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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

Request access from sales@stakater.com with the GitHub username that will pull the platform. Stakater grants that account access to the distribution registry. The ksp CLI is a public download. Complete the Prerequisites before you begin.

Which variant?

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. If you are adding SCO to a cluster you already run, you want scobasic instead — see scobasic Installation. It installs a smaller set and expects your cluster to already provide storage and load balancing.

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?#