Introducing the Red Hat Tested Solution for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform on Red Hat OpenStack Platform

In early 2020 we published a comprehensive document focussing on deploying Red Hat OpenShift Platform 4.4 and Red Hat OpenStack Platform 13 and 16. That edition updated a previous version, published a few months before, which focused on OpenShift 3.11. It would be an understatement to say that since then a lot has changed: it’s time for an update!

We are excited to announce our latest in the series: Red Hat Tested Solution: 

Red Hat Openshift Container Platform 4.6 and 4.7 on Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1.

Besides the technical enhancement, this update also covers some key lifecycle changes, as well as introduces a new format highlighting our comprehensive testing. 

Red Hat OpenStack Platform

In mid-2020, Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1 was released extending Red Hat’s long term lifecycle support to the next generation of the platform. This release not only includes new technical features ranging from network function virtualization (NFV) enhancements, to AI/ML, Edge, and developer features, but it’s also our first release that is aligned to be in lock-step with the underlying Red Hat Enterprise Linux Operating System lifecycle. 

This tight integration means that there will be no more short-term releases; only long-life releases supporting innovation and integration throughout the underlying RHEL lifecycle.

Red Hat OpenShift

In May of 2020, Red Hat OpenShift Platform 4.4 was released and formed the basis for our previous OpenShift on OpenStack Reference Architecture. It was chock full of features allowing for tight integration and easy deployment with Red Hat OpenStack Platform. Now, just under 12 months later, we’ve seen a further three releases, each with exciting new features for OpenShift on OpenStack implementations.

Whether it’s the increased storage options for your container workloads, or the better high- availability options, or the increased network maturity, the OpenShift on OpenStack experience has improved significantly. 

With EUS, customers get extended support for their OpenShift install beyond the usual upgrade life cycle. Including the full support phase, this provides customers with the option of additional support beyond the standard offering.

The introduction of EUS in OpenShift means customers can now combine it with the long life support already available from the Red Hat OpenStack Platform to provide enterprise-essential support timeframes across the stack. 

OpenShift on OpenStack

We’ve updated and enhanced the current OpenShift on OpenStack Reference Architecture to reflect these improvements.

This time, however, we won’t actually be releasing a reference architecture in the traditional sense. Instead, working across many of our teams, we’ve updated the concept to something exciting and, we feel, even more useful. 

We call it the “Red Hat Tested Solution.”

Unlike previous versions, we no longer demonstrate step-by-step implementation steps. Instead, all the recommendations made are fully tested together, in a lab, by Red Hat’s OpenShift on OpenStack Quality Engineering (QE) team. 

That’s right, everything in our solution document is run in our QE labs FIRST. Every recommendation is tested thoroughly and repeatedly; if it doesn’t work, we review the implementation, fix what needs to be fixed and ensure that we only publish what we have tested and is known to work.

It’s true collaboration across multiple teams, products, and timezones!

Of course, Red Hat product documentation already has the step-by-step implementation steps which, when combined with the review and testing assurances from the solution document, provides a truly holistic and practical solution to form the basis of any OpenShift on OpenStack implementation. 

Red Hat Tested Solution for OpenShift on OpenStack

So, what’s in the newest document?

The Red Hat Tested Solution for OpenShift on OpenStack highlights key enhancements across all aspects of integration. We cover improvements to storage, networking, and installation. We now feature the use of Kuryr SDN and Octavia for enhanced networking and take advantage of Red Hat OpenStack Platform 16.1’s default OVN Neutron backend. There is detailed information about Red Hat Ceph Storage integration and a detailed discussion about the new RWX options becoming available to the integration.

The solution document offers a little something for everyone. It’s an easy to review solution helping users new to OpenShift on OpenStack who are interested in trying a proof of concept or greenfield install. And for more seasoned users, it’s a comprehensive introduction to the key improvements and need-to-know updates affecting the most recent releases of OpenShift on OpenStack.

For a comprehensive, tested, and fully supported introduction to OpenShift on OpenStack’s many options and implementation choices, check out the Red Hat Tested Solution for OpenShift on OpenStack, available now!