Installing Red Hat Developer Hub in an air-gapped environment
Running Red Hat Developer Hub on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform in a networik restricted environment by using either the Operator or Helm chart.
Abstract
1. Air-gapped environment
An air-gapped environment, also known as an air-gapped network or isolated network, ensures security by physically segregating the system or network. This isolation is established to prevent unauthorized access, data transfer, or communication between the air-gapped system and external sources.
You can install the Red Hat Developer Hub in an air-gapped environment to ensure security and meet specific regulatory requirements.
2. Installing Red Hat Developer Hub in an air-gapped environment with the Operator
You can install Red Hat Developer Hub in a fully disconnected or partially disconnected environment using the Red Hat Developer Hub Operator. For a list of supported platforms, see the Red Hat Developer Hub Life Cycle page.
2.1. Installing Red Hat Developer Hub in a fully disconnected environment with the Operator
In environments without internet access — whether for security, compliance, or operational reasons — a fully disconnected installation ensures that Red Hat Developer Hub can run reliably without external dependencies.
If your network has access to the registry through a bastion host, you can use the helper script to install Red Hat Developer Hub by mirroring the Operator-related images to disk and transferring them to your air-gapped environment without any connection to the internet.
Prerequisites
- You have installed Podman 5.3 or later. For more information, see Podman Installation Instructions.
- You have installed Skopeo 1.17 or later.
-
You have installed
yq
4.44 or later. -
You have installed the GNU
sed
command line text editor. -
You have installed
umoci
CLI tool. -
You have an active
oc registry
,podman
, orskopeo
session to theregistry.redhat.io
Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog. For more information, see Red Hat Container Registry Authentication. -
You have installed the
opm
CLI tool. For more information, see Installing the opm CLI.
Procedure
Download the mirroring script to disk by running the following command:
curl -sSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/redhat-developer/rhdh-operator/refs/heads/release-1.5/.rhdh/scripts/prepare-restricted-environment.sh
Run the mirroring script by using the
bash
command with the appropriate set of options:bash prepare-restricted-environment.sh --filter-versions "1.5" --to-dir _<my_pulled_image_location>_ 1 [--use-oc-mirror true] 2
NoteThe script can take several minutes to complete as it copies multiple images to the mirror registry.
-
Transfer the directory specified by the
--to-dir
option to your disconnected environment. From a machine in your disconnected environment that has access to both the cluster and the target mirror registry, run the mirroring script by using the
bash
command with the appropriate set of options:bash <my_pulled_image_location>/install.sh 1 --from-dir <my_pulled_image_location> 2 [--to-registry <my.registry.example.com>] 3 [--use-oc-mirror true] 4
- 1
- The downloaded image and the absolute path to the directory where it is stored on your system.
- 2
- Specifies the directory where you want to pull all of the necessary images with the
--to-dir
option. - 3
- Specifies the URL for the target mirror registry where you want to mirror the images.
- 4
- (Optional) Uses the
oc-mirror
OpenShift Container Platform CLI plugin to mirror images.
ImportantIf you used
oc-mirror
to mirror the images to disk, you must also useoc-mirror
to mirror the images from disk due to the folder layout thatoc-mirror
uses.NoteThe script can take several minutes to complete as it automatically installs the Red Hat Developer Hub Operator.
Verification
- If you are using Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, the Red Hat Developer Hub Operator is in the Installed Operators list in the web console.
If you are using a supported Kubernetes platform, you can check the list of pods running in the
rhdh-operator
namespace by running the following command in your terminal:kubectl -n rhdh-operator get pods
Next steps
Use the Operator to create a Red Hat Developer Hub instance on a supported platform. For more information, see the following documentation for the platform that you want to use:
2.2. Installing Red Hat Developer Hub in a partially disconnected environment with the Operator
On an OpenShift Container Platform cluster operating on a restricted network, public resources are not available. However, deploying the Red Hat Developer Hub Operator and running Developer Hub requires the following public resources:
- Operator images (bundle, operator, catalog)
- Operands images (RHDH, PostgreSQL)
To make these resources available, replace them with their equivalent resources in a mirror registry accessible to your cluster.
You can use a helper script that mirrors the necessary images and provides the necessary configuration to ensure those images are used when installing the Red Hat Developer Hub Operator and creating Developer Hub instances. This script requires a target mirror registry. You likely have a target mirror registry if your cluster is already operating on a disconnected network. If you do not already have a target registry, and if you have an OpenShift Container Platform cluster, you might want to expose and leverage the internal cluster registry.
When connected to a OpenShift Container Platform cluster, the helper script detects it and automatically exposes the cluster registry. If connected to a Kubernetes cluster, you can manually specify the target registry to mirror the images.
Prerequisites
- You have installed Podman 5.3 or later. For more information, see Podman Installation Instructions.
- You have installed Skopeo 1.17 or later.
-
You have installed
yq
4.44 or later. -
You have installed the GNU
sed
command line text editor. -
You have installed
umoci
CLI tool. -
You have an active
oc registry
,podman
, orskopeo
session to theregistry.redhat.io
Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog. For more information, see Red Hat Container Registry Authentication. -
You have an active
skopeo
session with administrative access to the target mirror registry. For more information, see Authenticating to a registry. -
You have installed the
opm
CLI tool. For more information, see Installing the opm CLI. If you are using an OpenShift Container Platform cluster, you have the following prerequisites:
-
(Optional) You have installed the
oc-mirror
OpenShift Container Platform CLI plugin if you want to use it to mirror images.
-
(Optional) You have installed the
If you are using a supported Kubernetes cluster, you have the following prerequisites:
- You have installed the Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) on the disconnected cluster.
- You have a mirror registry that is reachable from the disconnected cluster.
Procedure
- In your terminal, navigate to the directory where you want to save the mirroring script.
Download the mirroring script by running the following command:
curl -sSLO https://raw.githubusercontent.com/redhat-developer/rhdh-operator/refs/heads/release-1.5/.rhdh/scripts/prepare-restricted-environment.sh
Run the mirroring script by using the
bash
command with the appropriate set of options:bash prepare-restricted-environment.sh \ --filter-versions "1.5" \ [--to-registry <my.registry.example.com>] \ 1 [--use-oc-mirror true] 2
NoteThe script can take several minutes to complete as it copies multiple images to the mirror registry.
Verification
- If you are using Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, the Red Hat Developer Hub Operator is in the Installed Operators list in the web console.
If you are using a supported Kubernetes platform, you can check the list of pods running in the
rhdh-operator
namespace by running the following command in your terminal:kubectl -n rhdh-operator get pods
Next steps
Use the Operator to create a Red Hat Developer Hub instance on a supported platform. For more information, see the following documentation for the platform that you want to use:
3. Installing Red Hat Developer Hub on OpenShift Container Platform in an air-gapped environment with the Helm chart
You can install Red Hat Developer Hub in a fully disconnected or partially disconnected environment using the Red Hat Developer Hub Helm chart.
Additional resources
- For more information about registry authentication, see Red Hat Container Registry Authentication.
3.1. Installing Red Hat Developer Hub on OpenShift Container Platform in a fully disconnected environment with the Helm chart
If your network has access to the registry through a bastion host, you can use the Helm chart to install Red Hat Developer Hub by mirroring specified resources to disk and transferring them to your air-gapped environment without any connection to the internet.
Prerequisites
You have set up your workstation.
- You have access to the registry.redhat.io.
- You have access to the charts.openshift.io Helm chart repository.
-
You have installed the OpenShift CLI (
oc
) on your workstation. -
You have installed the oc-mirror OpenShift CLI (
oc
) plugin, for more information see Installing the oc-mirror OpenShift CLI plugin. - You have an account in Red Hat Developer portal.
You have set up your intermediary host.
- Your host has access to the disconnected cluster and to the target mirror registry, for example, the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform image registry. For more information about exposing the OpenShift Container Platform image registry, see Exposing the registry.
-
You have installed the oc-mirror OpenShift CLI (
oc
) plugin, for more information see Installing the oc-mirror OpenShift CLI plugin. - You have installed Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 or later.
-
You have installed the OpenShift CLI (
oc
) on your workstation.
Procedure
Create an
ImageSetConfiguration
file to specify the resources that you want to mirror. For example:apiVersion: mirror.openshift.io/v1alpha2 kind: ImageSetConfiguration mirror: helm: repositories: - name: <repository_name> (1) url: <repository_url> (2) charts: - name: <chart_name> (3) version: "<rhdh_version>" (4)
- The name of the repository that you want to mirror, for example,
openshift-charts
. - The URL for the repository that you want to mirror, for example,
https://charts.openshift.io
. - The name of the Helm chart that you want to mirror, for example,
redhat-developer-hub
. - The version of Red Hat Developer Hub that you want to use, for example,
1.5
Mirror the resources specified in the
ImageSetConfiguration.yaml
file by running theoc-mirror
command. For example:oc-mirror --config=<mirror_config_directory>/ImageSetConfiguration.yaml <mirror_archive_directory>/
where:
<mirror_config_directory>
-
Specifies the location of your image set configuration file on your system, for example,
.user
. <mirror_configuration_file>
-
Specifies the name of your mirror configuration yaml file, for example,
mirror-config.yaml
<mirror_archive_directory>
-
Specifies the location of your directory where the mirror archive will be created, for example,
file://.user
.
NoteRunning the
oc-mirror
command generates a local workspace containing the mirror archive file, the Helm chart, and aImageContentSourcePolicy
(ICSP) manifest. The ICSP manifest contains animageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
file that you must apply against the cluster in a later step.Example output
Creating archive /path/to/mirror-archive/mirror_seq1_000000.tar
-
Transfer the generated archive file (for example,
mirror_seq1_000000.tar
) to the air-gapped environment. Connect to your air-gapped environment and make sure that you are also connected to the following objects:
- The local target registry
- The target OpenShift Container Platform cluster
From your air-gapped environment, mirror the resources from the archive to the target registry by running the
oc-mirror
command. For example:oc-mirror --from <mirror-archive-file> <target-registry>
where:
<mirror_archive_file>
-
Specifies the name of the file containing the resources that you want to mirror, for example,
mirror_seq1_0000.tar
. <target_registry>
-
Specifies the name of the target registry that you want to push the mirrored images to, for example,
docker://registry.localhost:5000
.
Example output
Wrote release signatures to oc-mirror-workspace/results-1738075410 Writing image mapping to oc-mirror-workspace/results-1738075410/mapping.txt Writing ICSP manifests to oc-mirror-workspace/results-1738075410
In your workspace, locate the
imageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
file by running thels
command. For example:ls <workspace_directory>/<results_directory>
where:
<workspace_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your workspace directory, for example,
oc-mirror-workspace
. <results_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your results directory, for example,
results-1738070846
.
To mirror the Helm chart, deploy the
imageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
file in the disconnected cluster by running theoc apply
command. For example:oc apply -f <workspace_directory>/<results_directory>/ImageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
where:
<workspace-directory>
-
Specifies the name of your workspace directory, for example,
oc-mirror-workspace
. <results-directory>
-
Specifies the name of your results directory, for example,
results-1738070846
.
In your air-gapped environment, deploy the Helm chart to the namespace that you want to use by running the
helm install
command withnamespace
andset
options. For example:CLUSTER_ROUTER_BASE=$(oc get route console -n openshift-console -o=jsonpath='{.spec.host}' | sed 's/[.]*\.//') helm install <rhdh_instance> <workspace_directory>/<results_directory>/charts/<archive_file> --namespace <your_namespace> --create-namespace \ --set global.clusterRouterBase="$CLUSTER_ROUTER_BASE"
where:
<rhdh_instance>
-
Specifies the name of your Red Hat Developer Hub instance, for example,
my-rhdh
. <workspace_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your workspace directory, for example,
oc-mirror-workspace
. <results_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your results directory, for example,
results-1738070846
. <archive_file>
-
Specifies the name of the archive file containing the resources that you want to mirror, for example,
redhat-developer-hub-1.4.1.tgz
. <your_namespace>
-
Specifies the namespace that you want to deploy the Helm chart to, for example,
my-rhdh-project
.
3.2. Installing Red Hat Developer Hub on OpenShift Container Platform in a partially disconnected environment with the Helm chart
If your network has access to the registry.redhat.io
registry and the charts.openshift.io
Helm chart repository, you can deploy your Red Hat Developer Hub instance in your partially disconnected environment by mirroring the specified resources directly to the target registry.
Prerequisites
- You have installed Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 or later.
-
You have access to the
charts.openshift.io
Helm chart repository. -
You have access to the
registry.redhat.io
. - You have access to a mirror registry that can be reached from the disconnected cluster, for example, the OpenShift Container Platform image registry. For more information about exposing the OpenShift Container Platform image registry, see Exposing the registry.
- You are logged in to your target mirror registry and have permissions to push images to it. For more information, see Configuring credentials that allow images to be mirrored.
-
You have installed the OpenShift CLI (
oc
) on your workstation. -
You have installed the oc-mirror OpenShift CLI (
oc
) plugin, for more information see Installing the oc-mirror OpenShift CLI plugin. - You have an account in Red Hat Developer portal.
Procedure
Log in to your OpenShift Container Platform account using the OpenShift CLI (
oc
) by running the following command:oc login -u <user> -p <password> https://api.<hostname>:6443
- From your disconnected cluster, log in to the image registry that you want to mirror, for example, the OpenShift Container Platform image registry.
-
Create an
ImageSetConfiguration.yaml
file. In your
ImageSetConfiguration.yaml
file, specify the resources that you want to mirror. For example:apiVersion: mirror.openshift.io/v1alpha2 kind: ImageSetConfiguration mirror: helm: repositories: - name: <repository_name> (1) url: <repository_url> (2) charts: - name: <chart_name> (3) version: "<rhdh_version>" (4)
- The name of the repository containing the Helm chart that you want to mirror, for example,
openshift-charts
. - The URL for the repository containing the Helm chart that you want to mirror, for example,
https://charts.openshift.io
. - The name of the Helm chart containing the images that you want to mirror, for example,
redhat-developer-hub
. - The Red Hat Developer Hub version that you want to use, for example,
1.5
Mirror the resources specified in the image set configuration file directly to the target registry by running the
oc-mirror
command. For example:oc-mirror --config=<mirror_config_directory>/ImageSetConfiguration.yaml <target-mirror-registry>
where:
<mirror_config_directory>
-
Specifies the location of your image set configuration file on your system, for example,
.user
. <target_mirror_registry>
-
Specifies the location and name of your target mirror registry, for example,
docker://registry.example:5000
.
NoteRunning the
oc-mirror
command creates a local workspace containing the Helm chart and aImageContentSourcePolicy
(ICSP) manifest. The ICSP manifest contains an automatically-generatedimageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
file that you must apply against the cluster in a later step.Example output
Writing image mapping to oc-mirror-workspace/results-1738070846/mapping.txt Writing ICSP manifests to oc-mirror-workspace/results-1738070846
In your workspace, locate the
imageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
file by running thels
command. For example:ls <workspace_directory>/<results_directory>
where:
<workspace_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your workspace directory, for example,
oc-mirror-workspace
. <results_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your results directory, for example,
results-1738070846
.
To mirror the Helm chart, deploy the
imageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
file in the disconnected cluster by running theoc apply
command. For example:oc apply -f <workspace_directory>/<results_directory>/
ImageContentSourcePolicy.yaml
where:
<workspace_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your workspace directory, for example,
oc-mirror-workspace
. <results_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your results directory, for example,
results-1738070846
.
In your air-gapped environment, deploy the Helm chart to the namespace that you want to use by running the
helm install
command withnamespace
andset
options. For example:CLUSTER_ROUTER_BASE=$(oc get route console -n openshift-console -o=jsonpath='{.spec.host}' | sed 's/[.]*\.//') helm install <rhdh_instance> <workspace_directory>/<results_directory>/charts/<archive_file> --namespace <your_namespace> --create-namespace \ --set global.clusterRouterBase="$CLUSTER_ROUTER_BASE"
where:
<rhdh_instance>
-
Specifies the name of your Red Hat Developer Hub instance, for example,
my-rhdh
. <workspace_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your workspace directory, for example,
oc-mirror-workspace
. <results_directory>
-
Specifies the name of your results directory, for example,
results-1738070846
. <archive_file>
-
Specifies the name of the archive file containing the resources that you want to mirror, for example,
redhat-developer-hub-1.4.1.tgz
. <your_namespace>
-
Specifies the namespace that you want to deploy the Helm chart to, for example,
my-rhdh-project
.