News
Abstract
As more of our customers are adopting Kubernetes for their IBM Order Management (OMS) container solutions, staying informed and updated on best practices is more crucial than ever. This guide is designed to help you, our valued customers, understand and implement the best practices for OMS Containers. These practices are derived from our extensive experience with past customer cases and are essential for optimizing your operations.
Understanding and implementing these best practices are vital for successfully managing your OMS Containers. By following these guidelines, you can enhance operational efficiency and achieve better outcomes. Our team is well-versed in these practices and committed to assisting you in navigating any challenges that may arise. This proactive approach ensures effective guidance and support during the resolution of any discrepancies.
We encourage you to integrate these best practices into your daily operations. Our aim is to empower you with the knowledge and tools needed to maximize the performance of your OMS Containers, helping you drive success in your business endeavors.
Content
- Migrate from Helm to Operator as Helm was deprecated in June 2022.
- The shift from Helm to Operator deployment marks a significant evolution in managing Kubernetes applications.
- OMS product deployments now fully leverage the capabilities of Kubernetes Operators for improved lifecycle management and automation. Operators are now essential for deploying new features and enhancements. Comprehensive steps for migration and a helm-to-operator mapping guide are available.
- We strongly advise all customers to complete this migration, utilizing our detailed guides and helm-to-operator mappings to facilitate a smooth transition.
- Recommendation: Always match the Operator version with the product version.
- Benefits:
- This synchronization is vital to avoid compatibility issues and to harness the latest features and enhancements available in each release.
- It also ensures compatibility and avoids upgrade issues. Refer to the clarity report for compatible versions.
- Update Policy: Aim to use the latest or the immediately preceding version to leverage new features. Review Support policy for container delivery models.
- Recommendation: Ensure the DTK is updated to the latest version. The Self-Service tool updates the DTK monthly.
- Download: Access the latest DTK version directly from the Self-Service tool.
- Onboarding and Access:
- New Accounts: Contact your seller or account owner to get onboarded to the Self-Service tool.
- Existing Accounts: To add users to the Self-Service tool, please reach out to your Self-Service Organization Administrator.
- Custom Code Reconciliation: Compile the new Order Hub code with the DTK release and ensure any custom code is reconciled appropriately.
- Order Hub Customization Guidance: Our product docs may not cover all customization specifics. Teams should consult Angular and Carbon UI documentation independently for necessary customizations. While support is available for general queries, we do not write or review custom code.
- Recommendation: Regularly update the Operator Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs), specifically OMEnvironment yaml, to match the latest CRD structure. Also, monitor and manage annotations carefully to ensure operational integrity and performance.
- Resources: Monitor the "What's New" section for updates on CRDs and annotations. Keep the Operator CRD and annotations updated to reflect any new additions or changes.
- Recommendation: Data protection cannot be overstated. Implementing daily backups of Persistent Volumes (PVs) ensures that your data is protected and retained, mitigating the risks of data loss or corruption.
- Benefits: This strategy is essential for any business-critical applications running on Kubernetes, providing a safety net for your valuable data.
- Recommendation: Follow the supported stack documentation, including Elasticsearch, Cassandra, Kafka, etc.
- Open-source Documentation: Not all specifics related to the behavior of external services might be provided in our official documentation. Leverage the particular open-source documentation as needed for more detailed information.
- Recommendation: Choosing the right Operator upgrade strategy—automatic or manual— during subscription creation can significantly affect the operational dynamics of your OMS product deployment.
- Benefits: Automatic updates offer the convenience of the latest features and security patches without manual oversight, while manual updates provide control over when and how updates are applied, which is crucial for environments requiring stringent validation processes.
- Availability: OIDC is supported in both the Development Toolkit and via Operator deployment, enhancing secure authentication across environments.
- Purpose: Provides secure authentication options to enhance identity verification and manage authentication effectively across environments.
- Recommendation: Adhere to the documented best practices for Operators outlined in our product guides. They are designed to maximize the efficiency and performance of your deployments.
- Benefits: These guidelines help ensure that your OMS product operates optimally, leveraging the full capabilities of Kubernetes in a controlled and effective manner.
-
Key Resources:
-
Release Schedule: Available on our official documentation.
-
Documentation: Includes fix pack installation, customization
-
In addition to the practices previously mentioned, we further recommend streamlining your case management process to enhance support interactions and outcomes:
- One Issue Per Support Case: We urge you to raise only one distinct issue per enquiry case. This strategy not only facilitates a focused resolution but also ensures clearer communication between you and our support team.
- Follow-Up Procedure: For any follow-up questions or related issues that emerge post-resolution, opening an offshoot case is advisable. This approach maintains clarity and efficiency in issue tracking and management, allowing for each concern to be addressed promptly and effectively.
It is essential to consistently apply these best practices within your environments. Each case we handle provides an opportunity to verify that these standards are being upheld, contributing to the smooth and efficient operation of your systems.
By adhering to these guidelines, we aim to effectively address and prevent issues, ensuring that your deployments remain stable and well-optimized. We are committed to delivering high-quality support and remaining attentive in every customer interaction to maintain and enhance the performance of your systems.
Product Synonym
Order Management;OMS
Was this topic helpful?
Document Information
Modified date:
19 April 2024
UID
ibm17148332