Offline

The cosi-offline-bundle.sh script can be used to create a package for the offline installation of Dell COSI storage providers for deployment via Helm.

Dependencies

  • Multiple Linux systems may be needed.
    • One system with Internet access to create the bundle:Clone a GitHub repository.
    • Run a script using Docker or Podman to pull and save container images.
    • One system with access to an image registry to : Run a script using Docker or Podman to restore and push images to the registry.
  • RedHat credentials to pull openshift4/ose-kube-rbac-proxy-rhel9 image from registry.redhat.io (no unauthenticated access).

If one system has both Internet access and registry access, it can be used for both steps.

Dependencies and Usage

Preparing an offline bundle requires the following utilities:

Dependency Usage
docker or podman Used to pull images from public registries, tag them, and push to a private registry.
Required on both the system building the offline bundle and the system preparing for installation.
Tested versions: docker 19.03+ and podman 1.6.4+.
git Used to manually clone repositories to create an offline bundle.
Needed only on the system preparing the offline bundle.
Tested versions: git 1.8+ (any version should work).

Workflow

To perform an offline installation :

  1. Build an offline bundle
  2. Unpack the offline bundle and prepare for installation.
  3. Install operator using the unpacked files.
  4. Install Container Storage Modules using the unpacked files.
  5. Installing Dell CSM Operator on a disconnected OpenShift environment

NOTE: Use the same tool (docker or podman) for packing and unpacking images.

Building an offline bundle

NOTE: Login to registry.redhat.io with RedHat credentials before starting.

On a Linux system with Internet access:

  1. Clone the required csm-operator version:
git clone -b v1.11.0 https://github.com/dell/csm-operator.git
cd csm-operator
  1. Run the csm-offline-bundle.sh script to create an offline bundle:
bash scripts/csm-offline-bundle.sh -c

The script will :

  • Determine required images from CSM Operator configuration files.
  • Pull each required image.
  • Save all images to a file using docker save or podman save
  • Build a tar.gz file containing the images and necessary installation files.

Here is the output of a request to build an offline bundle for the Dell CSM Operator:

Output

The resulting offline bundle file can be copied to another machine, if necessary, to gain access to the desired image registry.

Unpacking the offline bundle and preparing for installation

This step needs to be performed on a Linux system with access to an image registry that will host container images. If the registry requires login, that should be done before proceeding.

  1. Copy the Offline Bundle : Transfer the offline bundle file to a machine with access to the desired image registry.
  2. Unpack the Bundle:
    • On a Linux system with registry access, expand the bundle file:
    tar xvfz dell-csm-operator-bundle.tar.gz
    Here is the output of untar
    Output

  1. Prepare for Installation: Run the csm-offline-bundle.sh script with the -p option and specify the internal registry path with the -r option:

    cd dell-csm-operator-bundle

bash scripts/csm-offline-bundle.sh -p -r localregistry:5000/dell-csm-operator/

    The script will :

    • Load required container images.
    • Tag images with the user-supplied registry information.
    • Push tagged images to the registry.
    • Update the Operator configuration to use the new images.

    Here is the output for preparing the bundle for installation (localregistry:5000 refers to an image registry accessible to Kubernetes/OpenShift. dell-csm-operator refers to the folder created within the registry.):

    Output

Install Operator:

  • Run the install.sh script to install the operator:

    bash scripts/install.sh

Install Container Storage Modules

Prepare for Installation: Ensure required images are available and Operator configuration is updated.

Follow Installation Procedure: Proceed with the usual installation steps as documented for the Operator.

Notes:

  • The Operator installs to the dell-csm-operator namespace by default
  • Offline bundle installation is only supported with manual installs (without using Operator Lifecycle Manager).
  • Starting with CSM version 1.16, the sample Custom Resource (CR) files introduce a new field, spec.version, which specifies the target CSM release for deployment. When this field is set, users can provide container images through either the ConfigMap-based image definitions or a custom registry setup. These methods remove the need to embed image references directly within the CR itself. Detailed instructions for both image management options are provided in the ConfigMap & Custom Registry section. If neither method is configured, the operator automatically falls back to using the default image set associated with the corresponding drivers and modules. This spec.version is currently supported on Powerstore, Powermax, Powerscale and Powerflex platforms.
  • Offline bundle installs the operator in the default namespace via the install.sh script. Ensure the current context in the kubeconfig file is set to default.

Installing Dell CSM Operator on a disconnected OpenShift environment

This guide provides instructions for installing the Dell CSM Operator on a disconnected OpenShift environment. The most convenient method is to mirror the entire catalog of certified Operators.

Prerequisites

Before getting started, ensure the following prerequisites are met:

  • The OpenShift CLI (oc) installed
  • Access to a private container registry where the mirrored images will be hosted
  • Sufficient local storage space to download all required images

Mirror the Certified Operator Catalog

Run the following command to mirror the catalog:

oc adm catalog mirror registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v[ocp version] [private-registry-url]

Example:

oc adm catalog mirror registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v4.19 registry.example.com:5000

For more detailed steps, such as using credentials to authenticate, using a file archive, and more, refer to the official OpenShift documentation

Populating OperatorHub from a mirrored Operator

After previous step completes successfully, an ImageContentSourcePolicy manifest is generated. That resource will translate regular image url and tags into the mirrored ones in the private registry.

From the disconnected environment run:

oc create -f imageContentSourcePolicy.yaml

Then update the CatalogSource to reference the mirrored content in the private registry:

oc apply -f catalogSource.yaml

Verify the deployment:

oc get pods -n openshift-marketplace

Once all pods are in a healthy state, the Red Hat–certified Operators should appear in the OperatorHub in the OpenShift Web Console

For more detailed steps on populating the OperatorHub with a new catalog, refer to the official OpenShift documentation.

Mirroring only the Dell CSM Operator

The synchronization of the full certified operator catalog is a resource‑intensive process and can take several hours to complete. It also requires significant storage capacity on the container registry (typically more than 1 TB).

An alternative method is to mirror only the Dell CSM Operator. To do so use oc-mirror plugin to select the dell-csm-operator-certified only.

That procedure is documented in the official documentation.

The overall workflow is similar to the steps described in the previous section, with the following additional requirements:

  • Download and install the oc-mirror plugin (available through the OpenShift Web Console or from the Github repository).
  • Authenticate podman with registry.redhat.io.
  • Prepare an ImageSetConfiguration that includes only the Dell CSM Operator.

Here is a sample ImageSetConfiguration file to be adjusted with OpenShift version and CSM Operator version:

apiVersion: mirror.openshift.io/v2alpha1
kind: ImageSetConfiguration
mirror:
  operators:
    - catalog: registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v[ocp version]
      packages:
        - name: dell-csm-operator-certified
          channels:
            - name: stable
              minVersion: "[dell csm operator version]"

In a fully disconnected environment, the required images must be downloaded locally:

oc mirror --config=dell-csm-operator-mirror.yml file:///tmp/dell-csm-operator-imageset --v2

Push the images to the private registry:

oc mirror --config=dell-csm-operator-mirror.yml --from file:///tmp/dell-csm-operator-imageset docker://<mirror_registry_url> --v2

Finally, patch the ImageDigestMirrorSet:

oc apply -f cluster-resources

Verification can be performed using:

oc get imagedigestmirrorset
oc get catalogsource -n openshift-marketplace
oc get clustercatalog