OpenShift Pipelines

Basic Information

• Model: Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines is an Operator that enables cloud-native CI/CD capabilities within Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform. It is built on the open-source Tekton framework.
• Version: Latest stable version is 1.20.
• Release Date: Version 1.20 is available with OpenShift Container Platform 4.15 and later versions.
• Minimum Requirements: Requires an existing Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster. General OpenShift cluster requirements include:
  • RAM: Minimum 8 GB per compute machine, 16 GB per control plane machine, 16 GB for bootstrap machine.
  • Processor: Minimum 1 vCPU per host.
  • Storage: Minimum 15 GB for /var filesystem, 1 GB for /usr/local/bin, 1 GB for temporary directory, plus an additional 15 GB unallocated space for Docker storage backend. Persistent storage is required for pipeline execution.
  • Operating System: Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 7.5 or later, or RHEL Atomic Host 7.4.5 or later, running on Linux nodes.
• Supported Operating Systems: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.15, 4.16, 4.17, 4.18, 4.19. Runs on Linux nodes within a mixed cluster environment.
• Latest Stable Version: 1.20.
• End of Support Date: Follows the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform lifecycle policy.
• End of Life Date: Follows the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform lifecycle policy.
• Auto-update Expiration Date: Not explicitly specified; updates are managed via the OpenShift Operator framework.
• License Type: Subscription-based, available with a Red Hat OpenShift subscription.
• Deployment Model: Deployed as an Operator within a Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster. It is a cloud-native CI/CD solution.

Technical Requirements

• RAM: Resource requests and limits for pipeline tasks (pods) are configurable. OpenShift Pipelines itself runs within the OpenShift cluster, which requires a minimum of 8 GB RAM for compute nodes and 16 GB for control plane nodes.
• Processor: Resource requests and limits for pipeline tasks (pods) are configurable. The underlying OpenShift cluster requires a minimum of 1 vCPU per host.
• Storage: Persistent storage is necessary for tasks to share content within a pipeline. OpenShift Container Platform requires a minimum of 15 GB for the /var filesystem and additional unallocated space for container storage.
• Display: Access via OpenShift Container Platform web console (standard web browser compatible).
• Ports: Utilizes standard Kubernetes and OpenShift cluster communication ports. Specific ports for webhooks and event listeners can be secured with HTTPS.
• Operating System: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or RHEL CoreOS.

Analysis of Technical Requirements: Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines' technical requirements are intrinsically linked to the underlying OpenShift Container Platform. Resource allocation (CPU, memory, storage) for pipeline tasks is dynamic and configurable per step, allowing for fine-grained control and optimization. This flexibility means that overall resource consumption scales with the complexity and concurrency of the CI/CD workloads. Administrators must manage resource quotas and limit ranges within OpenShift projects to prevent resource contention and ensure efficient operation.

Support & Compatibility

• Latest Version: 1.20.
• OS Support: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform versions 4.15, 4.16, 4.17, 4.18, 4.19. It runs on Linux nodes.
• End of Support Date: Aligned with the support lifecycle of the specific Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform version it is deployed on.
• Localization: As a Red Hat product, it is expected to support standard Red Hat product localization options available through the OpenShift Container Platform console.
• Available Drivers: Not applicable in the traditional sense for CI/CD software. It leverages Kubernetes resources and container images, with extensibility to build images using tools like S2I, Buildah, JIB, and Kaniko.

Analysis of Overall Support & Compatibility Status: Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines offers robust compatibility by integrating directly with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, ensuring a cohesive CI/CD experience. Its foundation on Tekton provides portability across Kubernetes distributions. Support is comprehensive, tied to Red Hat's enterprise-grade OpenShift subscriptions, and includes access to Red Hat's collaborative support. Compatibility is maintained with specific OpenShift Container Platform versions, ensuring stability and access to the latest features.

Security Status

• Security Features:
  • Built on Tekton with hardened security and integrations.
  • Tekton Chains for supply chain security: signs task runs, task run results, and OCI registry images using cryptographic keys (e.g., x509, cosign). Supports attestation formats like in-toto and secure storage of signatures.
  • Authentication secrets: Supports kubernetes.io/basic-auth and kubernetes.io/ssh-auth for Git and container registry authentication via service accounts or workspaces.
  • Security Context Constraints (SCCs): Enforces security policies for containers, preventing privileged containers by default and restricting access to host resources.
  • Secure webhooks: Event listeners can be secured with HTTPS and re-encrypted TLS termination.
  • Confidential Containers (CoCo): Extends pod sandboxing by running pods in encrypted, hardware-isolated Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) to protect data and code from privileged users and untrusted infrastructure.
  • Image scanning: Integrates with tools like Clair and Sysdig Secure for vulnerability scanning of container images.
  • Access Control: Leverages OpenShift's Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and OAuth for managing user privileges and federated access.
  • Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs): Provides detailed listings of PipelineRun components.
• Known Vulnerabilities: Specific CVEs have been addressed in past versions, such as CVE-2023-39325 and CVE-2023-44487 (HTTP/2 Rapid Reset Attack) in version 1.12. General vulnerabilities in underlying components (e.g., Golang) are continuously monitored and patched.
• Blacklist Status: Not applicable.
• Certifications: Red Hat certified products adhere to Red Hat's rigorous criteria and collaborative support framework, including continuous vulnerability scans.
• Encryption Support: Cryptographic signing of artifacts, HTTPS for secure communication, and hardware-backed encryption for data-in-use via confidential containers.
• Authentication Methods: Basic authentication (username/password), SSH-based authentication for Git and container registries. OpenShift itself supports HTPasswd, OpenStack Keystone, LDAP, GitHub, and OpenID Connect identity providers.
• General Recommendations: Implement custom Security Context Constraints (SCCs) and service accounts for pipeline runs. Utilize trusted container images and regularly update base images. Employ image scanning tools and enforce network segmentation.

Analysis on Overall Security Rating: Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines offers a strong security posture, deeply integrated with OpenShift Container Platform's robust security features. The inclusion of Tekton Chains for supply chain security, comprehensive authentication mechanisms, and advanced features like confidential containers demonstrate a commitment to securing the CI/CD process from code to deployment. Continuous monitoring, vulnerability management, and adherence to Red Hat's certification standards further enhance its security rating.

Performance & Benchmarks

• Benchmark Scores: No specific public benchmark scores are readily available for Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines as a standalone product. Performance is evaluated in the context of OpenShift cluster resource utilization.
• Real-world Performance Metrics: Pipelines run on-demand in isolated containers, scaling dynamically based on workload. Performance can be improved by increasing the number of OpenShift nodes and enabling high-availability mode for the pipeline controller. Resource consumption is managed through OpenShift's resource quotas and limit ranges, allowing for efficient allocation of CPU, memory, and ephemeral storage per task.
• Power Consumption: Not directly measurable for software. Resource-efficient execution within OpenShift contributes to optimized power consumption of the underlying infrastructure.
• Carbon Footprint: Not directly measurable for software. Optimized resource usage and efficient scaling contribute to a reduced environmental impact of the computing infrastructure.
• Comparison with Similar Assets: As a cloud-native CI/CD solution built on Tekton, it competes with and offers Kubernetes-native advantages over traditional CI/CD tools like Jenkins, GitLab CI, and Argo CD by providing serverless pipelines and on-demand scaling.

Analysis of Overall Performance Status: Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines delivers high performance through its Kubernetes-native design, enabling on-demand, isolated execution of pipeline tasks. Its ability to scale dynamically and integrate with OpenShift's resource management features ensures efficient use of cluster resources. While specific benchmarks are not published, the focus on resource optimization and high-availability configurations indicates a strong emphasis on maintaining performance under varying loads.

User Reviews & Feedback

User feedback highlights Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines' strengths in providing a Kubernetes-native CI/CD experience. Users appreciate its foundation on Tekton, offering portability and serverless execution without the overhead of managing a central CI/CD server. The deep integration with the OpenShift Container Platform, including the web console and CLI, is a significant advantage for developers and operators.

Strengths:

• Cloud-native and Kubernetes-native approach to CI/CD.
• Automates application delivery and reduces time to market.
• Scales on-demand with isolated, repeatable, and predictable outcomes.
• Strong security features, including supply chain security with Tekton Chains and confidential computing.
• No operational overhead of managing a central CI/CD server.
• Declarative pipelines as code, integrated with application source code.
• Extensibility with various Kubernetes tools for image building (S2I, Buildah, JIB, Kaniko).

Weaknesses:

• Resource consumption requires careful management and configuration of quotas and limits to prevent performance degradation in multi-tenant environments.
• Performance can be impacted by a large number of concurrent tasks if the underlying OpenShift cluster is not adequately scaled or configured for high availability.
• Requires an existing Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster, which might be a barrier for environments not already using OpenShift.

Recommended Use Cases:

• Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) for cloud-native applications.
• AI/ML pipelines requiring automated delivery.
• Application modernization and GitOps workflows.
• Environments with decentralized teams working on microservice architectures.
• Workloads requiring strong supply chain security and data-in-use protection.

Summary

Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines is a robust, cloud-native Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) solution built on the open-source Tekton framework, deeply integrated with Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform. Its core strength lies in providing Kubernetes-native pipelines that automate application delivery, offering on-demand scaling and execution in isolated containers, thereby eliminating the need for a traditional, centralized CI/CD server.

Key advantages include its comprehensive security features, such as Tekton Chains for supply chain integrity (signing artifacts and attestations), robust authentication methods leveraging OpenShift's security context constraints and secrets, and advanced data-in-use protection through confidential containers. This makes it highly suitable for security-sensitive and regulated workloads.

While offering significant flexibility and scalability, managing resource consumption within OpenShift projects requires careful configuration of quotas and limits to optimize performance, especially in multi-tenant or high-concurrency environments. Performance can be enhanced by scaling the underlying OpenShift cluster and enabling high-availability features.

Overall, Red Hat OpenShift Pipelines is an excellent choice for organizations leveraging OpenShift for their containerized workloads, particularly those adopting microservices architectures, GitOps, or requiring strong security and auditability in their software delivery pipelines. Its tight integration with the OpenShift ecosystem provides a streamlined developer experience and enterprise-grade support.

Information provided is based on publicly available data and may vary depending on specific device configurations. For up-to-date information, please consult official manufacturer resources.