The installation program in OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 is a Go binary file that performs a series of file transformations on a set of nodes. The installer uses three sets of files during installation:
- An installation configuration file: install-config.yaml
- Kubernetes manifests
- Ignition config files for the nodes.
Installation methods
Install OpenShift Container Platform using one of the following methods:
- Full Control: User Provisioned Infrastructure (UPI)-based deployment offers maximum flexibility and enables you to provision, configure, and manage the required infrastructure and resources (bootstrap machine, networking, load balancer, DNS, DHCP, and so on) for the cluster. The CSAH hosts the required services and deploys the cluster. For more information, see installing a user-provisioned cluster on bare metal.
- Automated: Installer Provisioned Infrastructure (IPI)-based deployment is automated. The installer uses the baseboard management controller (BMC) of each cluster host for provisioning. A temporary provisioner node is required. For more information, see deploying installer-provisioned clusters on bare metal.
- Interactive: Assisted Installer for OpenShift Container Platform offers an interactive way to enter configurable parameters or settings and generate a discovery ISO. The servers are booted using this ISO to install RHCOS and an agent. The Assisted Installer and the agent provide preinstallation validation and installation for the cluster. See Assisted Installer for OpenShift Container Platform.
- Local Agent-based: This method uses the Assisted Installer for OpenShift Container Platform for clusters that are confined in an air-gapped network. This method requires downloading and configuring the agent-based installer. See Installing an OpenShift Container Platform cluster with an Agent-based installer.
For more information, see OpenShift Container Platform Installation Overview.
Persistent storage
Stateful applications create a demand for persistent storage. For more information about how OpenShift administrators can provision persistent storage, see Understanding persistent storage.