Red Hat Summit Red Hat SummitSupportConsoleDevelopersStart a trialContact

Chapter 4. Types of certification workflow

4.1. Single Instance Type certification
Copy link

A Single Instance Type Certification consists of bootable, installable, and operableable collection of physical or virtual hardware features, as defined by a specification provided by a Partner.

The specification may define features as standard, or optional. The Instance Type is considered to provide all of the features from the complete collection of standard and optional components unless explicitly excluded by or from the specification.

4.2. SuperSet Instance Type certification
Copy link

The SuperSet Instance Type Certification covers a variety of different configurations of the same Instance Type. The SuperSet Instance Type is known by a unique name within a naming convention.

Example

compute_slow, compute_medium, compute_fast

The certification is conducted as per the basic process where all of the configurations are reviewed. The test plan will consider multiple configurations in order to increase the testing and processing efficiency without creating risks. The certification publication in the catalog will be a combined entry where the sizes covered by the certification will be displayed on the Instance Type certification entry.

4.3. Supplemental certification
Copy link

A supplemental certification allows a certified Instance Type to extend or alter the configuration of the Instance Type.

4.4. Pass-Through Instance Type certification
Copy link

A Pass-Through Instance Type Certification refers to the ability of a third party system or component to be granted the same certification as Instance Type previously certified by the Original Provider.

The Original Provider can extend a certification granted to their instance type to another Partner’s Instance Type where the original provider:

  • Has permission from the third party
  • Has the mechanics to ensure the third party does not alter the hardware in such a way that it would no longer be considered a subset of the original model certified by Red Hat
  • Extends their responsibilities of support and representative Instance Type to include situations involving the third party Instance Type

The third party however cannot extend their pass-through certification to another Partner.

Important

Both Partners are required to be members of the CCSP program; only the original provider may request Pass-Through certifications.

Note

You may also utilize the pass-through process where the same Instance Type is available with multiple names.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) and Red Hat AI Inference Server (RHAIIS) deliver production-grade large language models (LLMs) through scalable and cost-effective inferencing across the hybrid cloud, using vLLM inference server to maximize GPU usage. This section explains how the Red Hat AI products relate to each other and how you can use them to achieve Red Hat AI certifications.

Red Hat AI Inference Server 3.2

Red Hat AI Inference Server (RHAIIS) provides fast and cost-effective inference at scale. It is powered by vLLM, an inference server that maximizes GPU utilization, and enables faster response times. When combined with LLM Compressor capabilities, it increases inference efficiency without sacrificing performance.

To achieve RHAIIS 3.2 certification, you must complete a RHEL cloud instance certification for RHEL 9 or RHEL 10. During your RHEL certification, you can run the vllm_inferencing test with a fully supported RHAIIS container for the AI accelerators included with your platform.

You can also achieve RHAIIS certification by testing on RHEL AI cloud, as outlined in the Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI 3.0 section.

If the vllm_inference testing on RHEL is successful your system qualifies for RHAIIS 3.2 certification.

If your AI accelerator requires software that is not included in RHEL for successful RHAIIS inference testing, the AI Inference feature will be Partner Validated for RHEL and RHAIIS. In this case, the certification publications will include a knowledge base link to guide customers on obtaining and installing the additional software.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI 3.0

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) runs large language models (LLMs) in individual server environments. It includes Red Hat AI Inference Server (RHAIIS) and a bootable image of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) with the AI software stack optimized for inference with AI Accelerators. This enables fast, cost-effective inferencing across the hybrid cloud by maximizing throughput and minimizing latency. The platform enables you to deliver production-grade LLMs through scalable and cost-effective inferencing.

To achieve RHEL AI 3.0 certification, you must first complete a RHEL cloud instance certification, which includes RHEL 9.6. After that, you conduct the vllm_inferencing test on Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI 3.0. If the testing is successful, your instance qualifies for both RHEL AI 3.0 and RHAIIS 3.2 cloud instance certification.

RHEL AI includes software not included in RHAIIS or RHEL, as a result, the AI Inference feature is Red Hat Certified for RHEL AI, and Partner Validated for RHAIIS. The RHAIIS certification publication will include a knowledge base link for customer clarity on obtaining the additional software.

  • A RHEL cloud instance certification is a prerequisite for a RHEL AI cloud and RHAIIS system certification.
  • The RHEL cloud instance certification testing verifies the general functionality of your system.
  • The RHEL AI and RHAIIS cloud instance certification testing focuses on ensuring that DataCenter GPUs and AI Inference Accelerators in your instance function correctly.
Certification policies

The RHEL AI and RHAIIS cloud instance certifications follow the standard RHEL cloud instance certification policies, except where otherwise noted. This includes the general certification policies and requirements.

  • RHEL testing must be conducted on production equivalent hardware with production level hypervisors, providing production level VM and bare-metal instances.
  • RHEL AI testing must be conducted using an unmodified, bootable RHEL AI container without additional layers.
  • RHAIIS testing not conducted on RHEL AI must be conducted on unmodified RHEL 9 or RHEL 10 GA releases, except for the addition of approved AI software stacks.
  • RHEL AI and RHAIIS cloud instance certifications support pass-through certification for naming and sizes, similar to RHEL cloud instance certification.
  • RHEL AI and RHAIIS cloud instance certifications support component leveraging, component leverage pools, and component pass-through for Data Center GPUs and AI Inference accelerators, similar to RHEL cloud instance certification.
Testing requirements

The Red Hat Certification Hardware AI test suite includes the necessary tests to obtain a RHEL AI or RHAIIS cloud instance certification. To run the tests, you must first deploy RHEL AI or RHEL on a cloud instance that meets the hardware requirements of RHEL AI cloud or RHAIIS criteria. Instructions for running the tests are found in the Red Hat Cloud Instance Type Workflow Guide.

Red Hat strongly recommends obtaining a Red Hat Certified Engineer accreditation as well as familiarity with image mode vLLM, AI software stacks, and pytorch before participating in RHEL AI or RHAIIS certification.

Red Hat logoGithubredditYoutubeTwitter

Learn

Try, buy, & sell

Communities

About Red Hat Documentation

We help Red Hat users innovate and achieve their goals with our products and services with content they can trust. Explore our recent updates.

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. For more details, see the Red Hat Blog.

About Red Hat

We deliver hardened solutions that make it easier for enterprises to work across platforms and environments, from the core datacenter to the network edge.

Theme

© 2026 Red HatBack to top