About Red Hat Developer Hub
Red Hat Developer Hub is a customizable developer portal with enterprise-level support and a centralized software catalog that you can use to build high-quality software efficiently in a streamlined development environment.
Abstract
Red Hat Developer Hub (RHDH) is an enterprise-grade internal developer portal (IDP) that helps simplify and accelerates software delivery. It provides a customizable web-based interface that centralizes access to key development resources, including source code repositories, CI and CD pipelines, APIs, documentation, and runtime environments.
Red Hat Developer Hub is designed for cloud-native environments, including supported Kubernetes platforms, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, and hybrid infrastructure. By consolidating tools and standardizing development workflows, it helps teams deliver software faster with more consistency.
Designed for enterprise-scale software teams, RHDH helps developers focus on building software rather than managing tools. Developers can onboard quickly, create environments, and integrate with existing systems. With enterprise-grade security, role-based access control, and 24x7 support, teams stay productive while meeting compliance and reliability standards.
1. Understanding internal developer platforms
An internal developer platform (IDP) is a curated set of tools and services that supports developer self-service. Instead of navigating multiple systems, developers use a unified interface to provision environments, deploy code, and access APIs.
- Why IDPs matter
- IDPs address the challenges of modern software delivery by enabling self-service, enforcing standards, and improving the developer experience.
- For organizations
- Scalability: RHDH enables consistent developer onboarding and application delivery across growing teams and environments.
- Security: Role-based access control (RBAC) and integration with enterprise systems ensure access is managed securely and in line with compliance requirements.
- Operational efficiency: By removing manual handoffs and centralizing key development workflows, RHDH improves time to value and increases return on engineering investment.
- For platform engineers
- Curated platforms: Platform teams can design reusable templates and integrations aligned with organizational policies and developer needs.
- Central configuration: Infrastructure and policies are defined as code and centrally managed, reducing drift and maintenance overhead.
- Governance at scale: Policies and best practices are embedded into developer workflows using automation and templates, without adding friction to the process.
- For developers
- Faster onboarding: Developers can use learning paths, software templates, and software catalog to deploy compliant services within minutes, without depending on other teams for setup.
- Reduced cognitive load: Developers can find tools, documentation, and deployment environments in one place, eliminating the need to switch between systems or manage disconnected resources.
- Self-service workflows: Developers can create applications or environments on demand, without raising tickets or waiting for approvals.
- Built-in standards: Developers can use preconfigured templates that enforce secure, compliant workflows without requiring manual setup.
- Cross-team visibility: Developers can discover shared service catalogs and documentation to improve reuse and reduce duplication.
- Higher productivity: Developers can spend more time building features and less time configuring infrastructure or resolving toolchain inconsistencies.
Key features
- Centralized dashboard
- Access development tools, CI/CD pipelines, APIs, monitoring tools, and documentation from a single interface. Integrate with systems like Git, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, Kubernetes, and JIRA.
- Learning paths
- Guide developers through structured tutorials and onboarding steps. Help teams upskill with internal and Red Hat training resources in one place.
- Plugins and integrations
- Extend RHDH with verified plugins that add new functionality without downtime. Dynamically integrate with supported tools such as Tekton for pipelines, GitOps for deployment automation, Nexus Repository for artifact storage, and JFrog Artifactory. RHDH also supports connecting to Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, CI/CD systems, and security scanners through Red Hat-curated extensions.
- Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
- Manage user access with robust security permissions tailored to organizational needs.
- Software catalog
- Search, view, and manage services, APIs, and libraries from a central inventory. Track ownership, metadata, and component health in one place.
- Software templates
- Accelerate project setup using preconfigured templates for CI/CD, runtime, and security. Standardize implementation while enabling developer autonomy.
- Tech docs
- Create, store, and view technical documentation alongside code. Make content searchable, consistently formatted, and accessible through the portal.
- Scalability
- Support growing teams and applications while maintaining access to the same tools and services.
2. Integrations in Red Hat Developer Hub
Red Hat Developer Hub integrates seamlessly with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform and other tools, enabling comprehensive development and deployment workflows across enterprise.
2.1. Integration with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform
Red Hat Developer Hub is fully integrated with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, offering:
- Operators to manage application lifecycle.
- Access to advanced OpenShift capabilities such as service mesh, serverless functions, GitOps, and distributed tracing.
- Pipelines and GitOps plugins for streamlined cloud-native workflows.
2.2. Integration with Red Hat Trusted Application Pipeline
Red Hat Trusted Application Pipeline (RHTAP) enhances Red Hat Developer Hub by providing secure CI/CD capabilities that integrate security measures into every stage of the development process.
While Red Hat Developer Hub focuses on the inner loop (code, build, and test), RHTAP manages the outer loop, automating:
- Code scanning
- Image building
- Vulnerability detection
- Deployment
RHTAP includes tools like Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer (TAS) for code integrity, Red Hat Trusted Profile Analyzer (TPA) for automated Software build of Materials (SBOM) creation, and Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security (ACS) for vulnerability scanning.
2.3. Extending Backstage with Red Hat Developer Hub
Red Hat Developer Hub which is a fully supported, enterprise-grade productized version of upstream Backstage extends the upstream project by adding:
- Enhanced search capabilities that aggregate data from CI/CD pipelines, cloud providers, source control, and more.
- A centralized software catalog for locating applications, APIs, and resources.
- Automation through open-source plugins that expand Backstage’s core functionality.
- Simplified technical documentation using Markdown and GitHub, with integrated search for easy navigation.
3. Supported platforms
You can find the supported platforms and life cycle dates for both current and past versions of Red Hat Developer Hub on the Life Cycle page.
4. Sizing requirements for Red Hat Developer Hub
Scaling the Red Hat Developer Hub requires significant resource allocation. The following table lists the sizing requirements for installing and running Red Hat Developer Hub, including Developer Hub application, database components, and Operator.
Table 1. Recommended sizing for running Red Hat Developer Hub
Components | Red Hat Developer Hub application | Red Hat Developer Hub database | Red Hat Developer Hub Operator |
---|---|---|---|
Central Processing Unit (CPU) |
4 vCPU |
2 vCPU |
1 vCPU |
Memory |
16 GB |
8 GB |
1500 Mi |
Storage size |
2 GB |
20 GB |
50 Mi |
Replicas |
2 or more |
3 or more |
1 or more |
5. Red Hat Developer Hub support
If you experience difficulty with a procedure described in this documentation, visit the Red Hat Customer Portal. You can use the Red Hat Customer Portal for the following purposes:
- To search or browse through the Red Hat Knowledgebase of technical support articles about Red Hat products.
- To create a support case for Red Hat Global Support Services (GSS). For support case creation, select Red Hat Developer Hub as the product and select the appropriate product version.
- For detailed information about supported platforms and life cycle details, see Red Hat Developer Hub Life Cycle.