IBM Support

IBM Business Automation Workflow support statement for Kubernetes platforms

General Page

When using Kubernetes platforms, IBM Business Automation Workflow containers only support Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Certified Kubernetes platforms.
For reference, the Cloud Native Computing Foundation(CNCF) maintains the Certified Kubernetes Conformance Program. Most of the leading vendors and cloud computing providers have their certified Kubernetes environments in this program. In this document, "certified Kubernetes" refers to CNCF Certified Kubernetes.
When using Kubernetes platforms, IBM Business Automation Workflow support is limited to the commercially available Kubernetes engine within a certified Kubernetes platform. For IBM technical support for other Cloud Native services, please refer to the Software Product Compatibility Reports (SPCR).
For Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, IBM supports platform-specific configuration services such as network configuration, load balancing, and security.
IBM does not warrant that all code defects will be corrected in these environments and will issue defect correction information, a restriction, or a workaround if the defect is also applicable in a fully supported environment (for example, as specified in the SPCR). Some issues might require IBM to re-create the problem in another certified Kubernetes environment (for example, Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform). If the problem does not occur or cannot be re-created in the certified environment, it will not be considered an IBM product defect.

Clarifications

  • To allow the correct deployment of IBM Business Automation Workflow, the support provider for a certified Kubernetes platform must take care of the configuration of the Kubernetes cluster. If the provider cannot resolve a problem with the platform, IBM Support reserves the right to deem the version, release or fix pack of the platform to be "not supported."
  • Installations of IBM Business Automation Workflow must be done in certified Kubernetes environments (see Certified Kubernetes) that meet the minimum requirements of the Software Product Compatibility Reports (SPCR).  IBM does not specifically support or not support any certified Kubernetes orchestration layer (for example, Rancher) or IaaS platform (for example, Alibaba).
  • The IBM Business Automation Workflow operator can deploy components to any certified Kubernetes environment. However, the operator will only deploy and configure up to the point of Kubernetes service. External access configuration to component services, like ingress or application load balancer (ALB), will require manual post deployment steps. Additionally, this also means that some post initialization, configurations and integrations of components will need to be done manually.
  • For Kubernetes platforms other than OpenShift, IBM cannot assist with Kubernetes environment setup tasks.
  • IBM does not run compatibility tests on certified Kubernetes environments other than Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform.
  • IBM Business Automation Workflow containers might not be able to interact with the services of a Kubernetes platform provider if they are not described in the SPCR. For example, the containers might not be able to send information that is used by certain monitoring and logging services. 
  • IBM technical support for IBM Business Automation Workflow is limited to the code that is developed by IBM. On Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, it also covers the configuration of the environment for the correct deployment of IBM Business Automation Workflow, including network configuration, load balancing, and security. 
  • The support statement covers all containers required to install the product on a certified Kubernetes platform.

[{"Line of Business":{"code":"LOB45","label":"Automation"},"Business Unit":{"code":"BU053","label":"Cloud & Data Platform"},"Product":{"code":"SS8JB4","label":"IBM Business Automation Workflow"},"ARM Category":[{"code":"a8m0z0000001jv0AAA","label":"Install and Deployment Environments->Containers->Container Setup Planning"}],"Platform":[{"code":"PF025","label":"Platform Independent"}],"Version":"All Version(s)"}]

Document Information

Modified date:
30 October 2020

UID

ibm16348068