In a previous blog post, I introduced an exciting feature in the Trident 25.02 release that significantly simplifies the installation process on Red Hat OpenShift Clusters.
Traditionally, Trident could be installed through various methods such as using the tridentctl tool, the Trident operator with the kubectl CLI, or a Helm chart. Now, NetApp customers using the Red Hat OpenShift container platform to run their modern application workloads or virtual machine workloads have an even easier way to install NetApp Trident (starting from version 25.02 and onwards) on their OpenShift clusters.
In Kubernetes, an operator is a software extension that encapsulates the tasks of deploying, configuring, and managing Kubernetes-native applications into a reusable package. Essentially, it is an implementation of a custom controller.
Within an OpenShift Cluster, the OperatorHub provides a collection of such software extensions. OpenShift cluster administrators and developers can select operators from the OperatorHub to easily deploy additional software on the cluster, thereby extending its capabilities. The OperatorHub is accessible from the web console and offers a variety of operators, some community-supported and others certified by Red Hat.
By leveraging Operators, Red Hat OpenShift allows you to manage the entire lifecycle (installation, patching, updating, reconfiguration, backup, and healing) of core and supplementary components, as well as the host operating system, and then scale the cluster—easily, consistently, and automatically.
Red Hat has recently certified the NetApp Trident 25.02.0 operator, which is now available from the OperatorHub. Previously, only the community operator for Trident was available in the OperatorHub. The advantage of the Red Hat Certified Trident operator is that the foundation for the operator and its containers is fully supported by NetApp when used with OpenShift (whether on-premises, in the cloud, or as a managed service). Additionally, NetApp Trident comes at no cost to you, so all you need to do is install it using the certified operator that has been verified to work seamlessly with Red Hat OpenShift and packaged for easy lifecycle management.
Furthermore, the Trident 25.02.0 operator (and future versions) offers the optional benefit of preparing the worker nodes for iSCSI. This is particularly advantageous if you plan to deploy your workloads on ROSA clusters and intend to use the iSCSI protocol for storage, especially for OpenShift Virtualization VM workloads.
Let’s explore the user interface for installing Trident 25.02 on a ROSA cluster. The interface will appear the same on self-managed OpenShift Clusters as well, whether on-premises or in the cloud.
Before installing Trident 25.02, you can verify that no Trident objects are present on the cluster.
Then from the OperatorHub, locate the Red Hat certified Trident operator and install it.
Now, create the Trident Orchestrator instance. When you click on create using the form view, you will install Trident using default options. However, if you want to set any custom values or turn on iscsi node prep during installation, you can easily do that by using the YAML view.
Form view
Below is the example screenshot using the YAML view. In this example, I have set the enableNodePrep flag to true. This will automatically install iscsi tools on the worker node after the installation of Trident components on the cluster.
YAML view to provide custom values
Now from the command line, you can verify that the trident objects are installed.
Conclusion
The introduction of the Red Hat Certified NetApp Trident 25.02.0 operator marks a significant milestone in simplifying storage management for Red Hat OpenShift clusters. By leveraging the OperatorHub, administrators and developers can now easily deploy and manage Trident, ensuring seamless integration with their existing workflows. The certified operator not only guarantees compatibility and support from NetApp but also enhances the overall user experience with features like optional iSCSI preparation for worker nodes.
With these advancements, NetApp continues to empower its customers by providing robust, enterprise-grade storage solutions that are easy to deploy and manage. Whether you're running modern application workloads or virtual machine workloads on OpenShift, the new Trident 25.02.0 operator offers a streamlined, efficient, and cost-effective way to enhance your storage capabilities.
We encourage you to explore this new installation method and experience the benefits of simplified lifecycle management and enhanced support. As always, stay tuned for more updates and features in future Trident releases.