Using the Azure Service Operator on OpenShift

Today, we’re making the Azure Service Operator available on OperatorHub.io to enable users to connect OpenShift clusters to Azure services, including EventHub, Azure SQL, CosmosDB, Storage Accounts, and more.

The Azure Service Operator is an operator created and maintained by Microsoft (open source project here). It allows users to easily spin up and manage Azure resources, allowing developers to self-provision infrastructure, or even include Azure Service Operator in deployment pipelines. The project is made of two parts - a set of custom resource definitions and a controller manager. 

For OpenShift customers, whether you’re working in hybrid, multi-cloud, or on-prem environments, Azure Service Operator abstracts away Azure-specific knowledge, allowing you to deploy in a Kubernetes native way, and by simplifying the deployment of Azure resources to Kubernetes YAML. 

Azure services deployable in the OpenShift Developer Console in a self-service manner

Developers using Azure services in conjunction with applications running in OpenShift can easily discover, provision and manage the lifecycle of their Azure services from within the OpenShift Console. If your app deployments are driven by automation and a GitOps mindset, these Kubernetes objects can be quickly dropped into your existing workflows.

Get started

OpenShift cluster admins can install the Operator directly from OperatorHub. The Operator works in cluster-wide mode, allowing for all teams on a cluster to create and manage their Azure services. 

Cluster administrator experience when installing & configuring the Azure Service Operator

Users of the Operator Framework can also find instructions on getting started on the Azure Service Operator listing on OperatorHub.io.

Contributing to the Azure Service Operator

Red Hat and Microsoft continue to work together on the Azure Service Operator and would love for you to get involved as well. For more information on the project, see our GitHub repository here and the contribution guide.