Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud version information

Available Red Hat OpenShift versions

Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud supports the following versions of Red Hat OpenShift. Note that different Red Hat OpenShift versions might support different RHEL versions.

Dates that are marked with a dagger (†) are tentative and subject to change.

RHEL 7 is deprecated and becomes unsupported soon. For migration actions by cluster version, see Migrating to a new Red Hat Enterprise Linux version.

Checking a cluster's Kubernetes server version

To check the Kubernetes server version of a cluster, log in to the cluster and run the following command.

oc version

Example output

Client Version: 4.14.3
Server Version: 4.14.12
Kubernetes Version: v1.28.2

Release lifecycle

Each supported version of Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud goes through a lifecycle of testing, development, general release, support, deprecation, and becoming unsupported. Review the descriptions of each phase of a version's lifecycle.

Estimated days and versions are provided for general understanding. Actual availability and release dates are subject to change and depend on various factors, such as community updates, security patches, and technology changes between versions.

1. Community release: The community releases the new version. IBM engineers begin testing and hardening the community version in preparation to release a supported Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud version.

2. Supported version lifecycle:

   Development release

   Release is under development and might be available as a Beta to select customers. IBM provides best effort support for the release.

   General availability

   Release is generally available (GA). IBM provides full support for the release. IBM provides a tentative target date for the release to be unsupported. Release becomes the default version used during cluster creation once there are minimal restrictions and a reasonable adoption rate for the release.

   Maintenance

   Release has entered maintenance support as defined by Red Hat support. IBM provides maintenance support for OpenShift based on Red Hat policy. IBM provides full support otherwise.

   Extended support

   Release has entered extended support as defined by Red Hat. IBM provides extended support for OpenShift based on Red Hat policy. IBM provides full support otherwise.

3. Deprecated version: The version is deprecated. IBM provides an updated unsupported target date for the release. An unsupported countdown to this date is provided at least 45 days before the release becomes unsupported. IBM provides minimal support for the release in alignment with Red Hat support. This support phase is generally the final phase before the release becomes unsupported and overrides the maintenance and extended support phases should there be any overlap. Security patch updates might not be provided. During the deprecation period, the version is still supported and your cluster is still functional, but might require updating to a supported release to fix security vulnerabilities. For example, by adding or reloading worker nodes.

4. Unsupported version: The version is unsupported. IBM only provides support to upgrade to a supported release. The version is unsupported. Unsupported clusters are not provided with security and patch updates and are not supported by IBM Cloud Support. Although your cluster and apps might continue to run for a time, you can no longer create, reload, or take other corrective actions on your cluster master or worker nodes when an issue occurs. You can still delete the cluster or worker nodes, or update the cluster to the next version. Review the potential impacts and immediately update the cluster to continue receiving important security updates and support. If the cluster master runs two or more versions behind the oldest supported version, you can no longer apply updates and must delete the cluster and create a new one.

5. Archived: The version is unsupported with no upgrade path. IBM provides no support. IBM reserves the right to shut down the control planes for such clusters.

IBM provides bi-weekly worker node fix packs. IBM's goal is to remediate detected, legitimate vulnerabilities within a timeframe appropriate for the risks they represent. To ensure the quality and stability of the release, fix packs might be delayed.

For Red Hat OpenShift, fix packs are applied to the latest minor release and patch for the targeted operating system.

• For RHEL8 that is 8.9.

To keep your nodes secure, you must install worker node fix packs as soon as possible. You can subscribe to notifications to be alerted when a new update is available.

Archive

Unsupported clusters are not provided with security and patch updates and are not supported by IBM Cloud Support. Although your cluster and apps might continue to run for a time, you can no longer create, reload, or take other corrective actions on your cluster master or worker nodes when an issue occurs. You can still delete the cluster or worker nodes, or update the cluster to the next version. Review the potential impacts and immediately update the cluster to continue receiving important security updates and support. If your cluster master is two or more versions behind the oldest supported version, you must make a new cluster and deploy your apps to the new cluster.

Unsupported Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud versions:

Archived version history