Page

Validating your mirrored operators

September 25, 2025

Sathish Kumar Hemadhri

After applying the cluster resources for Red Hat Operators, it is essential to validate the availability of the CatalogSource, IDMS, and ITMS components.

Prerequisites:

Your operators to mirror from the previous lesson.

In this lesson, you will:

Validate your mirrored operators and upgrades for Redis.

Validate your resources

Validating operator resources can be done by executing the following commands to ensure that the resources are correctly deployed and accessible within the cluster.

[root@registry cluster-resources]# oc get catalogsources -A
NAMESPACE               NAME                             DISPLAY   TYPE   PUBLISHER   AGE
openshift-marketplace   cs-redhat-operator-index-v4-17             grpc               47s
[root@registry cluster-resources]#
[root@registry cluster-resources]# oc get imagedigestmirrorset
NAME              AGE
idms-operator-0   6d1h
[root@registry cluster-resources]# oc get imagetagmirrorset
NAME             AGE
itms-generic-0   21h
[root@registry cluster-resources]#

Log in to the Red Hat OpenShift console and navigate to the OperatorHub tab to view the operators that have been successfully mirrored to the cluster. (Figure 1)

Figure 1: A screenshot of the OpenShift console showing all operators that were mirrored to the cluster.

Next, navigate to the directory containing the Certified Operators cluster resources, as outlined below, and repeat the same validation steps performed for the Red Hat Operators to ensure proper mirroring and availability.

[root@registry cluster-resources]# ls
cc-certified-operator-index-v4-17.yaml  cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17.yaml  idms-oc-mirror.yaml  itms-oc-mirror.yaml
[root@registry cluster-resources]# oc apply -f .
catalogsource.operators.coreos.com/cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17 created
imagedigestmirrorset.config.openshift.io/idms-operator-0 configured
imagetagmirrorset.config.openshift.io/itms-generic-0 configured
                                                                                                [root@registry cluster-resources]#

[root@registry cluster-resources]# oc get catalogsources
NAME                                DISPLAY   TYPE   PUBLISHER   AGE
cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17             grpc               48s
cs-redhat-operator-index-v4-17                grpc               83m
[root@registry cluster-resources]#

Log in to the OpenShift console and navigate to the OperatorHub tab to view both the Certified Operators and Red Hat Operators that have been successfully mirrored to the cluster. (Figure 2)

Figure 2: A screenshot of the OperatorHub tab showing Certified and Red Hat Operators that have been successfully mirrored to the disconnected cluster. .
List Available PackageManifests: Use the command oc get packagemanifest to list all available PackageManifests in the cluster.
Describe Specific PackageManifest: For operators like Redis, describe the specific PackageManifest using the command: oc get packagemanifest redis-enterprise-operator-cert -oyaml

Review the Status for Mirrored Versions: In the output YAML, locate the entries section under status. This section will list the versions of the operator that have been mirrored, based on the related configuration. With these steps, this will verify that all required versions of the operators have been successfully mirrored.

[root@registry IB]# oc get packagemanifest
NAME                             CATALOG   AGE
kiali-ossm                                 90m
servicemeshoperator                        90m
redis-enterprise-operator-cert             7m39s
cincinnati-operator                        90m
compliance-operator                        90m
[root@registry IB]# oc get packagemanifest redis-enterprise-operator-cert -oyaml
apiVersion: packages.operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: PackageManifest
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: "2025-05-06T09:11:42Z"
  labels:
    catalog: cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17
    catalog-namespace: openshift-marketplace
    operatorframework.io/arch.amd64: supported
    operatorframework.io/os.linux: supported
    provider: Redis
    provider-url: ""
  name: redis-enterprise-operator-cert
  namespace: openshift-marketplace
                                                                                        spec: {}

 status:
[......]
    entries:
    - name: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.22.0-7.0
      version: 7.22.0-7.0
    - name: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.0
      version: 7.8.6-1.0
    - name: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.4-9.0
      version: 7.8.4-9.0
    name: production
  defaultChannel: production
  packageName: redis-enterprise-operator-cert
  provider:
    name: Redis

To demonstrate the operator upgrade process, the Redis Operator version 7.8.4.9 has been installed (Figure 3).

Figure 3: The OperatorHub tab showing Redis Enterprise Operator installed.

To view the available versions of the Redis Operator in the production channel, navigate to the OperatorHub tab in the OpenShift console. By default, selecting Upgrade Available will initiate an upgrade to the latest operator version in the channel, as the subscription is configured to track the latest release, and the Install Plan is automatically generated for that version.

Note

A RFE has already been submitted to address this limitation and provide greater control over operator version upgrades.

If you wish to upgrade to a specific version within a particular channel, please follow these instructions. This workaround focuses on the Redis Operator, with the objective of upgrading it to a specific version within a designated channel.

For illustration, this scenario uses version 7.8.6-1.1 which is not the latest version. The latest available version in the production channel is 7.22.0-7.0.

[root@registry IB]# oc mirror list operators --catalog=registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v4.17 --package=redis-enterprise-operator-cert --channel production
 
VERSIONS
7.22.0-7.0
7.8.4-9.0
7.8.6-1.0
7.8.6-1.1
[root@registry IB]#

Create the ImageSetConfiguration file to define the specific image set configurations for the cluster.

 [root@registry IB]# cat ce_op_ibimagest-config.yaml
kind: ImageSetConfiguration
apiVersion: mirror.openshift.io/v2alpha1
mirror:
  operators:
    - catalog: registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v4.17
      packages:
        - name: redis-enterprise-operator-cert
          channels:
            - name: production
              minVersion: '7.8.4-9.0'
              maxVersion: '7.8.6-1.1'
  additionalImages:
    - name: registry.redhat.io/ubi9/ubi:latest
    - name: registry.redhat.io/rhel9/support-tools:latest
  helm: {}
[root@registry IB]#

Mirror the operators according to the most recent ImageSetConfiguration file. This ensures that the correct versions of the operators, as specified in the configuration file, are mirrored into the target registry.

[root@registry IB]# oc-mirror --v2 -c ce_op_ibimagest-config.yaml --workspace file:///registry/ocp417/certified-operators/ docker://registry.shemadhr.tamlab.rdu2.redhat.com/quayadmin/ocp417/certified-operators  --dest-tls-verify=false
 
2025/05/06 14:55:19  [INFO]   : 👋 Hello, welcome to oc-mirror
2025/05/06 14:55:19  [INFO]   : ⚙️  setting up the environment for you...
2025/05/06 14:55:19  [INFO]   : 🔀 workflow mode: mirrorToMirror
2025/05/06 14:55:19  [INFO]   : 🕵  going to discover the necessary images...
2025/05/06 14:55:19  [INFO]   : 🔍 collecting release images...
 ✓   (10s) redis-enterprise-operator-bundle@sha256:0801e696067de948c1ea5d01c01592f8123de2a5256000ccd1acc66efc2a13e9 ➡️  registry.shemadhr.t2025/05/06 14:55:19  [INFO]   : 🔍 collecting operator images...
 ✓   (32s) Collecting catalog registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v4.17
2025/05/06 14:55:51  [INFO]   : 🔍 collecting additional images...
2025/05/06 14:55:51  [INFO]   : 🔍 collecting helm images...
2025/05/06 14:55:51  [INFO]   : 🔂 rebuilding catalogs
 ✓   (1s) Rebuilding catalog docker://registry.redhat.io/redhat/certified-operator-index:v4.17
2025/05/06 14:55:53  [INFO]   : 🚀 Start copying the images...
2025/05/06 14:55:53  [INFO]   : 📌 images to copy 19
 ✓   (17s) call-home-client@sha256:4705d40e212b8921b5613f5e054bd51a1f988cab703789a4d18d15793602eb65 ➡️  registry.shemadhr.tamlab.rdu2.redhat.com/quayadmin/ocp417/certified-operators/redislabs/
 ✓   (17s) redis-enterprise-operator@sha256:66ec124da16cc9d0abd66687e088be0b358e20cfd48f5774d34bf5874e6a4e65 ➡️  registry.shemadhr.tamlab.rdu2.redhat.com/quayadmin/ocp417/certified-operators/redislabs/
 ✓   (15s) support-tools:latest ➡️  registry.shemadhr.tamlab.rdu2.redhat.com/quayadmin/ocp417/certified-operators/rhel9/
amlab.rdu2.redhat.com/quayadmin/ocp417/certified-operators/redislabs/
 ✓   (31s) certified-operator-index:v4.17 ➡️  registry.shemadhr.tamlab.rdu2.redhat.com/quayadmin/ocp417/certified-operators/redhat/
19 / 19 (1m1s) [=====================================================================================================================================================================================================================] 100 %
 ✓   (1m1s) redis-enterprise@sha256:21ac49d368ce4cd452f6a8439d0a63a948fb40a58f1e8a6a98584b6edb3f7301 ➡️  registry.shemadhr.tamlab.rdu2.redhat.com/quayadmin/ocp417/certified-operators/redislabs/
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : === Results ===
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   :  ✓  17 / 17 operator images mirrored successfully
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   :  ✓  2 / 2 additional images mirrored successfully
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : 📄 Generating IDMS file...
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : /registry/ocp417/certified-operators/working-dir/cluster-resources/idms-oc-mirror.yaml file created
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : 📄 Generating ITMS file...
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : /registry/ocp417/certified-operators/working-dir/cluster-resources/itms-oc-mirror.yaml file created
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : 📄 Generating CatalogSource file...
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : /registry/ocp417/certified-operators/working-dir/cluster-resources/cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17.yaml file created
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : 📄 Generating ClusterCatalog file...
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : /registry/ocp417/certified-operators/working-dir/cluster-resources/cc-certified-operator-index-v4-17.yaml file created
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : mirror time     : 1m35.870240602s
2025/05/06 14:56:55  [INFO]   : 👋 Goodbye, thank you for using oc-mirror

Navigate to the directory containing the Certified Operators cluster resources, as specified below, and apply the resources using the oc apply command.

[root@registry cluster-resources]# ls
cc-certified-operator-index-v4-17.yaml  cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17.yaml  idms-oc-mirror.yaml  itms-oc-mirror.yaml
[root@registry cluster-resources]# pwd
/registry/ocp417/certified-operators/working-dir/cluster-resources
[root@registry cluster-resources]#
[root@registry cluster-resources]# oc apply -f .
catalogsource.operators.coreos.com/cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17 unchanged
imagedigestmirrorset.config.openshift.io/idms-operator-0 configured
imagetagmirrorset.config.openshift.io/itms-generic-0 configured
[root@registry cluster-resources]#

To validate the available versions of an operator, describe the PackageManifest associated with the operator. Use the following command to describe the PackageManifest.

[root@registry IB]# oc get packagemanifest
NAME                             CATALOG   AGE
servicemeshoperator                        101m
redis-enterprise-operator-cert             19m
cincinnati-operator                        101m
compliance-operator                        101m
kiali-ossm                                 101m
[root@registry IB]# oc get packagemanifest redis-enterprise-operator-cert -oyaml
apiVersion: packages.operators.coreos.com/v1
kind: PackageManifest
metadata:
  creationTimestamp: "2025-05-06T09:11:42Z"
  labels:
    catalog: cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17
    catalog-namespace: openshift-marketplace
    operatorframework.io/arch.amd64: supported
    operatorframework.io/os.linux: supported
    provider: Redis
    provider-url: ""
  name: redis-enterprise-operator-cert
  namespace: openshift-marketplace
spec: {}
status:
[....]
    entries:
    - name: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.22.0-7.0
      version: 7.22.0-7.0
    - name: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.1
      version: 7.8.6-1.1
    - name: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.0
      version: 7.8.6-1.0
    - name: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.4-9.0
      version: 7.8.4-9.0
    name: production
  defaultChannel: production
  packageName: redis-enterprise-operator-cert
  provider:
    name: Redis

As noted earlier, the OpenShift Web Console does not provide a direct option to install or upgrade an operator to a specific version. However, this can be achieved through a CLI-based workaround. The process involves the following steps:

Back up existing resources

Export the current InstallPlan, Subscription, and ClusterServiceVersion (CSV) associated with the operator using oc get <resource> <resource-name> -o yaml > <resource>.yaml (Figure 4).
Figure 4: Screenshot of results from oc get command to backup existing resources.

[root@registry IB]# oc get subscription.operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator-cert -oyaml > redis-sub.yaml
[root@registry IB]# oc get installplan.operators.coreos.com/install-4tfvs -oyaml > redis-ip.yaml
[root@registry IB]# oc get clusterserviceversion.operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.4-9.0 -oyaml > redis-csv.yaml
[root@registry IB]# cp redis-sub.yaml redis-sub_7.8.6.yaml

Extract and edit the subscription

Save a copy of the current Subscription resource and edit it to include the desired operator version by setting the starting CSV field. For example:
startingCSV: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.1.

[root@registry IB]# cat redis-sub_7.8.6.yaml
apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
kind: Subscription
metadata:
  labels:
  operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator-cert.redis-labs: ""
  name: redis-enterprise-operator-cert
  namespace: redis-labs
spec:
  channel: production
  installPlanApproval: Manual
  name: redis-enterprise-operator-cert
  source: cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17
  sourceNamespace: openshift-marketplace
  startingCSV: redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.1
[root@registry IB]#

Delete the existing subscription and CSV

Remove the existing subscription and associated CSV to allow the updated configuration to take effect:
```
oc delete subscription <subscription-name> -n <namespace>
```
```
oc delete csv <csv-name> -n <namespace>
```

[root@registry IB]# oc delete subscription.operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator-cert 
subscription.operators.coreos.com "redis-enterprise-operator-cert" deleted
[root@registry IB]# oc delete clusterserviceversion.operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.4-9.0
clusterserviceversion.operators.coreos.com "redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.4-9.0" deleted

Apply the updated subscription

Apply the modified Subscription YAML to initiate the installation of the specific operator version using oc apply -f <sub>.yaml.

[root@registry IB]# oc get sub,csv,ip
NAME                                                               PACKAGE                          SOURCE                              CHANNEL
subscription.operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator-cert   redis-enterprise-operator-cert   cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17   production
 
NAME                                             CSV                                    APPROVAL   APPROVED
installplan.operators.coreos.com/install-5kwpd   redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.1   Manual     false
[root@registry IB]#

Validate and approve the installPlan

Monitor the status of the new InstallPlan, and once it is generated, manually approve it to trigger the operator installation:
```
oc get installplan -n <namespace>
```
```
oc patch installplan <installplan-name> --type merge -p '{"spec":{"approved":true}}'
```

[root@registry IB]#
[root@registry IB]# oc patch installplan install-5kwpd --type merge -p '{"spec":{"approved":true}}'
installplan.operators.coreos.com/install-5kwpd patched
[root@registry IB]#

Verify Installation

Confirm the successful deployment of the operator through both the CLI and OpenShift Web Console (Figure 5).

[root@registry IB]# oc get sub,csv,ip
NAME                                                               PACKAGE                          SOURCE                              CHANNEL
subscription.operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator-cert   redis-enterprise-operator-cert   cs-certified-operator-index-v4-17   production
 
NAME                                                                              DISPLAY                     VERSION     REPLACES   PHASE
clusterserviceversion.operators.coreos.com/redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.1   Redis Enterprise Operator   7.8.6-1.1              Succeeded
 
NAME                                             CSV                                     APPROVAL   APPROVED
installplan.operators.coreos.com/install-5kwpd   redis-enterprise-operator.v7.8.6-1.1    Manual     true
installplan.operators.coreos.com/install-jn2st   redis-enterprise-operator.v7.22.0-7.0   Manual     false
[root@registry IB]#

Figure 5: Screenshot of the Installed Operators tab within OpenShift, reflecting that the Redis Operator has a status of “Succeeded” from the latest upgrade.

As demonstrated, the operator was successfully upgraded to the desired version within a specific channel (Figure 5). The next step involves installing the latest available version of the operator in the same channel.

To proceed, click on the Upgrade Available button in the OpenShift Web Console (Figure 6) then review the associated Install Plan to ensure the correct version and components are listed (Figure 7).

Figure 6: The Installed Operators page within the OpenShift console showing an upgrade available button under the Status column.

Figure 7: The InstallPlan page details within the OpenShift console, providing an option to review the details before the upgrade.
Once verified, click Approve to allow the OLM to initiate the installation process. (Figure 8)

Figure 8: The InstallPlan page details within the OpenShift console, showing an Approve button to allow the installation to proceed.
After the Install Plan completes, validate the operator installation status using both the OpenShift Web Console to ensure successful deployment (Figures 9-11).

Figure 9: The correct InstallPlan has been installed.

Figure 9: The Installed Operators page reflecting the successful update deployed under the Status and Last updated columns.

Figure 10: Console showing the results of the oc get command and displaying the successfully installed operators.

Figure 11: Console showing the results of the oc get command and displaying the successfully installed operators.