Release notes for the latest release

Review these release notes for information about supported versions, new features and enhancements, and known issues and workarounds.

Version information

This release relates to IBM® App Connect Operator 5.0.18.

About Long Term Support: This version of the Operator is available as a Long Term Support release. The Long Term Support (LTS) release is a replacement for the Extended Update Support (EUS) release, which reached End of Support (or end of life) in October 2022, as determined by the End of Support date for Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform 4.6. LTS releases typically offer two years of support and might be preferable for environments where a long-term deployment is desirable, but frequent functional updates are not practical.

The support requirements for IBM App Connect Operator 5.0.18 are as follows:

Option Supported requirement
Deployment platforms Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 and 4.14 (More information)
Certified container Based on IBM App Connect Enterprise certified container 8.0.18
Image Contains an image of IBM App Connect Enterprise 12.0.12.2
Installation
  • Supported on IBM Cloud Pak for Integration 2022.2.1
  • Supported as an independent deployment of IBM App Connect Enterprise certified container to a cluster

New features and enhancements

Support for new custom resource (or operand) channels, versions, and licenses

All LTS releases of IBM App Connect Operator 5.0.x are delivered on the v5.0-lts Operator channel.

IBM App Connect Operator 5.0.18 provides a new version, and accompanying licenses for the App Connect Dashboard, App Connect Designer Authoring, Switch Server, and Integration Server custom resources (or operands). To create an instance of, or upgrade to, a 5.0.18-specific version of a custom resource, you must choose both of these options:
  • Subscribe to the 12.0-lts or 12.0.12-lts channel for custom resources, or specify a fully qualified version of 12.0.12.2-r1-lts.
  • Select a 5.0.18-specific license for approval.

In an IBM App Connect Operator 5.0.18 LTS deployment, only the deployed custom resources (or instances) at a version that resolves to 12.0.M.0-rX-lts qualify for Long Term Support. The IBM Cloud Pak foundational services Operator, which is installed as a dependency of the IBM App Connect Operator, must also be at version 3.19.x to qualify for Long Term Support.

More information:
Ongoing support for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12 and 4.14

Red Hat OpenShift 4.12 and 4.14 are supported for installing IBM App Connect Operator 5.0.18. The following implications apply for the operand versions that are supported after you install the Operator:

  • On a Red Hat OpenShift 4.12 cluster, you can create App Connect Dashboard, App Connect Designer Authoring, Switch Server, and Integration Server instances at version 12.0.7.0-r2-lts or later only.
  • On a Red Hat OpenShift 4.14 cluster, you can create instances at version 12.0.10.0-r2-lts or later only.

Red Hat OpenShift 4.12 and 4.14 are also supported for upgrading from an earlier IBM App Connect Operator version to version 5.0.18. The following implications apply for the operand versions that are supported after you upgrade the Operator:

  • On a Red Hat OpenShift 4.12 cluster, you must upgrade all your existing App Connect Dashboard, App Connect Designer Authoring, Switch Server, and Integration Server instances to version 12.0.7.0-r2-lts or later.
  • On a Red Hat OpenShift 4.14 cluster, you must upgrade all your existing instances to version 12.0.10.0-r2-lts or later.
More information: