compute nodes within a cloud group. If there are 3 or more compute nodes, then each master node is placed within a different compute node.

        • Memory allocated to each master node (default is 16 GB)

          Note

          • Click Reset to revert to the default values.
          • The default number value within the parenthesis changes based on the topology and accelerator version.

    • Bootstrap node:

      Note:

      • There is only one bootstrap node.

      • After the deployment, the Bootstrap node is deleted to free up system resources.

      • Drag the slider to increase the following Bootstrap node values:

        • vCPUs allocated to each master node (default is 4)
        • Memory allocated to each master node (default is 16 GB)

      Note:

      • Click Reset to revert to the default values.
      • The default number value within the parenthesis changes based on the topology and accelerator version.

  8. Optionally, click OpenShift options tab.

  9. In the OpenShift options tab, enter values for the following parameters:

    • If you want to use any external name for the cluster that does not come with the DNS, use these parameters:
      • Optional parameters
        • OpenShift cluster name
        • OpenShift base domain
      • Mandatory parameters
        • OpenShift Version: The OpenShift Container Platform version is a mandatory parameter and the value is populated automatically based on the selected accelerator.
    • OpenShift pull-secret - If you want to pull images from the external registry, use this parameter. This field is mandatory for OpenShift with OCS/ODF to pull OCS/ODF images.
    • If you want to use your own centralized NFS server for more reliability and high-availability, use these NFS parameters:
      • Alternate NFS server name or IP address (for the OpenShift image registry)
      • Alternate NFS server path (for the OpenShift image registry)
    • If you want to use any specific docker registry that is not available in the shared service to install OpenShift Container Platform, then use these image registry parameters:
      • OpenShift image registry name
      • OpenShift image registry password (secure registry only)
      • OpenShift image registry username (secure registry only)
      • Verify OpenShift image registry password (secure registry only)
    • If you are on IBM Cloud Pak System 2.3.3.6, use these parameters:
      • Optional parameters
        • OpenShift cluster domain name
        • OpenShift cluster name

  10. Click Review and deploy tab.

The Review and deploy tab includes the summary of all the details. If you want to revisit any of the inputs, click the Edit this section link to go to the appropriate section and make the necessary updates. The node topology section depicts a graphical representation of the nodes.

  1. Click Deploy.

A modal dialog box displays the details about the deployment. From the dialog box, you can go to the System management user interface or the Manage accelerator instances page.