rhdh-install-airgapped

name	rhdh-install-airgapped
metadata	{"author":"rhoai3-coding-demo","version":"1.0.0","platform-family":"rhdh","platform-baseline":"repo","ocp-baseline":"repo","skill-group":"Developer Hub"}
description	Use when installing Red Hat Developer Hub 1.10 in disconnected, air-gapped, or network-restricted environments using either the Operator or Helm chart. Covers fully disconnected (mirror-to-disk) and partially disconnected (mirror-to-registry) workflows, image mirroring, plugin mirroring, pull secret updates, and registries.conf configuration. Do NOT use for connected installations (use rhdh-install-ocp), post-install configuration, or plugin development.

RHDH Install in Air-Gapped Environment

Use this skill to install Red Hat Developer Hub 1.10 in a disconnected or network-restricted environment on OpenShift Container Platform or supported Kubernetes platforms.

Source Grounding

Read references/source-capture.md before using product behavior. Official Red Hat documentation is product authority. This skill covers fully disconnected and partially disconnected workflows for both the Operator and Helm chart methods, including image mirroring, plugin artifact mirroring, pull secret configuration, and init container registry redirection.

Environment Types

• Fully disconnected — No internet access; mirror images to disk, transfer physically, then push to internal registry.
• Partially disconnected — Cluster cannot reach external registries but can access an internal mirror registry directly.

Operator Installation (Air-Gapped)

Fully Disconnected Workflow

1. Download mirroring script from rhdh-operator repo (release-1.10 branch)
2. Run prepare-restricted-environment.sh --filter-versions "1.10" --to-dir <path>
3. Transfer disk archive to disconnected environment
4. Run install.sh --from-dir <path> [--to-registry <registry>]
5. Update cluster pull secret for mirror registry
6. Mirror plugins with mirror-plugins.sh
7. Create rhdh-plugin-mirror-conf ConfigMap for registries.conf
8. Mount ConfigMap in install-dynamic-plugins init container via Backstage CR

Partially Disconnected Workflow

1. Download mirroring script
2. Run prepare-restricted-environment.sh --filter-versions "1.10" --to-registry <registry>
3. Update cluster pull secret
4. Mirror plugins with mirror-plugins.sh --to-registry <registry>
5. Create and mount registries.conf ConfigMap

Helm Chart Installation (Air-Gapped, OpenShift)

Fully Disconnected Workflow

1. Create ImageSetConfiguration specifying redhat-developer-hub version 1.10
2. Run oc mirror --v2 to archive images to disk
3. Transfer archive to disconnected environment
4. Run oc mirror --v2 --from file://<archive> docker://<registry>
5. Apply generated IDMS/ITMS manifests
6. Update cluster pull secret
7. Deploy Helm chart from workspace archive with helm install
8. Mirror plugins and configure registries.conf in Helm values

Partially Disconnected Workflow

1. Create ImageSetConfiguration for version 1.10
2. Run oc mirror --v2 --config=<config> docker://<registry>
3. Apply IDMS/ITMS manifests
4. Update cluster pull secret
5. Deploy Helm chart from workspace with helm install
6. Mirror plugins and configure registries.conf

Critical Configuration: Plugin Mirroring

Cluster-level ImageDigestMirrorSet and ImageContentSourcePolicy do NOT apply to the install-dynamic-plugins init container (uses skopeo directly). You must configure registries.conf explicitly.

registries.conf ConfigMap

apiVersion: v1
kind: ConfigMap
metadata:
  name: rhdh-plugin-mirror-conf
data:
  rhdh-registries.conf: |
    [[registry]]
    prefix = "registry.access.redhat.com/rhdh"
    location = "<target_registry>/rhdh"

    [[registry]]
    prefix = "quay.io/rhdh"
    location = "<target_registry>/rhdh"

Mount in Backstage CR (Operator)

spec:
  application:
    extraFiles:
      configMaps:
        - name: rhdh-plugin-mirror-conf
          key: rhdh-registries.conf
          mountPath: /etc/containers/registries.conf.d
          containers:
            - install-dynamic-plugins

Mount in Helm values

upstream:
  backstage:
    extraVolumes:
      - name: rhdh-plugin-mirror-conf
        configMap:
          name: rhdh-plugin-mirror-conf
    initContainers:
      - name: install-dynamic-plugins
        volumeMounts:
          - name: rhdh-plugin-mirror-conf
            mountPath: /etc/containers/registries.conf.d/rhdh-registries.conf
            subPath: rhdh-registries.conf
            readOnly: true

Tools Required

• oc-mirror (recommended on OCP), opm, Podman 5.3+, Skopeo 1.20+, umoci, yq 4.44+, jq 1.7+, GNU tar 1.35+, GNU sed
• oc mirror --v2 flag required for OCP 4.21+

Verification

oc get pods -n rhdh-operator
kubectl -n rhdh-operator get pods
oc get backstage -n <namespace>

Workflow

1. Read references/official-doc-extraction.md for exact commands and YAML.
2. Determine environment type (fully vs partially disconnected).
3. Choose installation method (Operator vs Helm).
4. Execute the appropriate mirroring workflow.
5. Update pull secrets and apply mirror configuration.
6. Mirror plugins separately (required for both methods).
7. Configure registries.conf for the init container.
8. Validate pod readiness.

Related Skills

• rhdh-install-ocp — Connected OpenShift installation
• ocp-image-registry-and-mirroring — OCP image mirroring concepts

References

• references/source-capture.md
• references/official-doc-extraction.md