Installer-provisioned installation of OpenShift Container Platform requires:
One provisioner node with Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 8.x installed. The provisioning node can be removed after installation.
Three control plane nodes.
Baseboard management controller (BMC) access to each node.
At least one network:
One required routable network
One optional network for provisioning nodes; and,
One optional management network.
Before starting an installer-provisioned installation of OpenShift Container Platform, ensure the hardware environment meets the following requirements.
Installer-provisioned installation involves a number of hardware node requirements:
CPU architecture: All nodes must use x86_64 CPU architecture.
Similar nodes: Red Hat recommends nodes have an identical configuration per role. That is, Red Hat recommends nodes be the same brand and model with the same CPU, memory, and storage configuration.
Baseboard Management Controller: The provisioner node must be able to access the baseboard management controller (BMC) of each OpenShift Container Platform cluster node. You may use IPMI, Redfish, or a proprietary protocol.
Latest generation: Nodes must be of the most recent generation. Installer-provisioned installation relies on BMC protocols, which must be compatible across nodes. Additionally, RHEL 8 ships with the most recent drivers for RAID controllers. Ensure that the nodes are recent enough to support RHEL 8 for the provisioner node and RHCOS 8 for the control plane and worker nodes.
Registry node: (Optional) If setting up a disconnected mirrored registry, it is recommended the registry reside in its own node.
Provisioner node: Installer-provisioned installation requires one provisioner node.
Control plane: Installer-provisioned installation requires three control plane nodes for high availability. You can deploy an OpenShift Container Platform cluster with only three control plane nodes, making the control plane nodes schedulable as worker nodes. Smaller clusters are more resource efficient for administrators and developers during development, production, and testing.
Worker nodes: While not required, a typical production cluster has two or more worker nodes.
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Do not deploy a cluster with only one worker node, because the cluster will deploy with routers and ingress traffic in a degraded state. |
Network interfaces: Each node must have at least one network interface for the routable baremetal network. Each node must have one network interface for a provisioning network when using the provisioning network for deployment. Using the provisioning network is the default configuration.
Unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI): Installer-provisioned installation requires UEFI boot on all OpenShift Container Platform nodes when using IPv6 addressing on the provisioning network. In addition, UEFI Device PXE Settings must be set to use the IPv6 protocol on the provisioning network NIC, but omitting the provisioning network removes this requirement.
Secure Boot: Many production scenarios require nodes with Secure Boot enabled to verify the node only boots with trusted software, such as UEFI firmware drivers, EFI applications, and the operating system. You may deploy with Secure Boot manually or managed.
Manually: To deploy an OpenShift Container Platform cluster with Secure Boot manually, you must enable UEFI boot mode and Secure Boot on each control plane node and each worker node. Red Hat supports Secure Boot with manually enabled UEFI and Secure Boot only when installer-provisioned installations use Redfish virtual media. See "Configuring nodes for Secure Boot manually" in the "Configuring nodes" section for additional details.
Managed: To deploy an OpenShift Container Platform cluster with managed Secure Boot, you must set the bootMode value to UEFISecureBoot in the install-config.yaml file. Red Hat only supports installer-provisioned installation with managed Secure Boot on 10th generation HPE hardware and 13th generation Dell hardware running firmware version 2.75.75.75 or greater. Deploying with managed Secure Boot does not require Redfish virtual media. See "Configuring managed Secure Boot" in the "Setting up the environment for an OpenShift installation" section for details.
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Red Hat does not support Secure Boot with self-generated keys. |
The installer for installer-provisioned OpenShift Container Platform clusters validates the hardware and firmware compatibility with Redfish virtual media. The following table lists supported firmware for installer-provisioned OpenShift Container Platform clusters deployed with Redfish virtual media.
| Hardware | Model | Management | Firmware Versions |
|---|---|---|---|
HP |
10th Generation |
iLO5 |
N/A |
9th Generation |
iLO4 |
N/A |
|
Dell |
14th Generation |
iDRAC 9 |
v4.20.20.20 - 04.40.00.00 |
13th Generation |
iDRAC 8 |
v2.75.75.75+ |
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See the hardware documentation for the nodes or contact the hardware vendor for information on updating the firmware. There are no known firmware limitations for HP servers. For Dell servers, ensure the OpenShift Container Platform cluster nodes have AutoAttach Enabled through the iDRAC console. The menu path is: Configuration → Virtual Media → Attach Mode → AutoAttach . With iDRAC 9 firmware version |
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The installer will not initiate installation on a node if the node firmware is below the foregoing versions when installing with virtual media. |
Installer-provisioned installation of OpenShift Container Platform involves several network requirements. First, installer-provisioned installation involves an optional non-routable provisioning network for provisioning the operating system on each bare metal node. Second, installer-provisioned installation involves a routable baremetal network.