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Working with Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines using the Developer perspective

You can use the Developer perspective of the OpenShift Container Platform web console to create CI/CD pipelines for your software delivery process.

In the Developer perspective:

  • Use the Add → Pipeline → Pipeline builder option to create customized pipelines for your application.

  • Use the Add → From Git option to create pipelines using operator-installed pipeline templates and resources while creating an application on OpenShift Container Platform.

After you create the pipelines for your application, you can view and visually interact with the deployed pipelines in the Pipelines view. You can also use the Topology view to interact with the pipelines created using the From Git option. You must apply custom labels to pipelines created using the Pipeline builder to see them in the Topology view.

Prerequisites

Constructing pipelines using the Pipeline builder

In the Developer perspective of the console, you can use the +Add → Pipeline → Pipeline builder option to:

  • Configure pipelines using either the Pipeline builder or the YAML view.

  • Construct a pipeline flow using existing tasks and cluster tasks. When you install the OpenShift Pipelines Operator, it adds reusable pipeline cluster tasks to your cluster.

In Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines 1.10, cluster task functionality is deprecated and is planned to be removed in a future release.

  • Specify the type of resources required for the pipeline run, and if required, add additional parameters to the pipeline.

  • Reference these pipeline resources in each of the tasks in the pipeline as input and output resources.

  • If required, reference any additional parameters added to the pipeline in the task. The parameters for a task are prepopulated based on the specifications of the task.

  • Use the Operator-installed, reusable snippets and samples to create detailed pipelines.

  • Search and add tasks from your configured local Tekton Hub instance.

In the developer perspective, you can create a customized pipeline using your own set of curated tasks. To search, install, and upgrade your tasks directly from the developer console, your cluster administrator needs to install and deploy a local Tekton Hub instance and link that hub to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster. For more details, see Using Tekton Hub with OpenShift Pipelines in the Additional resources section. If you do not deploy any local Tekton Hub instance, by default, you can only access the cluster tasks, namespace tasks and public Tekton Hub tasks.
Procedure

  1. In the +Add view of the Developer perspective, click the Pipeline tile to see the Pipeline builder page.

  2. Configure the pipeline using either the Pipeline builder view or the YAML view.

    The Pipeline builder view supports a limited number of fields whereas the YAML view supports all available fields. Optionally, you can also use the Operator-installed, reusable snippets and samples to create detailed pipelines.
    op pipeline yaml
    Figure 1. YAML view

  3. Configure your pipeline by using Pipeline builder:

    1. In the Name field, enter a unique name for the pipeline.

    2. In the Tasks section:

      1. Click Add task.

      2. Search for a task using the quick search field and select the required task from the displayed list.

      3. Click Add or Install and add. In this example, use the s2i-nodejs task.

        The search list contains all the Tekton Hub tasks and tasks available in the cluster. Also, if a task is already installed it will show Add to add the task whereas it will show Install and add to install and add the task. It will show Update and add when you add the same task with an updated version.

        • To add sequential tasks to the pipeline:

          • Click the plus icon to the right or left of the task → click Add task.

          • Search for a task using the quick search field and select the required task from the displayed list.

          • Click Add or Install and add.

            op pipeline builder
            Figure 2. Pipeline builder

        • To add a final task:

          • Click the Add finally task → Click Add task.

          • Search for a task using the quick search field and select the required task from the displayed list.

          • Click Add or Install and add.

    3. In the Resources section, click Add Resources to specify the name and type of resources for the pipeline run. These resources are then used by the tasks in the pipeline as inputs and outputs. For this example:

      1. Add an input resource. In the Name field, enter Source, and then from the Resource Type drop-down list, select Git.

      2. Add an output resource. In the Name field, enter Img, and then from the Resource Type drop-down list, select Image.

        A red icon appears next to the task if a resource is missing.

    4. Optional: The Parameters for a task are pre-populated based on the specifications of the task. If required, use the Add Parameters link in the Parameters section to add additional parameters.

    5. In the Workspaces section, click Add workspace and enter a unique workspace name in the Name field. You can add multiple workspaces to the pipeline.

    6. In the Tasks section, click the s2i-nodejs task to see the side panel with details for the task. In the task side panel, specify the resources and parameters for the s2i-nodejs task:

      1. If required, in the Parameters section, add more parameters to the default ones, by using the $(params.<param-name>) syntax.

      2. In the Image section, enter Img as specified in the Resources section.

      3. Select a workspace from the source drop-down under Workspaces section.

    7. Add resources, parameters, and workspaces to the openshift-client task.

  4. Click Create to create and view the pipeline in the Pipeline Details page.

  5. Click the Actions drop-down menu then click Start, to see the Start Pipeline page.

  6. The Workspaces section lists the workspaces you created earlier. Use the respective drop-down to specify the volume source for your workspace. You have the following options: Empty Directory, Config Map, Secret, PersistentVolumeClaim, or VolumeClaimTemplate.

Creating OpenShift Pipelines along with applications

To create pipelines along with applications, use the From Git option in the Add+ view of the Developer perspective. You can view all of your available pipelines and select the pipelines you want to use to create applications while importing your code or deploying an image.

The Tekton Hub Integration is enabled by default and you can see tasks from the Tekton Hub that are supported by your cluster. Administrators can opt out of the Tekton Hub Integration and the Tekton Hub tasks will no longer be displayed. You can also check whether a webhook URL exists for a generated pipeline. Default webhooks are added for the pipelines that are created using the +Add flow and the URL is visible in the side panel of the selected resources in the Topology view.

For more information, see Creating applications using the Developer perspective.

Adding a GitHub repository containing pipelines

In the developer perspective, you can add your GitHub repository containing pipelines to the OpenShift Container Platform cluster. This allows you to run pipelines and tasks from your GitHub repository on the cluster when relevant Git events, such as push or pull requests are triggered.

You can add both public and private GitHub repositories.
Prerequisites

  • Ensure that your cluster administrator has configured the required GitHub applications in the administrator perspective.

Procedure

  1. In the developer perspective, choose the namespace or project in which you want to add your GitHub repository.

  2. Navigate to Pipelines using the left navigation pane.

  3. Click Create → Repository on the right side of the Pipelines page.

  4. Enter your Git Repo URL and the console automatically fetches the repository name.

  5. Click Show configuration options. By default, you see only one option Setup a webhook. If you have a GitHub application configured, you see two options:

    • Use GitHub App: Select this option to install your GitHub application in your repository.

    • Setup a webhook: Select this option to add a webhook to your GitHub application.

  6. Set up a webhook using one of the following options in the Secret section:

    • Setup a webhook using Git access token:

      1. Enter your personal access token.

      2. Click Generate corresponding to the Webhook secret field to generate a new webhook secret.

        Git access token

        You can click the link below the Git access token field if you do not have a personal access token and want to create a new one.

    • Setup a webhook using Git access token secret:

      • Select a secret in your namespace from the dropdown list. Depending on the secret you selected, a webhook secret is automatically generated.

        Git access token secret

  7. Add the webhook secret details to your GitHub repository:

    1. Copy the webhook URL and navigate to your GitHub repository settings.

    2. Click Webhooks → Add webhook.

    3. Copy the Webhook URL from the developer console and paste it in the Payload URL field of the GitHub repository settings.

    4. Select the Content type.

    5. Copy the Webhook secret from the developer console and paste it in the Secret field of the GitHub repository settings.

    6. Select one of the SSL verification options.

    7. Select the events to trigger this webhook.

    8. Click Add webhook.

  8. Navigate back to the developer console and click Add.

  9. Read the details of the steps that you have to perform and click Close.

  10. View the details of the repository you just created.

Interacting with pipelines using the Developer perspective

The Pipelines view in the Developer perspective lists all the pipelines in a project, along with the following details:

  • The namespace in which the pipeline was created

  • The last pipeline run

  • The status of the tasks in the pipeline run

  • The status of the pipeline run

  • The creation time of the last pipeline run

Procedure

  1. In the Pipelines view of the Developer perspective, select a project from the Project drop-down list to see the pipelines in that project.

  2. Click the required pipeline to see the Pipeline details page.

    By default, the Details tab displays a visual representation of all the serial tasks, parallel tasks, finally tasks, and when expressions in the pipeline. The tasks and the finally tasks are listed in the lower right portion of the page.

    To view the task details, click the listed Tasks and Finally tasks. In addition, you can do the following:

    • Use the zoom in, zoom out, fit to screen, and reset view features using the standard icons displayed in the lower left corner of the Pipeline details visualization.

    • Change the zoom factor of the pipeline visualization using the mouse wheel.

    • Hover over the tasks and see the task details.

      Pipeline details
      Figure 3. Pipeline details

  3. Optional: On the Pipeline details page, click the Metrics tab to see the following information about pipelines:

    • Pipeline Success Ratio

    • Number of Pipeline Runs

    • Pipeline Run Duration

    • Task Run Duration

      You can use this information to improve the pipeline workflow and eliminate issues early in the pipeline lifecycle.

  4. Optional: Click the YAML tab to edit the YAML file for the pipeline.

  5. Optional: Click the Pipeline Runs tab to see the completed, running, or failed runs for the pipeline.

    The Pipeline Runs tab provides details about the pipeline run, the status of the task, and a link to debug failed pipeline runs. Use the Options menu kebab to stop a running pipeline, to rerun a pipeline using the same parameters and resources as that of the previous pipeline execution, or to delete a pipeline run.

    • Click the required pipeline run to see the Pipeline Run details page. By default, the Details tab displays a visual representation of all the serial tasks, parallel tasks, finally tasks, and when expressions in the pipeline run. The results for successful runs are displayed under the Pipeline Run results pane at the bottom of the page. Additionally, you would only be able to see tasks from Tekton Hub which are supported by the cluster. While looking at a task, you can click the link beside it to jump to the task documentation.

      The Details section of the Pipeline Run Details page displays a Log Snippet of the failed pipeline run. Log Snippet provides a general error message and a snippet of the log. A link to the Logs section provides quick access to the details about the failed run.

    • On the Pipeline Run details page, click the Task Runs tab to see the completed, running, and failed runs for the task.

      The Task Runs tab provides information about the task run along with the links to its task and pod, and also the status and duration of the task run. Use the Options menu kebab to delete a task run.

    • Click the required task run to see the Task Run details page. The results for successful runs are displayed under the Task Run results pane at the bottom of the page.

      The Details section of the Task Run details page displays a Log Snippet of the failed task run. Log Snippet provides a general error message and a snippet of the log. A link to the Logs section provides quick access to the details about the failed task run.

  6. Click the Parameters tab to see the parameters defined in the pipeline. You can also add or edit additional parameters, as required.

  7. Click the Resources tab to see the resources defined in the pipeline. You can also add or edit additional resources, as required.

Using a custom pipeline template for creating and deploying an application from a Git repository

As a cluster administrator, to create and deploy an application from a Git repository, you can use custom pipeline templates that override the default pipeline templates provided by Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines 1.5 and later.

This feature is unavailable in Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines 1.4 and earlier versions.
Prerequisites

Ensure that the Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines 1.5 or later is installed and available in all namespaces.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console as a cluster administrator.

  2. In the Administrator perspective, use the left navigation panel to go to the Pipelines section.

    1. From the Project drop-down, select the openshift project. This ensures that the subsequent steps are performed in the openshift namespace.

    2. From the list of available pipelines, select a pipeline that is appropriate for building and deploying your application. For example, if your application requires a node.js runtime environment, select the s2i-nodejs pipeline.

      Do not edit the default pipeline template. It may become incompatible with the UI and the back-end.

    3. Under the YAML tab of the selected pipeline, click Download and save the YAML file to your local machine. If your custom configuration file fails, you can use this copy to restore a working configuration.

  3. Disable (delete) the default pipeline templates:

    1. Use the left navigation panel to go to Operators → Installed Operators.

    2. Click Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines → Tekton Configuration tab → config → YAML tab.

    3. To disable (delete) the default pipeline templates in the openshift namespace, set the pipelineTemplates parameter to false in the TektonConfig custom resource YAML, and save it.

      apiVersion: operator.tekton.dev/v1alpha1
kind: TektonConfig
metadata:
  name: config
spec:
profile: all
targetNamespace: openshift-pipelines
addon:
  params:
  - name: clusterTasks
    value: "true"
  - name: pipelineTemplates
    value: "false"
...

      If you manually delete the default pipeline templates, the Operator restores the defaults during an upgrade.

      As a cluster admin, you can disable the installation of the default pipeline templates in the Operator configuration. However, such a configuration deletes all default pipeline templates, not just the one you want to customize.

  4. Create a custom pipeline template:

    1. Use the left navigation panel to go to the Pipelines section.

    2. From the Create drop-down, select Pipeline.

    3. Create the required pipeline in the openshift namespace. Give it a different name than the default one (for example, custom-nodejs). You can use the downloaded default pipeline template as a starting point and customize it.

      Because openshift is the default namespace used by the operator-installed pipeline templates, you must create the custom pipeline template in the openshift namespace. When an application uses a pipeline template, the template is automatically copied to the respective project’s namespace.

    4. Under the Details tab of the created pipeline, ensure that the Labels in the custom template match the labels in the default pipeline. The custom pipeline template must have the correct labels for the runtime, type, and strategy of the application. For example, the required labels for a node.js application deployed on OpenShift Container Platform are as follows:

      ...
pipeline.openshift.io/runtime: nodejs
pipeline.openshift.io/type: openshift
...

      You can use only one pipeline template for each combination of runtime environment and deployment type.

  5. In the Developer perspective, use the +Add → Git Repository → From Git option to select the kind of application you want to create and deploy. Based on the required runtime and type of the application, your custom template is automatically selected.

Starting pipelines from Pipelines view

After you create a pipeline, you need to start it to execute the included tasks in the defined sequence. You can start a pipeline from the Pipelines view, the Pipeline Details page, or the Topology view.

Procedure

To start a pipeline using the Pipelines view:

  1. In the Pipelines view of the Developer perspective, click the Options kebab menu adjoining a pipeline, and select Start.

  2. The Start Pipeline dialog box displays the Git Resources and the Image Resources based on the pipeline definition.

    For pipelines created using the From Git option, the Start Pipeline dialog box also displays an APP_NAME field in the Parameters section, and all the fields in the dialog box are prepopulated by the pipeline template.

    1. If you have resources in your namespace, the Git Resources and the Image Resources fields are prepopulated with those resources. If required, use the drop-downs to select or create the required resources and customize the pipeline run instance.

  3. Optional: Modify the Advanced Options to add the credentials that authenticate the specified private Git server or the image registry.

    1. Under Advanced Options, click Show Credentials Options and select Add Secret.

    2. In the Create Source Secret section, specify the following:

      1. A unique Secret Name for the secret.

      2. In the Designated provider to be authenticated section, specify the provider to be authenticated in the Access to field, and the base Server URL.

      3. Select the Authentication Type and provide the credentials:

        • For the Authentication Type Image Registry Credentials, specify the Registry Server Address that you want to authenticate, and provide your credentials in the Username, Password, and Email fields.

          Select Add Credentials if you want to specify an additional Registry Server Address.

        • For the Authentication Type Basic Authentication, specify the values for the UserName and Password or Token fields.

        • For the Authentication Type SSH Keys, specify the value of the SSH Private Key field.

          For basic authentication and SSH authentication, you can use annotations such as:

      4. Select the check mark to add the secret.

    You can add multiple secrets based upon the number of resources in your pipeline.

  4. Click Start to start the pipeline.

  5. The PipelineRun details page displays the pipeline being executed. After the pipeline starts, the tasks and steps within each task are executed. You can:

    • Use the zoom in, zoom out, fit to screen, and reset view features using the standard icons, which are in the lower left corner of the PipelineRun details page visualization.

    • Change the zoom factor of the pipelinerun visualization using the mouse wheel. At specific zoom factors, the background color of the tasks changes to indicate the error or warning status.

    • Hover over the tasks to see the details, such as the time taken to execute each step, task name, and task status.

    • Hover over the tasks badge to see the total number of tasks and tasks completed.

    • Click on a task to see the logs for each step in the task.

    • Click the Logs tab to see the logs relating to the execution sequence of the tasks. You can also expand the pane and download the logs individually or in bulk, by using the relevant button.

    • Click the Events tab to see the stream of events generated by a pipeline run.

      You can use the Task Runs, Logs, and Events tabs to assist in debugging a failed pipeline run or a failed task run.

      Pipeline run details
      Figure 4. Pipeline run details

Starting pipelines from Topology view

For pipelines created using the From Git option, you can use the Topology view to interact with pipelines after you start them:

To see the pipelines created using Pipeline builder in the Topology view, customize the pipeline labels to link the pipeline with the application workload.
Procedure

  1. Click Topology in the left navigation panel.

  2. Click the application to display Pipeline Runs in the side panel.

  3. In Pipeline Runs, click Start Last Run to start a new pipeline run with the same parameters and resources as the previous one. This option is disabled if a pipeline run has not been initiated. You can also start a pipeline run when you create it.