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Installation Overview#

Learn how to install Stakater Cloud Orchestrator on your OpenShift cluster.

Installation Method#

SCO is installed using the ksp up command from the KubeStack+ CLI. Running ksp up locally, against the cluster your oc/kubectl context points at, bootstraps your OpenShift cluster with all required components.

Get the CLI and credentials first

The ksp CLI and the registry credentials for SCO components are both provided by Stakater — request them from sales@stakater.com. Complete the Prerequisites before you begin.

Variant scope

This guide installs the hosting variant — the full greenfield deployment that brings up the entire platform foundation (storage, GitOps, Hypershift, cluster management, …) and the SCO layer on a base OpenShift cluster. Other variants (scosmart, scobasic, hosted, dev) install different subsets.

The command takes two claim files plus your registry secret:

  • -c — the KubeStackConfig claim, applied first to generate environment configuration
  • -f — the KubeStackPlus claim, applied second to deploy the SCO platform
  • --registry-secret — credentials for pulling SCO components from Stakater's private registry
ksp up -c kubestack-config-claim.yaml -f kubestack-plus-claim.yaml --registry-secret registry-secret.yaml

Installation Flow#

The ksp up command:

  1. Validates Prerequisites — Checks for required cluster capabilities (Crossplane, providers, functions, Argo CD)
  2. Installs Core Components — Deploys the composition framework and required operators
  3. Applies Config Claim — Installs the KubeStackConfig claim to configure the environment
  4. Deploys SCO Platform — Installs the KubeStackPlus claim to bring up the SCO platform
  5. Verifies Installation — Ensures all components are healthy and ready

Cluster Classification#

When you run ksp up, the command classifies your cluster and determines the appropriate action:

Classification Description Behaviour
Greenfield No SCO components present Full installation from scratch
Valid Brownfield All components present Continues from the current state
Partial Brownfield Some components present Blocked — reports what is missing

Supported Platform#

SCO is installed and supported on Red Hat OpenShift 4.14+ on bare metal.

What's Next?#