Installation

Red Hat Service Interconnect 2.1

Installing the controller and the CLI

Abstract

This guide describes how to install Red Hat Service Interconnect 2.1.
Red Hat Service Interconnect is a Red Hat build of the open source Content from skupper.io is not included.Skupper project.

Chapter 1. Installation overview

Red Hat Service Interconnect v2 can be installed on:

  • Kubernetes (including OpenShift)
  • Local systems (including Podman, Docker and Linux hosts)

After installation, you can use the CLI or YAML to:

  • Create sites.
  • Link sites.
  • Expose services.

1.1. Installing on Kubernetes

The installation options for Kubernetes are:

After installation, you can create your application network by applying YAML resources.

Kubernetes users can also install the Skupper CLI, which is useful for easily creating links between sites.

1.2. Installing on local systems

On Podman, Docker, and Linux hosts you can get started by installing the CLI.

After installation, you can create your application network using the CLI.

Chapter 2. Installing the CLI

The Skupper CLI provides a method to create both Kubernetes and local system sites.

There are two methods to install the CLI:

Note

For Kubernetes, you must install the CRDs and controller using YAML or the Operator before creating sites.

2.1. Downloading binaries

Downloading the Skupper CLI binaries is a quick way to learn about Red Hat Service Interconnect features after the controller and CRDs are installed. Consider installing Section 2.2, “Using Red Hat packages” on Linux.

Procedure

  1. Download binary files for your system architecture.

    Choose the latest Version for 2.1 at This content is not included.Software Downloads.

    For a Mac with Apple silicon, use Content from support.apple.com is not included.Rosetta 2 and the Skupper CLI for Mac on x86-64 download.

  2. Unzip the downloaded file and place the Skupper executable on your PATH.

  3. Verify installation: 

    $ skupper version
client version                 2.1.3-rh-1

2.2. Using Red Hat packages

Installing Red Hat packages on Linux makes sure you receive the latest updates to the Skupper CLI.

Prerequisites

  • Make sure your subscription is activated and your system is registered. For more information about using the Customer Portal to activate your Red Hat subscription and register your system for packages, see Chapter 8, Using your subscription.

Procedure

  1. Use the subscription-manager command to subscribe to the required package repositories. Replace <version> with 2 for the main release stream.

    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
    $ sudo subscription-manager repos --enable=service-interconnect-_<version>_-for-rhel-8-<architecture>-rpms
    Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
    $ sudo subscription-manager repos --enable=service-interconnect-_<version>_-for-rhel-9-<architecture>-rpms

    1. Use the yum or dnf command to install the skupper command: 

      $ sudo dnf install skupper-cli
Note

You can also install skupper-router, which is only necessary for Linux local system sites.

Chapter 3. Installing the Operators

The Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator creates and manages sites in OpenShift.

Optionally, you can also install the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator, which provides a user interface to monitor your service network.

Note

Installing an Operator requires administrator-level privileges for your cluster.

3.1. Installing the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator for all namespaces using the CLI

The steps in this section show how to use the kubectl command to install and deploy the latest version of the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator in a given cluster.

Installing the operator for all namespaces allows you create a site in any namespace.

Prerequisites

  • Access to a cluster using a cluster-admin account.

  • Operator Lifecycle Manager is installed.

    CAUTION
    If you use an automatic approval strategy for the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator, make sure all other operators on the same namespace use the same strategy. Typically the operator is installed in the openshift-operators namespace. See How can Operators be updated independently from each other? for more information.

Procedure

  1. Log in as a cluster administrator.
  2. Complete the steps described in Red Hat Container Registry Authentication.

  3. Create a file named subscription-all.yaml with the following: 

    apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: skupper-operator
  namespace: openshift-operators
spec:
  channel: stable-2
  installPlanApproval: Automatic
  name: skupper-operator
  source: redhat-operators
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  startingCSV: skupper-operator.v2.1.1-rh-3
    Note

    If you want to keep updates confined to 2.1.x releases, set the value of channel to stable-2.1.

    If you do not specify startingCSV, the subscription defaults to the latest operator version.

    If you specify installPlanApproval as Manual, sites are not automatically upgraded to the latest version of Service Interconnect. See Chapter 6, Upgrading the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator and Kubernetes sites for information on manually upgrading sites.

  4. Apply the subscription YAML: 

    $ kubectl apply -f subscription-all.yaml

Additional information

  • See Using Skupper for instructions about using YAML to create sites.

3.2. Installing the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator using the OpenShift console

The procedures in this section show how to use the OperatorHub from the OpenShift console to install and deploy the latest version of the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator in a given OpenShift namespace.

Prerequisites

  • Access to an OpenShift cluster using a cluster-admin account. See Release Notes for supported OpenShift versions.

    CAUTION
    If you use an automatic approval strategy for the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator, make sure all other operators on the same namespace use the same strategy. Typically the operator is installed in the openshift-operators namespace. See How can Operators be updated independently from each other? for more information.

Procedure

  1. In the OpenShift web console, navigate to Operators → OperatorHub.
  2. Choose Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator from the list of available Operators, and then click Install.

  3. On the Operator Installation page, two Installation mode options are available:

    • All namespaces on the cluster

      For this example, choose A specific namespace on the cluster.

  4. Choose an Update approval option.

    By default, Automatic approval is selected, and sites will upgrade to the latest version of Service Interconnect. If you choose Manual approval, sites will not be automatically upgraded to the latest version of Service Interconnect.

  5. Select the namespace into which you want to install the Operator, and then click Install.

    The Installed Operators page appears displaying the status of the Operator installation.

  6. Verify that the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator is displayed and wait until the Status changes to Succeeded.

  7. If the installation is not successful, troubleshoot the error:

    1. Click Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator on the Installed Operators page.
    2. Select the Subscription tab and view any failures or errors.

For more information about installing Operators, see the OpenShift Documentation

Additional information

  • See Using Skupper for instructions about using YAML to create sites.

3.3. Installing the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator for all namespaces using the CLI

The steps in this section show how to use the kubectl command to install and deploy the latest version of the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator in a given cluster.

Installing the operator for all namespaces allows you create a site in any namespace.

Prerequisites

  • Access to a cluster using a cluster-admin account.

  • Operator Lifecycle Manager is installed.

    CAUTION
    If you use an automatic approval strategy for the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator, make sure all other operators on the same namespace use the same strategy. Typically the operator is installed in the openshift-operators namespace. See How can Operators be updated independently from each other? for more information.

Procedure

  1. Log in as a cluster administrator.
  2. Complete the steps described in Red Hat Container Registry Authentication.

  3. Create a file named subscription-all.yaml with the following: 

    apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  name: skupper-operator
  namespace: openshift-operators
spec:
  channel: stable-2
  installPlanApproval: Automatic
  name: skupper-operator
  source: redhat-operators
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  startingCSV: skupper-network-observer-operator.v2.1.1-rh-8
    Note

    If you want to keep updates confined to 2.1.x releases, set the value of channel to stable-2.1.

    If you do not specify startingCSV, the subscription defaults to the latest operator version.

    If you specify installPlanApproval as Manual, sites are not automatically upgraded to the latest version of Service Interconnect. See Chapter 6, Upgrading the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator and Kubernetes sites for information on manually upgrading sites.

  4. Apply the subscription YAML: 

    $ kubectl apply -f subscription-all.yaml

Additional information

  • See Using Skupper for instructions about using YAML to create sites.

3.4. Installing the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator using the OpenShift console

The procedures in this section show how to use the OperatorHub from the OpenShift console to install and deploy the latest version of the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator in a given OpenShift namespace.

Prerequisites

  • Access to an OpenShift cluster using a cluster-admin account. See Release Notes for supported OpenShift versions.

    CAUTION
    If you use an automatic approval strategy for the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator, make sure all other operators on the same namespace use the same strategy. Typically the operator is installed in the openshift-operators namespace. See How can Operators be updated independently from each other? for more information.

Procedure

  1. In the OpenShift web console, navigate to Operators → OperatorHub.
  2. Choose Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator from the list of available Operators, and then click Install.

  3. On the Operator Installation page, two Installation mode options are available:

    • All namespaces on the cluster

      For this example, choose A specific namespace on the cluster.

  4. Choose an Update approval option.

    By default, Automatic approval is selected, and sites will upgrade to the latest version of Service Interconnect. If you choose Manual approval, sites will not be automatically upgraded to the latest version of Service Interconnect.

  5. Select the namespace into which you want to install the Operator, and then click Install.

    The Installed Operators page appears displaying the status of the Operator installation.

  6. Verify that the Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator is displayed and wait until the Status changes to Succeeded.

  7. If the installation is not successful, troubleshoot the error:

    1. Click Red Hat Service Interconnect Network Observer Operator on the Installed Operators page.
    2. Select the Subscription tab and view any failures or errors.

For more information about installing Operators, see the OpenShift Documentation

Additional information

  • See Using Skupper for instructions about using YAML to create sites.

Chapter 4. Installing the CRDs and controller using YAML

As an alternative to the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator, you can use YAML to install the CRDs and controller.

Prerequisites

  • cluster-admin access to a cluster.

Procedure

  1. Download YAML files, choose the latest Version for 2.1 at This content is not included.Software Downloads and download the Skupper deployments (yamls).

  2. Determine the scope of the installation:

    • cluster - you can create a site in any namespace (skupper-cluster-scope-2.1.0-rh.yaml).
    • namespace - you can only create a site in the namespace where the YAML is deployed (skupper-namespace-scope-2.1.0-rh.yaml).

  3. To install Red Hat Service Interconnect cluster wide, apply the YAML: 

    $ kubectl apply -f skupper-cluster-scope-2.1.0-rh.yaml
Note

This YAML installs the controller and supporting resources in the skupper namespace.

  1. To install Red Hat Service Interconnect in a specific namespace:

    1. Create a namespace, for example: 

      $ kubectl create namespace west
$ kubectl config set-context --current --namespace west

    2. Apply the namespace scoped YAML: 

      $ kubectl apply -f skupper-namespace-scope-2.1.0-rh.yaml

Chapter 5. Installing the Network controller to enable console

Prerequisites

  • cluster-admin access to a cluster.

Procedure

  1. Download YAML files, choose the latest Version for 2.1 at This content is not included.Software Downloads and download the Skupper deployments (yamls).

  2. Create a site, for example: 

    $ skupper site create west

  3. Apply the Network controller YAML: 

    $ kubectl apply -f skupper-network-observer-openshift-2.1.0-rh.yaml

  4. Navigate to the console.

    On OpenShift: 

    $ oc get routes

    The route is prefixed with skupper-network-observer-<site-namespace>. You can log in using OpenShift credentials.

    On other Kubernetes, expose the skupper-network-observer service. A skupper user is created and you can get the password using: 

    $ kubectl --namespace <site-namespace> \
      get secret skupper-network-observer-auth \
      -o jsonpath='{.data.htpasswd}' | base64 -d | sed 's/\(.*\):{PLAIN}\(.*\)/\1 \2\n/'

Chapter 6. Upgrading the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator and Kubernetes sites

You can now choose from the following channels:

  • stable-2.1 - Limit updates to 2.1.x (long term support).
  • stable-2 - Limit updates to 2.x.
  • stable - All releases.
Note

If you are using stable or stable-2, you can upgrade automatically.

If you install the Operator again as described in Installing the Operator, existing sites are not removed.

If you chose automatic updates when installing the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator, sites are upgraded to future releases whenever a new version of Service Interconnect is available for the channel you chose. If you chose manual updates, complete this procedure to upgrade your sites.

Prerequisites

  • A version 2.0 site. You cannot upgrade a version 1.x site.

Procedure

  1. Log into the OpenShift console.
  2. Navigate to the Installed Operators page.
  3. If Upgrade available is displayed as the Status for the Red Hat Service Interconnect Operator, click that text.
  4. On the InstallPlan details page, click Preview InstallPlan.
  5. Click Approve to upgrade sites.

Chapter 7. Upgrading the CLI and local system sites

Prerequisites

  • A version 2.0 site. You cannot upgrade a version 1.x site.

Procedure

To upgrade sites created on local systems (Docker, Podman or Linux):

  1. Install the latest version of the CLI.

  2. Use the following command to upgrade the site: 

    $ skupper system install
$ skupper system reload

Chapter 8. Using your subscription

Red Hat Service Interconnect is provided through a software subscription. To manage your subscriptions, access your account at the Red Hat Customer Portal.

8.1. Accessing your account

Procedure

  1. Go to access.redhat.com.
  2. If you do not already have an account, create one.
  3. Log in to your account.

8.2. Activating a subscription

Procedure

  1. Go to access.redhat.com.
  2. Navigate to My Subscriptions.
  3. Navigate to Activate a subscription and enter your 16-digit activation number.

8.3. Registering your system for packages

To install RPM packages for this product on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, your system must be registered. If you are using downloaded release files, this step is not required.

Procedure

  1. Go to access.redhat.com.
  2. Navigate to Registration Assistant.
  3. Select your OS version and continue to the next page.
  4. Use the listed command in your system terminal to complete the registration.

For more information about registering your system, see one of the following resources:

Appendix A. About Service Interconnect documentation

Making open source more inclusive

Red Hat is committed to replacing problematic language in our code, documentation, and web properties. We are beginning with these four terms: master, slave, blacklist, and whitelist. Because of the enormity of this endeavor, these changes will be implemented gradually over several upcoming releases. For more details, see our CTO Chris Wright’s message.

Revised on 2026-04-08 13:20:25 UTC

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