Requirements for the Jump Node#

The jump node is the machine from which you will run the Ansible playbooks to install and configure the OpenShift cluster. This machine must meet the following requirements.

Operating System#

Install Ubuntu 22.04 or 24.04. We recommend that you use a bare metal instance.

Note

You cannot run the installation process from a Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) jump node because Apache Web Server on WSL has issues exposing the OpenShift ISO file to the cluster hosts.

Network#

Be connected to the internet.
Have access to the cluster hosts through their management interface (for example, eth0, not the IPMI network interface).

Software Prerequisites#

jq Command-Line JSON Processor

Install jq, a lightweight and flexible command-line JSON processor, using following commands:
```
sudo apt update
sudo apt -y install jq
```
pip Package Installer for Python

Install pip, the package installer for Python:
```
sudo apt install python3-pip
```
Python Virtual Environment

Install venv, a tool for creating lightweight Python virtual environments, and create one called .h4m:
```
sudo apt install python3-venv
python3 -m venv .h4m
```
Ansible

Install the automation tool, Ansible, and the other required Python packages within the Python virtual environment:
```
source .h4m/bin/activate
pip3 install setuptools jmespath ansible==8.0.0
deactivate
```
Open the ~/.bashrc file and add the following lines to suppress some informational Ansible warnings:
```
export ANSIBLE_LOCALHOST_WARNING=False
export ANSIBLE_INVENTORY_UNPARSED_WARNING=False
```
Save the file and return to the shell.

Reload your .bashrc file:
```
source ~/.bashrc
```
SSH Keys

Generate an SSH key on the jump node using the ssh-keygen utility. For all prompts, press Enter to use the default values. If SSH keys already exist, ensure they are in the default path, that is, ~/.ssh/.
```
ssh-keygen -t rsa
```
This key is used during cluster installation and for post-installation debugging, if any.
Apache Web Server

Apache web server is used to host the ISO file for Red Hat CoreOS. This ISO file is uploaded to the server BMC using the RedFish API and is used to boot the servers. Installation instructions are on Apache Web Server.
```
sudo apt install apache2
```
Confirm that Apache has been installed successfully by typing the local IP address or localhost in a web browser. The default Apache page should be displayed.

Apache default page confirming successful installation.#