Feature Overview (aka. Goal Summary)  

An elevator pitch (value statement) that describes the Feature in a clear, concise way.  Complete during New status.

We have decided to remove IPI and UPI support for Alibaba Cloud, which until recently has been in Tech Preview due to the following reasons:

(1) Low customer interest of using Openshift on Alibaba Cloud

(2) Removal of Terraform usage

(3) MAPI to CAPI migration

(4) CAPI adoption for installation (Day 1) in OpenShift 4.16 and Day 2 (post-OpenShift 4.16)

Goals (aka. expected user outcomes)

The observable functionality that the user now has as a result of receiving this feature. Include the anticipated primary user type/persona and which existing features, if any, will be expanded. Complete during New status.

• We want to remove official support for UPI and IPI support for Alibaba Cloud provider, which is in Tech Preview in OpenShift 4.15 and earlier. Going forward, we are recommending installations on Alibaba Cloud with either external platform or agnostic platform installation method.
• There will be no upgrades from OpenShift 4.14 / OpenShift 4.15 to OpenShift 4.16.
• For OpenShift 4.16, we will instead offer customers the ability to install OpenShift on Alibaba Cloud with the agnostic platform (platform=none) using the Assisted Installer as Tech Preview - see OCPSTRAT-1149 for details. Note: we cannot remove IPI (Tech Preview) install method until we provide the Assisted Installer (Tech Preview) solution.

Impacted areas based on CI:

• alibaba-cloud-csi-driver/openshift-alibaba-cloud-csi-driver-release-4.16.yaml
• alibaba-disk-csi-driver-operator/openshift-alibaba-disk-csi-driver-operator-release-4.16.yaml
• cloud-provider-alibaba-cloud/openshift-cloud-provider-alibaba-cloud-release-4.16.yaml
• cluster-api-provider-alibaba/openshift-cluster-api-provider-alibaba-release-4.16.yaml
• cluster-cloud-controller-manager-operator/openshift-cluster-cloud-controller-manager-operator-release-4.16.yaml
• machine-config-operator/openshift-machine-config-operator-release-4.16.yaml

Requirements (aka. Acceptance Criteria):

A list of specific needs or objectives that a feature must deliver in order to be considered complete.  Be sure to include nonfunctional requirements such as security, reliability, performance, maintainability, scalability, usability, etc.  Initial completion during Refinement status.

1. Update cloud.redhat.com (Hybrid Cloud Console) to remove Alibaba support.
2. Update/removal from Alibaba IPI installer code.
3. Update release notes with removal information and no updates/upgrades offered from OpenShift 4.14 or OpenShift 4.15.
4. Remove Alibaba installation instructions from Openshift documentation including updating OpenShift Container Platform 4.x Tested Integrations.

Anyone reviewing this Feature needs to know which deployment configurations that the Feature will apply to (or not) once it's been completed.  Describe specific needs (or indicate N/A) for each of the following deployment scenarios. For specific configurations that are out-of-scope for a given release, ensure you provide the OCPSTRAT (for the future to be supported configuration) as well.

Done - Checklist (mandatory)

The following points apply to all epics and are what the OpenShift team believes are the minimum set of criteria that epics should meet for us to consider them potentially shippable. We request that epic owners modify this list to reflect the work to be completed in order to produce something that is potentially shippable.

• Remove any Alibaba-related operator
• Remove Alibaba-related driver
• Remove Alibaba related code from CSO, CCM, and other repos
• Remove container images
• Remove related CI jobs
• Remove documentation
• Stop building images in ART pipeline
• Archive github repositories

Use Cases (Optional):

Include use case diagrams, main success scenarios, alternative flow scenarios.  Initial completion during Refinement status.

<your text here>

Questions to Answer (Optional):

Include a list of refinement / architectural questions that may need to be answered before coding can begin.  Initial completion during Refinement status.

<your text here>

Out of Scope

High-level list of items that are out of scope.  Initial completion during Refinement status.

<your text here>

Background

Provide any additional context is needed to frame the feature.  Initial completion during Refinement status.

<your text here>

Customer Considerations

Provide any additional customer-specific considerations that must be made when designing and delivering the Feature.  Initial completion during Refinement status.

<your text here>

Documentation Considerations

Provide information that needs to be considered and planned so that documentation will meet customer needs.  If the feature extends existing functionality, provide a link to its current documentation. Initial completion during Refinement status.

<your text here>

Interoperability Considerations

Which other projects, including ROSA/OSD/ARO, and versions in our portfolio does this feature impact?  What interoperability test scenarios should be factored by the layered products?  Initial completion during Refinement status.

<your text here>