Streamlined lifecycle: Ericsson reference solutions on Red Hat OpenShift
As with any upgrade, preparation is critical to success. The preparation steps to upgrade Red Hat OpenShift from EUS-to-EUS version while running Ericsson 5G Core CNFs include: review of Red Hat OpenShift documentation, ensuring the Ericsson CNFs are ready, determining the correct upgrade paths, planning the CNF upgrades if necessary, and maintaining operator compatibility. Additional preparation steps involve loading images into offline repositories, creating backups, and defining the right MachineConfigPools. Prepare for firmware updates if required and verify network and cluster health before the actual upgrade.
After completing the necessary preparations, it's time to perform the upgrade. The general flow involves updating the Red Hat OpenShift control plane and OLM-based operators to the latest versions. The key to properly managing the upgrade is through consideration of potential and standard stopping points. The full, step-by-step process is described in the TechTalk “OpenShift LifeCycle Management in Telco - Experience from Ericsson.”
Key observations from our labs and field testing
Our team from Ericsson Core Networks and Red Hat have successfully upgraded reference solutions in-service on the Red Hat OpenShift cluster while running standard traffic. As expected, the upgrade process had minimal impact on signaling and payload, and no manual intervention was required. An important feature of this upgrade is how the worker nodes rebooted only once. However, it’s important to remember that challenges can arise during upgrades, so careful preparation, following the path, managing stopping points, and verification are crucial for a successful upgrade journey. This also emphasizes the importance of adhering to the agreed reference designs. Ericsson and Red Hat collaborate on reference designs and upgrade processes that simplify LCM for our customers.
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Watch our Tech Talk “OpenShift LifeCycle Management in Telco - Experience from Ericsson”
For more information on the Red Hat and Ericsson partnership and joint offers, visit:
Ericsson - Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog
Ericsson and Red Hat collaboration partnership
