Red Hat Partner Validation Guide

Red Hat Partner Certification 2026

For Use with Red Hat Partner Programs

Red Hat Customer Content Services

Abstract

The Red Hat Partner Validation Guide provides an overview of the validation process for Red Hat Partners who want to validate their products on Red Hat Enterprise Linux or Red Hat OpenShift platforms in a jointly supported customer environment.
Version 9.30 updated January 30, 2026.

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Chapter 1. Introduction to Partner Validation

Use this guide to validate your software product on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenShift platforms.

1.1. Understanding Partner Validation

The Partner Validation option in the partner program enables Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) and other Red Hat partners to promote their products on Red Hat platforms such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or Red Hat OpenShift by using their own test suites and criteria. This streamlined process accelerates the publication of partner offerings on the This content is not included.Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog through a dedicated product page.

While Partner Validation helps verify basic compatibility, validated workloads may not fulfill all Red Hat integration requirements or best practices. For full interoperability and support, we recommend pursuing Red Hat Certification.

It is critical for partners to understand the distinction between Partner Validation and Red Hat Certification. Find below a clear differentiation between Validation and Certification programs:

Feature

Partner Validation

Red Hat Certification

Testing Criteria

Determined by Partner, with additional Red Hat criteria for hardware

Determined by both Red Hat and Partner

Testing Tools

Provided by Partner

Provided by both Red Hat and Partner

Red Hat Review

Partner statements, supportive documentation and test results for hardware

Test results, partner statements, and documentation

Scope

Quicker market entry, initial presence on the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog

Comprehensive compliance with Red Hat platform requirements, best practices such as interoperability, security, and support

1.2. Partner Validation workflow

Following is a high level overview of the partner validation process.

Figure 1.1. Partner Validation workflow

This diagram gives an overview of the validation process.

1.3. Getting help and giving feedback

If you experience difficulty during the validation process with a Red Hat product, or with a procedure described in this documentation, visit the Red Hat documentation portal where you can gain access to Red Hat product documentation as well as solutions and technical articles about Red Hat products.

Giving feedback

You can open a support case for the following instances:

  • To report issues and get help with the validation process
  • To submit feedback and request enhancements in the validation questionnaire & documentation
  • To receive assistance on the Red Hat platform on which your product is being validated
Note

To receive Red Hat product assistance, it is necessary to have the required product entitlements or subscriptions, which can be separate from the partner program and validation program memberships.

Opening a support case

To open a support case for any validation issue, complete the Support Case Form for the This content is not included.Technology Partner Success Desk with special attention to the following fields:

  • From the Issue Category, select Product Validation
  • From the Product field, select OpenShift Container Platform.
  • From the Product Version field, select the Red Hat OpenShift product version on which your product is being validated.
  • In the Problem Statement field, type a problem statement, issue or feedback using the following format: {Partner Validation} (The Issue, Problem or Feedback)

  • Replace (The Issue, Problem or Feedback) with either the issue or problem faced in the validation process or feedback on the validation questionnaire or documentation.

    For example: {Partner Validation} Error occurred while submitting the validation questionnaire by using the Red Hat Connect portal.

To open a support case specific to a Red Hat product, see How do I open and manage a support case?

Additional resources

Chapter 2. Onboarding partners

Use the Red Hat Partner Connect Portal to create a new corporate account if you are a new partner, or use your existing Red Hat corporate account if you are a current partner to onboard with Red Hat for validating your products.

2.1. Onboarding existing partners

Note

If you think your company has an existing Red Hat corporate account but are not sure who is the Organization Administrator for your company, contact Red Hat’s This content is not included.connect team to add you to your company’s existing corporate account.

Prerequisites

You have an existing Red Hat corporate account.

Procedure

  1. Access Red Hat Customer Portal and click Log in.

  2. Enter your Red Hat login or email address and click Next.

    Then, use either of the following options:

    1. Log in with company single sign-on
    2. Log in with Red Hat account

  3. From the menu bar on the header, click your avatar to view the account details.

    1. If an account number is associated with your Red Hat corporate account, then log in to the This content is not included.Red Hat Partner Connect, to proceed with the validation process.

    2. If an account number is not associated with your Red Hat corporate account, then first contact the This content is not included.Red Hat global customer service team to raise a request for creating a new account number.

      After getting an account number for your Red Hat corporate account, log in to the This content is not included.Red Hat Partner Connect portal and agree to the program terms and conditions to proceed with the validation process.

2.2. Onboarding new partners

Creating a new Red Hat corporate account is the first step for onboarding new partners.

Procedure

  1. Access Red Hat Customer Portal and click Login.
  2. Click Register for a Red Hat account.

  3. Enter the following details to create a new Red Hat corporate account:

    1. Choose a Red Hat login and password.

      Important

      If your login ID is associated with multiple corporate accounts, then do not use your contact email as the login ID as this can cause issues during login. Also, you cannot change your login ID once created.

    2. Enter your Personal information and Company information.

    3. Select Corporate for the Account Type field.

      If you have created a Corporate type account and require an account number, contact the This content is not included.Red Hat global customer service team.

      Note

      Ensure that you create a company account and not a personal account. The account created during this step is also used to sign in to the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog.

    4. Enter your Contact information.

    5. Click Create My Account.

      A new Red Hat corporate account is created.

  1. After creating a Red Hat corporate account, log in to the This content is not included.Red Hat Partner Connect portal and agree to the program terms and conditions to proceed with the validation process.

2.3. Exploring the Partner landing page

After logging in to This content is not included.Red Hat Partner Connect, the partner landing page opens. This page serves as a centralized hub, offering access to various partner services and capabilities that enable you to start working on opportunities.

The Partner landing page offers the following services:

  • Software products validation and certification
  • Hardware certification
  • Red Hat Partner Training Portal
  • Access library of marketing, sales & technical content
  • Partner help and support
  • Email preference center
  • Partner subscriptions
  • User account

As part of the Red Hat partnership, partners receive access to various Red Hat systems and services that enable them to create shared value with Red Hat for our joint customers.

Go to the Software products tile and click Add a new product to begin your product validation journey by creating a new product.

Chapter 3. Creating a product

The product listing provides marketing and technical information, showcasing your product’s features and advantages to potential customers. It lays the foundation for adding all the necessary components to your product for validation.

Prerequisites

  • Verify the functionality of your product on the target Red Hat platform. If running your product on the targeted Red Hat platform results in a substandard experience then you must resolve the issues before validation.
  • Prepare comprehensive details about your product documentation, internal testing, and the Red Hat environment used for testing.
Note

Red Hat does not test the partner’s product, its functionality, or its performance on the chosen platform. All aspects of product quality assurance remain the partner’s sole responsibility.

Procedure

Red Hat recommends completing all the optional fields in the listing tabs for a comprehensive product listing. More information helps mutual customers make informed choices.

Red Hat suggests that you collaborate with your product manager, marketing representative, or other product experts when entering information for your product listing.

Note

Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are mandatory.

  1. Log in to the Red Hat Partner Connect Portal.
  2. On the partner landing page from the header, go to the Product certification tab and click Certify your software.
  3. On the header bar, click Product management.
  4. From the Listing and certification tab click Manage products.

  5. From the My Products page, click Create Product.

    A Create New Product dialog opens.

  6. Enter the Product name.

  7. From the What kind of product would you like to certify? drop-down, select the required product category and click Create product. For example, select Standalone Application for creating a non containerized product listing.

    A new page with your Product name opens. It comprises the following tabs:

    • Overview
    • Product Information
    • Validations and certifications

    • Support

      Along with the following tabs, the page header provides the Product Score details. Product Score evaluates your product information and displays a score. It can be:

    • Fair
    • Good
    • Excellent

    • Best

      Click How do I improve my score? to improve your product score.

  8. After providing the product listing details, click Save.

Additional resources

3.1. Overview

This tab consists of a series of tasks that you must complete to publish your product:

3.1.1. Complete product listing details

  1. To complete your product listing details, click Start.

    The Product Information tab opens.

  2. Enter all the essential product details and click Save.

3.1.2. Complete company profile information

  1. To complete your company profile information, click Start.
  2. After entering all the details, click Submit.
  3. To modify the existing details, click Review. The Account Details page opens.
  4. Review and modify the Company profile information and click Submit.

3.1.4. Certify or validate your product

It is not possible to validate a product that already has a certified component. Certifying a component is not required in order to validate a product.

  1. To select validation or certification for your product, click Certify or Validate your product and then click Start.

  2. To validate your product, from the Validation or Certification Status tile, click Start validation or certification.

    You’re navigated to the Validations & certifications tab.

After completing all the above tasks, you will see a green tick mark corresponding to all the options.

The Overview tab also provides the following information:

  1. Product contacts - Provides Product marketing and Technical contact information.

    1. Click Add contacts to product to provide the contact information
    2. Click Edit to update the information.

After publishing the product listing, you can view your Product Readiness Score and Ways to raise your score on the Overview tab.

3.2. Product Information

Through this tab you can provide all the essential information about your product. The product details are published along with your product on the Red Hat Ecosystem catalog.

Procedure

  1. In the General tab, provide basic details of the product, including product name and description.

    1. Enter the Product Name.
    2. Optional: Upload the Product Logo according to the defined guidelines.
    3. Enter a Brief description and a Long description.
    4. Click Save.

  2. In the Features & Benefits tab, provide important features of your product.

    1. Optional: Enter the Title and Description.
    2. Optional: To add additional features for your product, click Add new feature.
    3. Click Save.

  3. In the Quick start & Config tab, add links to any quick start guide or configuration document to help customers deploy and start using your product.

    1. Optional: Enter Quick start & configuration instructions.
    2. Click Save.
    3. Select Hide default instructions check box, if you don’t want to display them.

  4. In the Linked resources tab, add links to supporting documentation to help our customers use your product. The information is mapped to and is displayed in the Documentation section on the product’s catalog page.

    Note

    It is mandatory to add a minimum of three resources. Red Hat encourages you to add more resources, if available.

    1. Select the Type drop-down menu, and enter the Title and Description of the resource.
    2. Enter the Resource URL.
    3. Optional: To add additional resources for your product, click Add new Resource.
    4. Click Save.

  5. In the FAQs tab, add frequently asked questions and answers of the product’s purpose, operation, installation, or other attribute details. You can include common customer queries about your product and services.

    1. Enter Question and Answer.
    2. Optional: To add additional FAQs for your product, click Add new FAQ.
    3. Click Save.

  6. In the Support tab, provide contact information of your support team.

    1. Optional: Support description
    2. Support website - This field is mandatory
    3. Optional: Support phone number
    4. Optional: Support email address
    5. Click Save.

  7. In the Contacts tab, provide contact information of your marketing and technical team.

    1. Enter the Marketing contact email address and Technical contact email address.
    2. Optional: To add additional contacts, click Add another.
    3. Click Save.

  8. In the Legal tab, provide the product related license and policy information.

    1. Enter the License Agreement URL for the product and Privacy Policy URL.
    2. Click Save.

  9. In the SEO tab:

    1. Select the Product Category.

    2. Enter the Key and Value to set up Search aliases.

      Note

      Add at least one Search alias for your product. Red Hat encourages you to add more aliases, if available.

    3. Click Save.

    4. Optional: To add additional key-value pair, click Add new key-value pair.

      This tab is used to improve the discoverability of your product for our mutual customers, enhancing visibility both within the Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog search and on internet search engines. Providing a higher number of search aliases (key and value pairs) will increase the discoverability of your product.

3.3. Validations and certifications

Use this tab to validate your product on the supported Red Hat platform versions.

  1. Click Start validation.
  2. For What Red Hat products are you validating for? select either of or both the available options - Red Hat Open Shift and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
  3. Select the current Red Hat Open Shift or Red Hat Enterprise Linux major and minor platform versions on which you want to validate your products.
  4. Select All future versions of Red Hat OpenShift or RHEL check box, if you want to validate your product on the future minor Red Hat platform versions.
  5. Click Start validation.

  6. Complete all the information requested in the support Content from docs.google.com is not included.questionnaire. Provide the following details:

    1. Links to your product documentation,
    2. Whether you have verified and tested the interoperability of your product on the selected Red Hat platform minor versions,
    3. Support the product when used with the selected Red Hat platforms.
  7. Click Submit. You can see the selected Red Hat platform versions under Approved supported versions tile.
  8. Click Update support statement to modify the selected Red Hat platform minor versions.
  9. Click Update validation. The Approved supported versions tile updates with the newer Red Hat platform minor versions.
  10. Click Next to proceed with product certification.

After submitting the support questionnaire, the Red Hat ecosystem team carefully reviews and verifies the entered details.

Next steps

Publishing on the catalog

Additional resources

3.4. Support

The Red Hat Partner Acceleration Desk (PAD) is a Products and Technologies level partner help desk service that allows the current and prospective partners a central location to ask non-technical questions pertaining to Red Hat offerings, partner programs, product validation, product certification, engagement process, and so on.

You can also contact the Red Hat Partner Acceleration Desk for any technical questions you may have regarding the validation and certification process. Technical help requests will be redirected to the Red Hat ecosystem team.

By using the Partner Subscriptions program, Red Hat offers free, not-for-resale software subscriptions that you can use to certify your product on the target Red Hat platform. To request access to the program, follow the instructions on the Partner Subscriptions site.

Procedure

  1. To request support, click Open a support case. Refer PAD - How to open & manage PAD cases, to open a PAD ticket.
  2. To view the list of existing support cases, click View support cases.

Additional resources

3.5. Removing a product

Delete a product listing that is no longer needed. You must unpublish a published product before you can delete it. Red Hat retains information related to deleted products even after you delete the product.

Procedure

  1. To Remove the product listing:

    1. Go to the Overview tab.
    2. Click Delete.

Chapter 4. Publishing on the catalog

After submitting your product for validation, the Red Hat ecosystem team reviews and verifies the details of the support questionnaire. After successful verification, you will receive an email notification from the Red Hat ecosystem team either with Red Hat’s approval or further questions. If you have any questions or require any clarifications contact the This content is not included.Red Hat ecosystem team.

Perform the following steps to publish your product on the catalog after receiving Red Hat’s approval:

Procedure

  1. Navigate to the Overview tab.
  2. Click Publish.

Your product listing is published on the This content is not included.Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog. In future, if you want to certify your validated product, complete the Certification details.

Providing feedback on Red Hat documentation

We appreciate your feedback on our documentation. Let us know how we can improve it.

Submitting feedback through Jira (account required)

  1. Log in to the This content is not included.Jira website.
  2. Click Create in the top navigation bar.
  3. Enter a descriptive title in the Summary field.
  4. Enter your suggestion for improvement in the Description field. Include links to the relevant parts of the documentation.
  5. Click Create at the bottom of the dialogue.

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