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Installing OpenShift Virtualization using the web console

Install OpenShift Virtualization to add virtualization functionality to your OpenShift Container Platform cluster.

You can use the OpenShift Container Platform 4.6 web console to subscribe to and deploy the OpenShift Virtualization Operators.

Prerequisites

  • Install OpenShift Container Platform 4.6 on your cluster.

  • Log in as a user with cluster-admin permissions.

Subscribing to the OpenShift Virtualization catalog

Before you install OpenShift Virtualization, subscribe to the OpenShift Virtualization catalog from the OpenShift Container Platform web console. Subscribing gives the openshift-cnv namespace access to the OpenShift Virtualization Operators.

Procedure

  1. Open a browser window and log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console.

  2. Navigate to the Operators → OperatorHub page.

  3. Search for OpenShift Virtualization and then select it.

  4. Read the information about the Operator and click Install.

  5. On the Install Operator page:

    1. For Installed Namespace, ensure that the Operator recommended namespace option is selected. This installs the Operator in the mandatory openshift-cnv namespace, which is automatically created if it does not exist.

      Attempting to install the OpenShift Virtualization Operator in a namespace other than openshift-cnv causes the installation to fail.

    2. Select stable from the list of available Update Channel options. This ensures that you install the version of OpenShift Virtualization that is compatible with your OpenShift Container Platform version.

    3. For Approval Strategy, ensure that Automatic, which is the default value, is selected. OpenShift Virtualization automatically updates when a new z-stream release is available.

  6. Click Install to make the Operator available to the openshift-cnv namespace.

    On the Installed Operators screen, the Status displays Succeeded when OpenShift Virtualization finishes installation.

Deploying OpenShift Virtualization

After subscribing to the OpenShift Virtualization catalog, create the OpenShift Virtualization Operator Deployment custom resource to deploy OpenShift Virtualization.

Prerequisites

  • Subscribe to the OpenShift Virtualization catalog in the openshift-cnv namespace.

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the Operators → Installed Operators page.

  2. Click OpenShift Virtualization.

  3. Click the OpenShift Virtualization Operator Deployment tab and click Create HyperConverged Cluster.

    To avoid deployment errors, do not rename the custom resource. Before you proceed to the next step, ensure that the custom resource is named the default kubevirt-hyperconverged.

  4. Click Create to launch OpenShift Virtualization.

  5. Navigate to the Workloads → Pods page and monitor the OpenShift Virtualization pods until they are all Running. After all the pods display the Running state, you can access OpenShift Virtualization.

Next steps

You might want to additionally configure the following components:

  • The KubeMacPool component provides a MAC address pool service for virtual machine NICs in designated namespaces. Enable a MAC address pool in a namespace by applying the KubeMacPool label to that namespace.

  • The hostpath provisioner is a local storage provisioner designed for OpenShift Virtualization. If you want to configure local storage for virtual machines, you must enable the hostpath provisioner first.