Team,

As we prepare for the OpenShift 5.0 release, our primary objective is to ensure a frictionless upgrade experience for customers, avoiding the disruption associated with the previous 3-to-4 transition.

To achieve this, please adhere to the following transition expectations and technical requirements:

Core Technical Requirements

Parallel RHEL Support: Operators must support both RHCOS9 and RHCOS10 on OpenShift 5.0.

Version Compatibility: The latest version of an operator released on OpenShift 4.22 must also support OpenShift 5.0. This ensures customers are not forced to update operators prior to the platform upgrade.

Exceptions: Platform operators with a strict 1:1 mapping (e.g., ODF, CNV) will maintain their current release pattern and are exempt from the 4.22-to-5.0 compatibility rule.

Release Schedule and Upgrade Paths

Bridge Release: OpenShift 4.23 will serve as the "bridge release." This will be an EUS (Extended Update Support) release that all operators must support.

Supported Paths: Operators must support upgrade paths from 4.22 and 4.23 to OpenShift 5.2.

EUS Strategy: Starting with the 5.0 series, OpenShift will move to one EUS release per year (supported for up to five years). EUS status will no longer be determined by even/odd version numbering.

Compliance and Enforcement

There will be no automated pipeline checks to enforce these guidelines at this time. We are relying on the operator teams to comply with these standards to ensure the best interests of our customers.

For further details, please refer to:

Guidance and FAQ document

OCPSTRAT-2857 All OLM-managed Red Hat operators support OpenShift 5.0 at launch

OPGM-7 Operator Compatibility Continuity for OpenShift 5.0 - Seamless 4.22 to 5.0 Transition

OPGM-8 TEMPLATE - [Operator Name] OCP 5.0 Compatibility - Do Not Edit

Please direct any questions to our leadership team via slack: #forum-operator-fw-program

Eugenia Gibson

Technical Program Manager (TPM), Hybrid Platforms - Red Hat Operators

She/her/hers | Mobile +1 703 474 2513

Red Hat

Attachement:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1humaZXIe2yvRA0zjObyMBrIHWDmQXqO_p0SAGD9uX3k/edit?usp=sharing