Working with bundle images

You can use the Operator SDK to package, deploy, and upgrade Operators in the Bundle Format on Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM).

Bundling an Operator and deploying with Operator Lifecycle Manager

Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) helps you to install, update, and generally manage the lifecycle of Operators and their associated services on a Kubernetes cluster. OLM is installed by default on OKD and runs as a Kubernetes extension so that you can use the web console and the OpenShift CLI (oc) for all Operator lifecycle management functions without any additional tools.

The Operator Bundle Format is the default packaging method for Operator SDK and OLM. You can get your Operator ready for OLM by using the Operator SDK to build, push, validate, and run a bundle image with OLM.

Prerequisites

  • Operator SDK CLI installed on a development workstation

  • OpenShift CLI (oc) v4.7+ installed

  • Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) installed on a Kubernetes-based cluster (v1.16.0 or later if you use apiextensions.k8s.io/v1 CRDs, for example OKD 4.7)

  • Logged into the cluster with oc using an account with cluster-admin permissions

  • Operator project initialized by using the Operator SDK

  • If your Operator is Go-based, your project must have been updated to use supported images for running on OKD

Procedure

  1. Run the following make commands in your Operator project directory to build and push your Operator image. Modify the IMG argument in the following steps to reference a repository that you have access to. You can obtain an account for storing containers at repository sites such as Quay.io.

    1. Build the image:

      1. $ make docker-build IMG=<registry>/<user>/<operator_image_name>:<tag>

    2. Push the image to a repository:

      1. $ make docker-push IMG=<registry>/<user>/<operator_image_name>:<tag>

  2. Update your Makefile by setting the IMG URL to your Operator image name and tag that you pushed:

    1. $ # Image URL to use all building/pushing image targets
    2. IMG ?= <registry>/<user>/<operator_image_name>:<tag>

    This value is used for subsequent operations.

  3. Create your Operator bundle manifest by running the make bundle command, which invokes several commands, including the Operator SDK generate bundle and bundle validate subcommands:

    1. $ make bundle

    Bundle manifests for an Operator describe how to display, create, and manage an application. The make bundle command creates the following files and directories in your Operator project:

    • A bundle manifests directory named bundle/manifests that contains a ClusterServiceVersion object

    • A bundle metadata directory named bundle/metadata

    • All custom resource definitions (CRDs) in a config/crd directory

    • A Dockerfile bundle.Dockerfile

    These files are then automatically validated by using operator-sdk bundle validate to ensure the on-disk bundle representation is correct.

  4. Build and push your bundle image by running the following commands. OLM consumes Operator bundles using an index image, which reference one or more bundle images.

    1. Build the bundle image. Set BUNDLE_IMAGE with the details for the registry, user namespace, and image tag where you intend to push the image:

      1. $ make bundle-build BUNDLE_IMG=<registry>/<user>/<bundle_image_name>:<tag>

    2. Push the bundle image:

      1. $ docker push <registry>/<user>/<bundle_image_name>:<tag>

  5. Check the status of OLM on your cluster by using the following Operator SDK command:

    1. $ operator-sdk olm status \
    2.     --olm-namespace=openshift-operator-lifecycle-manager

  6. Run the Operator on your cluster by using the OLM integration in Operator SDK:

    1. $ operator-sdk run bundle \
    2.     [-n <namespace>] \(1)
    3.     <registry>/<user>/<bundle_image_name>:<tag>
    1By default, the command installs the Operator in the currently active project in your ~/.kube/config file. You can add the -n flag to set a different namespace scope for the installation.

    This command performs the following actions:

    • Create an index image with your bundle image injected.

    • Create a catalog source that points to your new index image, which enables OperatorHub to discover your Operator.

    • Deploy your Operator to your cluster by creating an Operator group, subscription, install plan, and all other required objects, including RBAC.

Testing an Operator upgrade on Operator Lifecycle Manager

You can quickly test upgrading your Operator by using Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) integration in the Operator SDK, without requiring you to manually manage index images and catalog sources.

The run bundle-upgrade subcommand automates triggering an installed Operator to upgrade to a later version by specifying a bundle image for the later version.

Prerequisites

  • Operator installed with OLM by using the run bundle subcommand

  • A bundle image that represents a later version of the installed Operator

Procedure

  1. If your Operator has not already been installed on OLM with the run bundle subcommand, install the earlier version of your Operator by specifying the bundle image. For example, for a Memcached Operator:

    1. $ operator-sdk run bundle <registry>/<user>/memcached-operator:v0.0.1

    Example output

    1. INFO[0009] Successfully created registry pod: quay-io-demo-memcached-operator-v0-0-1
    2. INFO[0009] Created CatalogSource: memcached-operator-catalog
    3. INFO[0010] OperatorGroup "operator-sdk-og" created
    4. INFO[0010] Created Subscription: memcached-operator-v0-0-1-sub
    5. INFO[0013] Approved InstallPlan install-bqggr for the Subscription: memcached-operator-v0-0-1-sub
    6. INFO[0013] Waiting for ClusterServiceVersion "my-project/memcached-operator.v0.0.1" to reach 'Succeeded' phase
    7. INFO[0013]   Waiting for ClusterServiceVersion "my-project/memcached-operator.v0.0.1" to appear
    8. INFO[0019]   Found ClusterServiceVersion "my-project/memcached-operator.v0.0.1" phase: Succeeded

  2. Upgrade the installed Operator by specifying the bundle image for the later Operator version:

    1. $ operator-sdk run bundle-upgrade <registry>/<user>/memcached-operator:v0.0.2

    Example output

    1. INFO[0002] Found existing subscription with name memcached-operator-v0-0-1-sub and namespace my-project
    2. INFO[0002] Found existing catalog source with name memcached-operator-catalog and namespace my-project
    3. INFO[0009] Successfully created registry pod: quay-io-demo-memcached-operator-v0-0-2
    4. INFO[0009] Updated catalog source memcached-operator-catalog with address and annotations
    5. INFO[0010] Deleted previous registry pod with name "quay-io-demo-memcached-operator-v0-0-1"
    6. INFO[0041] Approved InstallPlan install-gvcjh for the Subscription: memcached-operator-v0-0-1-sub
    7. INFO[0042] Waiting for ClusterServiceVersion "my-project/memcached-operator.v0.0.2" to reach 'Succeeded' phase
    8. INFO[0042]   Found ClusterServiceVersion "my-project/memcached-operator.v0.0.2" phase: InstallReady
    9. INFO[0043]   Found ClusterServiceVersion "my-project/memcached-operator.v0.0.2" phase: Installing
    10. INFO[0044]   Found ClusterServiceVersion "my-project/memcached-operator.v0.0.2" phase: Succeeded
    11. INFO[0044] Successfully upgraded to "memcached-operator.v0.0.2"

  3. Clean up the installed Operators:

    1. $ operator-sdk cleanup memcached-operator

Additional resources