Chapter 1. Preparing to install on AWS
1.1. Prerequisites
- You reviewed details about the OpenShift Container Platform installation and update processes.
- You read the documentation on selecting a cluster installation method and preparing it for users.
1.2. Requirements for installing OpenShift Container Platform on AWS
Before installing OpenShift Container Platform on Amazon Web Services (AWS), you must create an AWS account. See Configuring an AWS account for details about configuring an account, account limits, account permissions, IAM user setup, and supported AWS regions.
If the cloud identity and access management (IAM) APIs are not accessible in your environment, or if you do not want to store an administrator-level credential secret in the kube-system namespace, see Manually creating long-term credentials for AWS or configuring an AWS cluster to use short-term credentials with Amazon Web Services Security Token Service (AWS STS).
1.3. Choosing a method to install OpenShift Container Platform on AWS
You can install OpenShift Container Platform on installer-provisioned or user-provisioned infrastructure. The default installation type uses installer-provisioned infrastructure, where the installation program provisions the underlying infrastructure for the cluster. You can also install OpenShift Container Platform on infrastructure that you provision. If you do not use infrastructure that the installation program provisions, you must manage and maintain the cluster resources yourself.
See Installation process for more information about installer-provisioned and user-provisioned installation processes.
1.3.1. Installing a cluster on a single node
Installing OpenShift Container Platform on a single node alleviates some of the requirements for high availability and large scale clusters. However, you must address the requirements for installing on a single node, and the additional requirements for installing single-node OpenShift on a cloud provider. After addressing the requirements for single node installation, use the Installing a customized cluster on AWS procedure to install the cluster. The installing single-node OpenShift manually section contains an exemplary install-config.yaml file when installing an OpenShift Container Platform cluster on a single node.
1.3.2. Installing a cluster on installer-provisioned infrastructure
You can install a cluster on AWS infrastructure that is provisioned by the OpenShift Container Platform installation program, by using one of the following methods:
- Installing a cluster quickly on AWS: You can install OpenShift Container Platform on AWS infrastructure that is provisioned by the OpenShift Container Platform installation program. You can install a cluster quickly by using the default configuration options.
- Installing a customized cluster on AWS: You can install a customized cluster on AWS infrastructure that the installation program provisions. The installation program allows for some customization to be applied at the installation stage. Many other customization options are available post-installation.
- Installing a cluster on AWS with network customizations: You can customize your OpenShift Container Platform network configuration during installation, so that your cluster can coexist with your existing IP address allocations and adhere to your network requirements.
- Installing a cluster on AWS in a restricted network: You can install OpenShift Container Platform on AWS on installer-provisioned infrastructure by using an internal mirror of the installation release content. You can use this method to install a cluster that does not require an active internet connection to obtain the software components.
- Installing a cluster on an existing Virtual Private Cloud: You can install OpenShift Container Platform on an existing AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). You can use this installation method if you have constraints set by the guidelines of your company, such as limits when creating new accounts or infrastructure.
- Installing a private cluster on an existing VPC: You can install a private cluster on an existing AWS VPC. You can use this method to deploy OpenShift Container Platform on an internal network that is not visible to the internet.
- Installing a cluster on AWS into a government or secret region: OpenShift Container Platform can be deployed into AWS regions that are specifically designed for US government agencies at the federal, state, and local level, as well as contractors, educational institutions, and other US customers that must run sensitive workloads in the cloud.
1.3.3. Installing a cluster on user-provisioned infrastructure
You can install a cluster on AWS infrastructure that you provision, by using one of the following methods:
- Installing a cluster on AWS infrastructure that you provide: You can install OpenShift Container Platform on AWS infrastructure that you provide. You can use the provided CloudFormation templates to create stacks of AWS resources that represent each of the components required for an OpenShift Container Platform installation.
- Installing a cluster on AWS in a restricted network with user-provisioned infrastructure: You can install OpenShift Container Platform on AWS infrastructure that you provide by using an internal mirror of the installation release content. You can use this method to install a cluster that does not require an active internet connection to obtain the software components. You can also use this installation method to ensure that your clusters only use container images that satisfy your organizational controls on external content. While you can install OpenShift Container Platform by using the mirrored content, your cluster still requires internet access to use the AWS APIs.
