Updating managed clusters in a disconnected environment with PolicyGenTemplate resources and TALM

You can use the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) to manage the software lifecycle of managed clusters that you have deployed by using GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) and Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM). TALM uses Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) PolicyGenTemplate policies to manage and control changes applied to target clusters.

warning

Using PolicyGenTemplate CRs to manage and deploy policies to managed clusters will be deprecated in an upcoming OpenShift Container Platform release. Equivalent and improved functionality is available using Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (RHACM) and PolicyGenerator CRs.

For more information about PolicyGenerator resources, see the RHACM Integrating Policy Generator documentation.

Additional resources

Setting up the disconnected environment

TALM can perform both platform and Operator updates.

You must mirror both the platform image and Operator images that you want to update to in your mirror registry before you can use TALM to update your disconnected clusters.

Procedure

For platform updates, you must perform the following steps:
1. Mirror the required OpenShift Container Platform image repository. Ensure that the required platform image is mirrored by following the "Mirroring the OpenShift Container Platform image repository" procedure linked in the Additional resources. Save the contents of the imageContentSources section in the imageContentSources.yaml file: The following is example output:
```
imageContentSources:
 - mirrors:
   - mirror-ocp-registry.ibmcloud.io.cpak:5000/openshift-release-dev/openshift4
   source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release
 - mirrors:
   - mirror-ocp-registry.ibmcloud.io.cpak:5000/openshift-release-dev/openshift4
   source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev
```
2. Save the image signature of the required platform image that was mirrored. You must add the image signature to the PolicyGenTemplate CR for platform updates. To get the image signature, perform the following steps:
  1. Specify the required OpenShift Container Platform tag by running the following command:
    $ OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER=<release_version>
  2. Specify the architecture of the cluster by running the following command:
    $ ARCHITECTURE=<cluster_architecture>
    - <cluster_architecture> specifies the architecture of the cluster, such as x86_64, aarch64, s390x, or ppc64le.
  3. Get the release image digest from Quay by running the following command
    $ DIGEST="$(oc adm release info quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release:${OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER}-${ARCHITECTURE} | sed -n 's/Pull From: .*@//p')"
  4. Set the digest algorithm by running the following command:
    $ DIGEST_ALGO="${DIGEST%%:*}"
  5. Set the digest signature by running the following command:
    $ DIGEST_ENCODED="${DIGEST#*:}"
  6. Get the image signature from the mirror.openshift.com website by running the following command:
    $ SIGNATURE_BASE64=$(curl -s "https://mirror.openshift.com/pub/openshift-v4/signatures/openshift/release/${DIGEST_ALGO}=${DIGEST_ENCODED}/signature-1" | base64 -w0 && echo)
  7. Save the image signature to the checksum-<OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER>.yaml file by running the following commands:
    $ cat >checksum-${OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER}.yaml <<EOF
    ${DIGEST_ALGO}-${DIGEST_ENCODED}: ${SIGNATURE_BASE64} EOF
3. Prepare the update graph. You have two options to prepare the update graph:
  1. Use the OpenShift Update Service. For more information about how to set up the graph on the hub cluster, see Deploy the operator for OpenShift Update Service and Build the graph data init container.
  2. Make a local copy of the upstream graph. Host the update graph on an http or https server in the disconnected environment that has access to the managed cluster. To download the update graph, use the following command:
    $ curl -s https://api.openshift.com/api/upgrades_info/v1/graph?channel=stable-4.22 -o ~/upgrade-graph_stable-4.22
For Operator updates, you must perform the following task:
- Mirror the Operator catalogs. Ensure that the required Operator images are mirrored by following the procedure in the "Mirroring Operator catalogs for use with disconnected clusters" section.

Additional resources

Performing a platform update with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

You can perform a platform update with the TALM.

Prerequisites

Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
Update GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to the latest version.
Provision one or more managed clusters with GitOps ZTP.
Mirror the required image repository.
Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

Create a PolicyGenTemplate CR for the platform update:
1. Save the following PolicyGenTemplate CR in the du-upgrade.yaml file: The following example shows the PolicyGenTemplate CR for platform update:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
kind: PolicyGenTemplate
metadata:
  name: "du-upgrade"
  namespace: "ztp-group-du-sno"
spec:
  bindingRules:
    group-du-sno: ""
  mcp: "master"
  remediationAction: inform
  sourceFiles:
    - fileName: ImageSignature.yaml
      policyName: "platform-upgrade-prep"
      binaryData:
        ${DIGEST_ALGO}-${DIGEST_ENCODED}: ${SIGNATURE_BASE64}
    - fileName: DisconnectedICSP.yaml
      policyName: "platform-upgrade-prep"
      metadata:
        name: disconnected-internal-icsp-for-ocp
      spec:
        repositoryDigestMirrors:
          - mirrors:
            - quay-intern.example.com/ocp4/openshift-release-dev
            source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release
          - mirrors:
            - quay-intern.example.com/ocp4/openshift-release-dev
            source: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-v4.0-art-dev
    - fileName: ClusterVersion.yaml
      policyName: "platform-upgrade"
      metadata:
        name: version
      spec:
        channel: "stable-4.22"
        upstream: http://upgrade.example.com/images/upgrade-graph_stable-4.22
        desiredUpdate:
          version: 4.22.4
      status:
        history:
          - version: 4.22.4
            state: "Completed"
```
  - ImageSignature.yaml - The ConfigMap CR contains the signature of the required release image to update to.
  - ${DIGEST_ALGO}-${DIGEST_ENCODED}: ${SIGNATURE_BASE64} - Shows the image signature of the required OpenShift Container Platform release. Get the signature from the checksum-${OCP_RELEASE_NUMBER}.yaml file you saved when following the procedures in the "Setting up the environment" section.
  - repositoryDigestMirrors - Shows the mirror repository that contains the required OpenShift Container Platform image. Get the mirrors from the imageContentSources.yaml file that you saved when following the procedures in the "Setting up the environment" section.
  - ClusterVersion.yaml - Shows the ClusterVersion CR to trigger the update. The channel, upstream, and desiredVersion fields are all required for image precaching.
  The PolicyGenTemplate CR generates two policies:
  - The du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep policy does the preparation work for the platform update. It creates the ConfigMap CR for the required release image signature, creates the image content source of the mirrored release image repository, and updates the cluster version with the required update channel and the update graph reachable by the managed cluster in the disconnected environment.
  - The du-upgrade-platform-upgrade policy is used to perform platform upgrade.
2. Add the du-upgrade.yaml file contents to the kustomization.yaml file located in the GitOps ZTP Git repository for the PolicyGenTemplate CRs and push the changes to the Git repository. ArgoCD pulls the changes from the Git repository and generates the policies on the hub cluster.
3. Check the created policies by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policies -A | grep platform-upgrade
```
Create the ClusterGroupUpdate CR for the platform update with the spec.enable field set to false.
1. Save the content of the platform update ClusterGroupUpdate CR with the du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep and the du-upgrade-platform-upgrade policies and the target clusters to the cgu-platform-upgrade.yml file, as shown in the following example:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu-platform-upgrade
  namespace: default
spec:
  managedPolicies:
  - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep
  - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade
  preCaching: false
  clusters:
  - spoke1
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 1
  enable: false
```
2. Apply the ClusterGroupUpdate CR to the hub cluster by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f cgu-platform-upgrade.yml
```
Optional: Precache the images for the platform update.
1. Enable precaching in the ClusterGroupUpdate CR by running the following command:
```
$ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-platform-upgrade \
--patch '{"spec":{"preCaching": true}}' --type=merge
```
2. Monitor the update process and wait for the pre-caching to complete. Check the status of pre-caching by running the following command on the hub cluster:
```
$ oc get cgu cgu-platform-upgrade -o jsonpath='{.status.precaching.status}'
```
Start the platform update:
1. Enable the cgu-platform-upgrade policy and disable pre-caching by running the following command:
```
$ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-platform-upgrade \
--patch '{"spec":{"enable":true, "preCaching": false}}' --type=merge
```
2. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policies --all-namespaces
```

Additional resources

Preparing the disconnected environment

Performing an Operator update with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

You can perform an Operator update with the TALM.

Prerequisites

Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
Update GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to the latest version.
Provision one or more managed clusters with GitOps ZTP.
Mirror the required index image, bundle images, and all Operator images referenced in the bundle images.
Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

Update the PolicyGenTemplate CR for the Operator update.
1. Update the du-upgrade PolicyGenTemplate CR with the following additional contents in the du-upgrade.yaml file:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
kind: PolicyGenTemplate
metadata:
  name: "du-upgrade"
  namespace: "ztp-group-du-sno"
spec:
  bindingRules:
    group-du-sno: ""
  mcp: "master"
  remediationAction: inform
  sourceFiles:
    - fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
      remediationAction: inform
      policyName: "operator-catsrc-policy"
      metadata:
        name: redhat-operators-disconnected
      spec:
        displayName: Red Hat Operators Catalog
        image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/redhat-operators-disconnected:v4.22
        updateStrategy:
          registryPoll:
            interval: 1h
      status:
        connectionState:
            lastObservedState: READY
```
  - image - The index image URL contains the required Operator images. If the index images are always pushed to the same image name and tag, this change is not needed.
  - updateStrategy - Set how frequently the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) polls the index image for new Operator versions with the registryPoll.interval field. This change is not needed if a new index image tag is always pushed for y-stream and z-stream Operator updates. The registryPoll.interval field can be set to a shorter interval to expedite the update, however shorter intervals increase computational load. To counteract this behavior, you can restore registryPoll.interval to the default value once the update is complete.
  - lastObservedState - Last observed state of the catalog connection. The READY value ensures that the CatalogSource policy is ready, indicating that the index pod is pulled and is running. This way, TALM upgrades the Operators based on up-to-date policy compliance states.
2. This update generates one policy, du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy, to update the redhat-operators-disconnected catalog source with the new index images that contain the required Operators images.
  note
  If you want to use the image precaching for Operators and there are Operators from a different catalog source other than redhat-operators-disconnected, you must perform the following tasks:
  - Prepare a separate catalog source policy with the new index image or registry poll interval update for the different catalog source.
  - Prepare a separate subscription policy for the required Operators that are from the different catalog source.
  For example, the required SRIOV-FEC Operator is available in the certified-operators catalog source. To update the catalog source and the Operator subscription, add the following contents to generate two policies, du-upgrade-fec-catsrc-policy and du-upgrade-subscriptions-fec-policy:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1
kind: PolicyGenTemplate
metadata:
  name: "du-upgrade"
  namespace: "ztp-group-du-sno"
spec:
  bindingRules:
    group-du-sno: ""
  mcp: "master"
  remediationAction: inform
  sourceFiles:
      # ...
    - fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
      remediationAction: inform
      policyName: "fec-catsrc-policy"
      metadata:
        name: certified-operators
      spec:
        displayName: Intel SRIOV-FEC Operator
        image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/far-edge-sriov-fec:v4.10
        updateStrategy:
          registryPoll:
            interval: 10m
    - fileName: AcceleratorsSubscription.yaml
      policyName: "subscriptions-fec-policy"
      spec:
        channel: "stable"
        source: certified-operators
```
3. Remove the specified subscriptions channels in the common PolicyGenTemplate CR, if they exist. The default subscriptions channels from the GitOps ZTP image are used for the update.
  
  note
  The default channel for the Operators applied through GitOps ZTP 4.22 is stable, except for the performance-addon-operator. As of OpenShift Container Platform 4.11, the performance-addon-operator functionality was moved to the node-tuning-operator. For the 4.10 release, the default channel for PAO is v4.10. You can also specify the default channels in the common PolicyGenTemplate CR.
4. Push the PolicyGenTemplate CRs updates to the GitOps ZTP Git repository. ArgoCD pulls the changes from the Git repository and generates the policies on the hub cluster.
5. Check the created policies by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policies -A | grep -E "catsrc-policy|subscription"
```
Apply the required catalog source updates before starting the Operator update.
1. Save the content of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR named operator-upgrade-prep with the catalog source policies and the target managed clusters to the cgu-operator-upgrade-prep.yml file:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu-operator-upgrade-prep
  namespace: default
spec:
  clusters:
  - spoke1
  enable: true
  managedPolicies:
  - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 1
```
2. Apply the policy to the hub cluster by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f cgu-operator-upgrade-prep.yml
```
3. Monitor the update process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policies -A | grep -E "catsrc-policy"
```
Create the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for the Operator update with the spec.enable field set to false.
1. Save the content of the Operator update ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy policy and the subscription policies created from the common PolicyGenTemplate and the target clusters to the cgu-operator-upgrade.yml file, as shown in the following example:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu-operator-upgrade
  namespace: default
spec:
  managedPolicies:
  - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
  - common-subscriptions-policy
  preCaching: false
  clusters:
  - spoke1
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 1
  enable: false
```
  - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy is needed by the image precaching feature to retrieve the Operator images from the catalog source.
  - common-subscriptions-policy contains Operator subscriptions. If you have followed the structure and content of the reference PolicyGenTemplates, all Operator subscriptions are grouped into the common-subscriptions-policy policy.
  note
  One ClusterGroupUpgrade CR can only precache the images of the required Operators defined in the subscription policy from one catalog source included in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. If the required Operators are from different catalog sources, such as in the example of the SRIOV-FEC Operator, another ClusterGroupUpgrade CR must be created with du-upgrade-fec-catsrc-policy and du-upgrade-subscriptions-fec-policy policies for the SRIOV-FEC Operator images precaching and update.
2. Apply the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to the hub cluster by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f cgu-operator-upgrade.yml
```

Optional: Precache the images for the Operator update.

Before starting image precaching, verify the subscription policy is NonCompliant at this point by running the following command:

$ oc get policy common-subscriptions-policy -n <policy_namespace>

The following is example output:

NAME                          REMEDIATION ACTION   COMPLIANCE STATE     AGE
common-subscriptions-policy   inform               NonCompliant         27d

Enable precaching in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:

$ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-operator-upgrade \
--patch '{"spec":{"preCaching": true}}' --type=merge

Monitor the process and wait for the precaching to complete. Check the status of precaching by running the following command on the managed cluster:
```
$ oc get cgu cgu-operator-upgrade -o jsonpath='{.status.precaching.status}'
```

Check if the precaching is completed before starting the update by running the following command:

$ oc get cgu -n default cgu-operator-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.status.conditions}' | jq

The following is example output:

[
    {
      "lastTransitionTime": "2022-03-08T20:49:08.000Z",
      "message": "The ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is not enabled",
      "reason": "UpgradeNotStarted",
      "status": "False",
      "type": "Ready"
    },
    {
      "lastTransitionTime": "2022-03-08T20:55:30.000Z",
      "message": "Precaching is completed",
      "reason": "PrecachingCompleted",
      "status": "True",
      "type": "PrecachingDone"
    }
]

Start the Operator update.
1. Enable the cgu-operator-upgrade ClusterGroupUpgrade CR and disable precaching to start the Operator update by running the following command:
```
$ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-operator-upgrade \
--patch '{"spec":{"enable":true, "preCaching": false}}' --type=merge
```
2. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policies --all-namespaces
```

Additional resources

Upgrading GitOps ZTP

Troubleshooting missed Operator updates with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

In some scenarios, Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM) might miss Operator updates due to an out-of-date policy compliance state.

After a catalog source update, it takes time for the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) to update the subscription status. The status of the subscription policy might continue to show as compliant while TALM decides whether remediation is needed. As a result, the Operator specified in the subscription policy does not get upgraded.

To avoid this scenario, add another catalog source configuration to the PolicyGenTemplate and specify this configuration in the subscription for any Operators that require an update.

Procedure

Add a catalog source configuration in the PolicyGenTemplate resource:

- fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
      remediationAction: inform
      policyName: "operator-catsrc-policy"
      metadata:
        name: redhat-operators-disconnected
      spec:
        displayName: Red Hat Operators Catalog
        image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/redhat-operators-disconnected:v{product-version}
        updateStrategy:
          registryPoll:
            interval: 1h
      status:
        connectionState:
            lastObservedState: READY
- fileName: DefaultCatsrc.yaml
      remediationAction: inform
      policyName: "operator-catsrc-policy"
      metadata:
        name: redhat-operators-disconnected-v2
      spec:
        displayName: Red Hat Operators Catalog v2
        image: registry.example.com:5000/olm/redhat-operators-disconnected:<version>
        updateStrategy:
          registryPoll:
            interval: 1h
      status:
        connectionState:
            lastObservedState: READY

name - Update the name for the new configuration.
displayName - Update the display name for the new configuration.
image - Update the index image URL. This fileName.spec.image field overrides any configuration in the DefaultCatsrc.yaml file.

Update the Subscription resource to point to the new configuration for Operators that require an update:
```
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: operator-subscription
  namespace: operator-namspace
# ...
spec:
  source: redhat-operators-disconnected-v2
# ...
```
- redhat-operators-disconnected-v2 specifies the name of the additional catalog source configuration that you defined in the PolicyGenTemplate resource.

Performing a platform and an Operator update together

You can perform a platform and an Operator update at the same time.

Prerequisites

Install the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager (TALM).
Update GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP) to the latest version.
Provision one or more managed clusters with GitOps ZTP.
Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.
Create RHACM policies in the hub cluster.

Procedure

Create the PolicyGenTemplate CR for the updates by following the steps described in the "Performing a platform update" and "Performing an Operator update" sections.
Apply the prep work for the platform and the Operator update.
1. Save the content of the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the policies for platform update preparation work, catalog source updates, and target clusters to the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep.yml file, for example:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep
  namespace: default
spec:
  managedPolicies:
  - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade-prep
  - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
  clusterSelector:
  - group-du-sno
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 10
  enable: true
```
2. Apply the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep.yml file to the hub cluster by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f cgu-platform-operator-upgrade-prep.yml
```
3. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policies --all-namespaces
```
Create the ClusterGroupUpdate CR for the platform and the Operator update with the spec.enable field set to false.
1. Save the contents of the platform and Operator update ClusterGroupUpdate CR with the policies and the target clusters to the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade.yml file, as shown in the following example:
```
apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu-du-upgrade
  namespace: default
spec:
  managedPolicies:
  - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade
  - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
  - common-subscriptions-policy
  preCaching: true
  clusterSelector:
  - group-du-sno
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 1
  enable: false
```
  - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade is the platform update policy.
  - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy is the policy containing the catalog source information for the Operators to be updated. It is needed for the precaching feature to determine which Operator images to download to the managed cluster.
  - common-subscriptions-policy is the policy to update the Operators.
2. Apply the cgu-platform-operator-upgrade.yml file to the hub cluster by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f cgu-platform-operator-upgrade.yml
```
Optional: Precache the images for the platform and the Operator update.
1. Enable precaching in the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:
```
$ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-du-upgrade \
--patch '{"spec":{"preCaching": true}}' --type=merge
```
2. Monitor the update process and wait for the precaching to complete. Check the status of precaching by running the following command on the managed cluster:
```
$ oc get jobs,pods -n openshift-talm-pre-cache
```
3. Check if the precaching is completed before starting the update by running the following command:
```
$ oc get cgu cgu-du-upgrade -ojsonpath='{.status.conditions}'
```
Start the platform and Operator update.
1. Enable the cgu-du-upgrade ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to start the platform and the Operator update by running the following command:
```
$ oc --namespace=default patch clustergroupupgrade.ran.openshift.io/cgu-du-upgrade \
--patch '{"spec":{"enable":true, "preCaching": false}}' --type=merge
```
2. Monitor the process. Upon completion, ensure that the policy is compliant by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policies --all-namespaces
```
  note
  The CRs for the platform and Operator updates can be created from the beginning by configuring the setting to spec.enable: true. In this case, the update starts immediately after precaching completes and there is no need to manually enable the CR.
  Both precaching and the update create extra resources, such as policies, placement bindings, placement rules, managed cluster actions, and managed cluster view, to help complete the procedures. Setting the afterCompletion.deleteObjects field to true deletes all these resources after the updates complete.

Removing Performance Addon Operator subscriptions from deployed clusters with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

In earlier versions of OpenShift Container Platform, the Performance Addon Operator provided automatic, low latency performance tuning for applications. In OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later, these functions are part of the Node Tuning Operator.

Do not install the Performance Addon Operator on clusters running OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later. If you upgrade to OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later, the Node Tuning Operator automatically removes the Performance Addon Operator.

note

You need to remove any policies that create Performance Addon Operator subscriptions to prevent a re-installation of the Operator.

The reference DU profile includes the Performance Addon Operator in the PolicyGenTemplate CR truecommon-ranGen.yaml. To remove the subscription from deployed managed clusters, you must update truecommon-ranGen.yaml.

note

If you install Performance Addon Operator 4.10.3-5 or later on OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later, the Performance Addon Operator detects the cluster version and automatically hibernates to avoid interfering with the Node Tuning Operator functions. However, to ensure best performance, remove the Performance Addon Operator from your OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 clusters.

Prerequisites

Create a Git repository where you manage your custom site configuration data. The repository must be accessible from the hub cluster and be defined as a source repository for ArgoCD.
Update to OpenShift Container Platform 4.11 or later.
Log in as a user with cluster-admin privileges.

Procedure

Change the complianceType to mustnothave for the Performance Addon Operator namespace, Operator group, and subscription in the truecommon-ranGen.yaml file.

- fileName: PaoSubscriptionNS.yaml
  policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
  complianceType: mustnothave
- fileName: PaoSubscriptionOperGroup.yaml
  policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
  complianceType: mustnothave
- fileName: PaoSubscription.yaml
  policyName: "subscriptions-policy"
  complianceType: mustnothave

Merge the changes with your custom site repository and wait for the ArgoCD application to synchronize the change to the hub cluster. The status of the common-subscriptions-policy policy changes to Non-Compliant.
Apply the change to your target clusters by using the Topology Aware Lifecycle Manager. For more information about rolling out configuration changes, see the "Additional resources" section.
Monitor the process. When the status of the common-subscriptions-policy policy for a target cluster is Compliant, the Performance Addon Operator has been removed from the cluster. Get the status of the common-subscriptions-policy by running the following command:
```
$ oc get policy -n ztp-common common-subscriptions-policy
```
Delete the Performance Addon Operator namespace, Operator group and subscription CRs from spec.sourceFiles in the truecommon-ranGen.yaml file.
Merge the changes with your custom site repository and wait for the ArgoCD application to synchronize the change to the hub cluster. The policy remains compliant.

Precaching user-specified images with TALM on single-node OpenShift clusters

You can precache application-specific workload images on single-node OpenShift clusters before updating your applications.

You can specify the configuration options for the precaching jobs by using the following custom resources (CR):

PreCachingConfig CR
ClusterGroupUpgrade CR

TALM derives the platform image from the ClusterVersion object in the managed policies. TALM derives Operator index images from CatalogSource objects that the managed policies reference.

note

All fields in the PreCachingConfig CR are optional.

The following example shows a PreCachingConfig CR:

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: PreCachingConfig
metadata:
  name: exampleconfig
  namespace: exampleconfig-ns
spec:
  overrides:
    operatorsPackagesAndChannels:
      - local-storage-operator: stable
      - ptp-operator: stable
      - sriov-network-operator: stable
  spaceRequired: 30 Gi
  excludePrecachePatterns:
    - aws
    - vsphere
  additionalImages:
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/application1@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/application2@sha256:3d5800123dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47adfaef
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/applicationN@sha256:4fe1334adfafadsf987123adfffdaf1243340adfafdedga0991234afdadfsa09

overrides - Specifies Operator packages and channels to precache instead of the values that TALM derives from the managed policies. The only supported override is operatorsPackagesAndChannels. TALM ignores the deprecated platformImage and operatorsIndexes override fields if they are present.
spaceRequired - Specifies the minimum required disk space on the cluster. If unspecified, TALM defines a default value for OpenShift Container Platform images. The disk space field must include an integer value and the storage unit. For example: 40 GiB, 200 MB, 1 TiB.
excludePrecachePatterns - Specifies the images to exclude from precaching based on image name matching.
additionalImages - Specifies the list of additional images to precache.

The following example shows a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with a PreCachingConfig CR reference:

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu
spec:
  preCaching: true
  preCachingConfigRef:
    name: exampleconfig
    namespace: exampleconfig-ns

preCaching set to true enables the precaching job.
preCachingConfigRef.name specifies the PreCachingConfig CR that you want to use.
preCachingConfigRef.namespace specifies the namespace of the PreCachingConfig CR that you want to use.

Creating the custom resources for precaching

You must create the PreCachingConfig CR before or concurrently with the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR.

Procedure

Create the PreCachingConfig CR with the list of additional images you want to precache.

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: PreCachingConfig
metadata:
  name: exampleconfig
  namespace: default
spec:
# ...
  spaceRequired: 30Gi
  additionalImages:
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/application1@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/application2@sha256:3d5800123dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47adfaef
    - quay.io/exampleconfig/applicationN@sha256:4fe1334adfafadsf987123adfffdaf1243340adfafdedga0991234afdadfsa09

namespace must be accessible to the hub cluster.
spaceRequired - It is recommended to set the minimum disk space required field to ensure that there is sufficient storage space for the precached images.

Create a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with the preCaching field set to true and specify the PreCachingConfig CR created in the previous step:

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  name: cgu
  namespace: default
spec:
  clusters:
  - sno1
  - sno2
  preCaching: true
  preCachingConfigRef:
  - name: exampleconfig
    namespace: default
  managedPolicies:
    - du-upgrade-platform-upgrade
    - du-upgrade-operator-catsrc-policy
    - common-subscriptions-policy
  remediationStrategy:
    timeout: 240

warning

Once you install the images on the cluster, you cannot change or delete them.

When you want to start precaching the images, apply the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR by running the following command:
```
$ oc apply -f cgu.yaml
```
TALM verifies the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR. From this point, you can continue with the TALM precaching workflow.

note
All sites are precached concurrently.

Verification

Check the precaching status on the hub cluster where the ClusterGroupUpgrade CR is applied by running the following command:

$ oc get cgu <cgu_name> -n <cgu_namespace> -oyaml

The following example shows the derived precaching specification. The platformImage and operatorsIndexes values come from the managed policies, not from PreCachingConfig overrides.

  precaching:
    spec:
      platformImage: quay.io/openshift-release-dev/ocp-release@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
      operatorsIndexes:
        - registry.example.com:5000/custom-redhat-operators:1.0.0
      operatorsPackagesAndChannels:
        - local-storage-operator: stable
        - ptp-operator: stable
        - sriov-network-operator: stable
      excludePrecachePatterns:
        - aws
        - vsphere
      additionalImages:
        - quay.io/exampleconfig/application1@sha256:3d5800990dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47e2e1ef
        - quay.io/exampleconfig/application2@sha256:3d5800123dee7cd4727d3fe238a97e2d2976d3808fc925ada29c559a47adfaef
        - quay.io/exampleconfig/applicationN@sha256:4fe1334adfafadsf987123adfffdaf1243340adfafdedga0991234afdadfsa09
      spaceRequired: "30"
    status:
      sno1: Starting
      sno2: Starting

The precaching configurations are validated by checking if the managed policies exist. Valid configurations of the ClusterGroupUpgrade and the PreCachingConfig CRs result in the following statuses:

The following example shows the output of valid CRs:

- lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:01Z"
  message: All selected clusters are valid
  reason: ClusterSelectionCompleted
  status: "True"
  type: ClusterSelected
- lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:02Z"
  message: Completed validation
  reason: ValidationCompleted
  status: "True"
  type: Validated
- lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:03Z"
  message: Precaching spec is valid and consistent
  reason: PrecacheSpecIsWellFormed
  status: "True"
  type: PrecacheSpecValid
- lastTransitionTime: "2023-01-01T00:00:04Z"
  message: Precaching in progress for 1 clusters
  reason: InProgress
  status: "False"
  type: PrecachingSucceeded

The following example shows an invalid PreCachingConfig CR:

Type:    "PrecacheSpecValid"
Status:  False,
Reason:  "PrecacheSpecIncomplete"
Message: "Precaching spec is incomplete: failed to get PreCachingConfig resource due to PreCachingConfig.ran.openshift.io "<precaching_cr_name>" not found"

You can find the precaching job by running the following command on the managed cluster:
```
$ oc get jobs -n openshift-talo-pre-cache
```
The following example shows a precaching job in progress:
```
NAME        COMPLETIONS       DURATION      AGE
pre-cache   0/1               1s            1s
```

You can check the status of the pod created for the precaching job by running the following command:

$ oc describe pod pre-cache -n openshift-talo-pre-cache

The following example shows a precaching job in progress:

Type        Reason              Age    From              Message
Normal      SuccesfulCreate     19s    job-controller    Created pod: pre-cache-abcd1

You can get live updates on the status of the job by running the following command:
```
$ oc logs -f pre-cache-abcd1 -n openshift-talo-pre-cache
```

To verify the precache job is successfully completed, run the following command:

$ oc describe pod pre-cache -n openshift-talo-pre-cache

The following example shows a completed precache job:

Type        Reason              Age    From              Message
Normal      SuccesfulCreate     5m19s  job-controller    Created pod: pre-cache-abcd1
Normal      Completed           19s    job-controller    Job completed

To verify that the images are successfully precached on the single-node OpenShift, do the following:
1. Enter into the node in debug mode:
```
$ oc debug node/cnfdf00.example.lab
```
2. Change root to host:
```
$ chroot /host/
```
3. Search for the required images:
```
$ sudo podman images | grep <operator_name>
```

Additional resources

Using the container image precache feature

About the auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for GitOps ZTP

TALM has a controller called ManagedClusterForCGU that monitors the Ready state of the ManagedCluster CRs on the hub cluster and creates the ClusterGroupUpgrade CRs for GitOps Zero Touch Provisioning (ZTP).

For any managed cluster in the Ready state without a ztp-done label applied, the ManagedClusterForCGU controller automatically creates a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR in the ztp-install namespace with its associated RHACM policies that are created during the GitOps ZTP process. TALM then remediates the set of configuration policies that are listed in the auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR to push the configuration CRs to the managed cluster.

If there are no policies for the managed cluster at the time when the cluster becomes Ready, a ClusterGroupUpgrade CR with no policies is created. Upon completion of the ClusterGroupUpgrade the managed cluster is labeled as ztp-done. If there are policies that you want to apply for that managed cluster, manually create a ClusterGroupUpgrade as a Day 2 operation.

Procedure

View the auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for GitOps ZTP: The following example shows an auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for GitOps ZTP:

apiVersion: ran.openshift.io/v1alpha1
kind: ClusterGroupUpgrade
metadata:
  generation: 1
  name: spoke1
  namespace: ztp-install
  ownerReferences:
  - apiVersion: cluster.open-cluster-management.io/v1
    blockOwnerDeletion: true
    controller: true
    kind: ManagedCluster
    name: spoke1
    uid: 98fdb9b2-51ee-4ee7-8f57-a84f7f35b9d5
  resourceVersion: "46666836"
  uid: b8be9cd2-764f-4a62-87d6-6b767852c7da
spec:
  actions:
    afterCompletion:
      addClusterLabels:
        ztp-done: ""
      deleteClusterLabels:
        ztp-running: ""
      deleteObjects: true
    beforeEnable:
      addClusterLabels:
        ztp-running: ""
  clusters:
  - spoke1
  enable: true
  managedPolicies:
  - common-spoke1-config-policy
  - common-spoke1-subscriptions-policy
  - group-spoke1-config-policy
  - spoke1-config-policy
  - group-spoke1-validator-du-policy
  preCaching: false
  remediationStrategy:
    maxConcurrency: 1
    timeout: 240

ztp-done: "" is applied to the managed cluster when TALM completes the cluster configuration.
ztp-running: "" is applied to the managed cluster when TALM starts deploying the configuration policies.

Setting up the disconnected environment​

Performing a platform update with PolicyGenTemplate CRs​

Performing an Operator update with PolicyGenTemplate CRs​

Troubleshooting missed Operator updates with PolicyGenTemplate CRs​

Performing a platform and an Operator update together​

Removing Performance Addon Operator subscriptions from deployed clusters with PolicyGenTemplate CRs​

Precaching user-specified images with TALM on single-node OpenShift clusters​

Creating the custom resources for precaching​

About the auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for GitOps ZTP​

Setting up the disconnected environment

Performing a platform update with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Performing an Operator update with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Troubleshooting missed Operator updates with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Performing a platform and an Operator update together

Removing Performance Addon Operator subscriptions from deployed clusters with PolicyGenTemplate CRs

Precaching user-specified images with TALM on single-node OpenShift clusters

Creating the custom resources for precaching

About the auto-created ClusterGroupUpgrade CR for GitOps ZTP