The Operator bundle must successfully pass the Operator SDK bundle validation.

Red Hat recommends the usage of the SDK to create the Operator, to ensure that the format is correct.

To ensure correct format and compatibility with Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM).

The Operator must update the status field of each custom resource (CR).

To ensure that users can determine the running state of the CR and identify potential failures.

The cluster service version (CSV) in the Operator bundle must include all the fields indicated in Required CSV fields as well as the following required fields under metadata.annotations:

categories

Comma-separated string of the community-operators/categories list that applies to this product.

description

Short description of the Operator.

containerImage

The full location (registry, repository, name, and tag) of the Operator image.

createdAt

A rough (to the day) timestamp of the creation of the Operator image.

support

Name of your company, as the vendor supporting this product.

operators.openshift.io/valid-subscription

Information about subscriptions or licenses that are required to use the product, as free form text.

features.operators.openshift.io/disconnected

Specify whether an Operator leverages the spec.relatedImages CSV field and can run without an internet connection by referring to any related image by its digest. Valid values are "true" or "false".

features.operators.openshift.io/fips-compliant

Specify whether an Operator accepts the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) configuration of the underlying platform and works on nodes that are booted into FIPS mode. In this mode, the Operator and any workloads it manages (operands) are solely calling the Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) cryptographic library submitted for FIPS-140 validation. Valid values are "true" or "false".

features.operators.openshift.io/proxy-aware

Specify whether an Operator supports running on a cluster behind a proxy by accepting the standard HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY proxy environment variables. If applicable, the Operator passes this information to the workload it manages (operands). Valid values are "true" or "false".

features.operators.openshift.io/tls-profiles

Specify whether an Operator implements well-known tunables to modify the TLS cipher suite used by the Operator and, if applicable, any of the workloads it manages (operands). Valid values are "true" or "false".

features.operators.openshift.io/token-auth-aws

Specify whether an Operator supports configuration for tokenzied authentication with AWS APIs through AWS Secure Token Service (STS) by using the Cloud Credential Operator (CCO). Valid values are "true" or "false".

features.operators.openshift.io/token-auth-azure

Specify whether an Operator supports configuration for tokenzied authentication with Microsoft Azure APIs through Azure Managed Identity by using the Cloud Credential Operator (CCO). Valid values are "true" or "false".

features.operators.openshift.io/token-auth-gcp

Specify whether an Operator supports configuration for tokenzied authentication with Google Cloud APIs through Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Workload Identity Foundation (WIF) by using the Cloud Credential Operator (CCO). Valid values are "true" or "false".

Other optional annotations can be defined as well, such as for the following Kubernetes plugins:

features.operators.openshift.io/cnf

Specify whether an Operator provides a Cloud-Native Network Function (CNF) Kubernetes plugin.

features.operators.openshift.io/cni

Specify whether an Operator provides a Container Network Interface (CNI) Kubernetes plugin.

features.operators.openshift.io/csi

Specify whether an Operator provides a Container Storage Interface (CSI) Kubernetes plugin.

For more information about required annotations, optional annotations, and example usage in CSVs, see Operator metadata annotations.

Provides detailed information about the product managed by this Operator to users and support organizations.

The Operator bundle must indicate the minor versions of OpenShift that the target product supports by setting the com.redhat.openshift.versions annotation.

Annotation syntax:

a) Restrict to a single RHOCP version: "=v4.17"

b) Restrict to a version range: "v4.16-v4.17"

c) Open-ended version range: "v4.16"

If the open-ended version range listed is deprecated, the operator bundle only appears in the fully supported and maintained versions.

The version range must include one or more current RHOCP versions, that are in the Full Suport, Maintenance Support, EUS, or EUS Term 2 life cycle phases.

The range may directly or implicitly include one or more future versions of RHOCP. Upon the release of a new RHOCP minor version, Operators with ranges that include the new minor version and are in good standing regarding the lifecycle and recertification policies are automatically certified and published for the new minor version of RHOCP.

Red Hat expects and requires that you test and verify your product with new minor releases of Red Hat OpenShift as they become available.

The Operator must not use any APIs that are not present in all versions of Red Hat OpenShift included in this range.

Ensures that any APIs used are available in the targeted versions.

The CSV in the Operator bundle must indicate all the CRDs Owned by the Operator.

To ensure adequate tracking and management of CRD lifecycle.

The CSV in the Operator bundle must indicate all the container images needed to perform its function, using the spec.relatedImages field.

To correctly identify all the dependencies.

The Operator name must be different from any other Operator name already published in the Community, Certified, and Red Hat catalogs. The Operator name must not begin with a Red Hat Mark.

To avoid name conflicts, customer confusion and to follow Red Hat trademark guidelines.