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Chapter 3. Understanding upgrade channels and releases

In OpenShift Container Platform 4.1, Red Hat introduced the concept of channels for recommending the appropriate release versions for cluster updates. By controlling the pace of updates, these upgrade channels allow you to choose an update strategy. Upgrade channels are tied to a minor version of OpenShift Container Platform. For instance, OpenShift Container Platform 4.8 upgrade channels recommend update to 4.8 and updates within 4.8. They also recommend updates within 4.7 and from 4.7 to 4.8, to allow clusters on 4.7 to eventually update to 4.8. They do not recommend updates to 4.9 or later releases. This strategy ensures that administrators explicitly decide to update to the next minor version of OpenShift Container Platform.

Upgrade channels control only release selection and do not impact the version of the cluster that you install; the 

openshift-install
binary file for a specific version of OpenShift Container Platform always installs that version.

OpenShift Container Platform 4.8 offers the following upgrade channels: 

  • candidate-4.8
     
  • fast-4.8
     
  • stable-4.8
     
  • eus-4.y
    (only when running an even-numbered 4.y cluster release, like 4.8)
Warning

Red Hat recommends upgrading to versions suggested by Openshift Update Service only. For minor version update, versions must be contiguous. Red Hat does not test updates to noncontiguous versions and cannot guarantee compatibility with earlier versions.

3.1. Upgrade channels and release paths
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Cluster administrators can configure the upgrade channel from the web console.

3.1.1. candidate-4.8 channel
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The 

candidate-4.8
channel contains candidate builds for a z-stream (4.8.z) and previous minor version releases. Release candidates contain all the features of the product but are not supported. Use release candidate versions to test feature acceptance and assist in qualifying the next version of OpenShift Container Platform. A release candidate is any build that is available in the candidate channel, including ones that do not contain a pre-release version such as 
-rc
in their names. After a version is available in the candidate channel, it goes through more quality checks. If it meets the quality standard, it is promoted to the 
fast-4.8
or 
stable-4.8
channels. Because of this strategy, if a specific release is available in both the 
candidate-4.8
channel and in the 
fast-4.8
or 
stable-4.8
channels, it is a Red Hat-supported version. The 
candidate-4.8
channel can include release versions from which there are no recommended updates in any channel.

You can use the 

candidate-4.8
channel to update from a previous minor version of OpenShift Container Platform.

3.1.2. fast-4.8 channel
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The 

fast-4.8
channel is updated with new and previous minor versions of 4.8 as soon as Red Hat declares the given version as a general availability release. As such, these releases are fully supported, are production quality, and have performed well while available as a release candidate in the 
candidate-4.8
channel from where they were promoted. Some time after a release appears in the 
fast-4.8
channel, it is added to the 
stable-4.8
channel. Releases never appear in the 
stable-4.8
channel before they appear in the 
fast-4.8
channel.

You can use the 

fast-4.8
channel to update from a previous minor version of OpenShift Container Platform.

3.1.3. stable-4.8 channel
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While the 

fast-4.8
channel contains releases as soon as their errata are published, releases are added to the 
stable-4.8
channel after a delay. During this delay, data is collected from Red Hat SRE teams, Red Hat support services, and pre-production and production environments that participate in connected customer program about the stability of the release.

You can use the 

stable-4.8
channel to update from a previous minor version of OpenShift Container Platform.

3.1.4. eus-4.y channel
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In addition to the stable channel, all even-numbered minor versions of OpenShift Container Platform offer an Extended Update Support (EUS). These EUS versions extend the Full and Maintenance support phases for customers with Standard and Premium Subscriptions to 18 months.

Although there is no difference between 

stable-4.y
and 
eus-4.y
channels until OpenShift Container Platform 4.y transitions to the EUS phase, you can switch to the 
eus-4.y
channel as soon as it becomes available.

When updates to the next EUS channel are offered, you can switch to the next EUS channel and update until you have reached the next EUS version.

This update process does not apply for updates coming from the 

eus-4.6
channel. Upgrading to the next EUS channel from 
eus-4.6
requires a serial set of version updates, from 4.6 to 4.7 to 4.8.

Note

Both standard and non-EUS subscribers can access all EUS repositories and necessary RPMs (

rhel-*-eus-rpms
) to be able to support critical purposes such as debugging and building drivers.

3.1.5. Upgrade version paths
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OpenShift Container Platform maintains an update recommendation service that understands the version of OpenShift Container Platform you have installed as well as the path to take within the channel you choose to get you to the next release.

You can imagine seeing the following in the 

fast-4.8
channel:

  • 4.8.0
  • 4.8.1
  • 4.8.3
  • 4.8.4

The service recommends only updates that have been tested and have no serious issues. It will not suggest updating to a version of OpenShift Container Platform that contains known vulnerabilities. For example, if your cluster is on 4.8.1 and OpenShift Container Platform suggests 4.8.4, then it is safe for you to update from 4.8.1 to 4.8.4. Do not rely on consecutive patch numbers. In this example, 4.8.2 is not and never was available in the channel.

Update stability depends on your channel. The presence of an update recommendation in the 

candidate-4.8
channel does not imply that the update is supported. It means that no serious issues have been found with the update yet, but there might not be significant traffic through the update to suggest stability. The presence of an update recommendation in the 
fast-4.8
or 
stable-4.8
channels at any point is a declaration that the update is supported. While releases will never be removed from a channel, update recommendations that exhibit serious issues will be removed from all channels. Updates initiated after the update recommendation has been removed are still supported.

Red Hat will eventually provide supported update paths from any supported release in the 

fast-4.8
or 
stable-4.8
channels to the latest release in 4.8.z, although there can be delays while safe paths away from troubled releases are constructed and verified.

3.1.6. Fast and stable channel use and strategies
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The 

fast-4.8
and 
stable-4.8
channels present a choice between receiving general availability releases as soon as they are available or allowing Red Hat to control the rollout of those updates. If issues are detected during rollout or at a later time, updates to that version might be blocked in both the 
fast-4.8
and 
stable-4.8
channels, and a new version might be introduced that becomes the new preferred update target.

Customers can improve this process by configuring pre-production systems on the 

fast-4.8
channel, configuring production systems on the 
stable-4.8
channel, and participating in the Red Hat connected customer program. Red Hat uses this program to observe the impact of updates on your specific hardware and software configurations. Future releases might improve or alter the pace at which updates move from the 
fast-4.8
to the 
stable-4.8
channel.

3.1.7. Restricted network clusters
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If you manage the container images for your OpenShift Container Platform clusters yourself, you must consult the Red Hat errata that is associated with product releases and note any comments that impact updates. During update, the user interface might warn you about switching between these versions, so you must ensure that you selected an appropriate version before you bypass those warnings.

3.1.8. Switching between channels
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A channel can be switched from the web console or through the 

patch
command: 

$ oc patch clusterversion version --type json -p '[{"op": "add", "path": "/spec/channel", "value": "<channel>"}]'

The web console will display an alert if you switch to a channel that does not include the current release. The web console does not recommend any updates while on a channel without the current release. You can return to the original channel at any point, however.

Changing your channel might impact the supportability of your cluster. The following conditions might apply:

  • Your cluster is still supported if you change from the 
    stable-4.8
    channel to the 
    fast-4.8
    channel.
  • You can switch to the 
    candidate-4.8
    channel but, some releases for this channel might be unsupported.
  • You can switch from the 
    candidate-4.8
    channel to the 
    fast-4.8
    channel if your current release is a general availability release.
  • You can always switch from the 
    fast-4.8
    channel to the 
    stable-4.8
    channel. There is a possible delay of up to a day for the release to be promoted to 
    stable-4.8
    if the current release was recently promoted.
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