Feature Overview

Continuing on the user experience delivered by the cluster preflight check framework in OCPSTRAT-2844, we aim to include generic operator-related validation checks before cluster upgrades, increasing customer confidence and update success for cluster administrators. This also provides the foundation for a unified pre-upgrade assessment for both platform and extension components, driven by a UI.

The checks are generic and cover the currently installed operators for the next cluster version. They are not specific to an operator target version (this is covered in OCPSTRAT-2864).

Requirements:

Operator Lifecycle and Support Status Checks:

• Verify End-of-Life (EOL) status for all installed operators
• Check the remaining support lifecycle time for each extension
• Identify operators approaching end of support within upgrade window
• Validate operator compatibility status for target platform version
• Identify deprecated operator features that will be removed in the target cluster version

Operator Compatibility Assessment:

• Check operator platform compatibility matrix against target upgrade version
• Identify required operator updates that must complete before platform upgrade
• Detect operator version conflicts with target platform version
• Verify operator API compatibility with target Kubernetes version

Update Policy and Channel Verification:

• Report current update policy status (manual vs automatic) for all operators
• Identify operators on deprecated or unsupported channels
• Check for available operator updates in current channels
• Validate update path availability to compatible versions

UI integration:

• integrate this into the cluster upgrade dashboard (OCPSTRAT-2763)

CLI integration

• Enable precheck command to validate operator/extension compatibility with target OpenShift version
• Identify operators that require updates before platform upgrade can proceed
• Surface operator-specific upgrade blockers alongside platform checks
• Provide clear guidance on operator update sequencing relative to platform upgrades
• Structured JSON output option for programmatic consumption

Out of Scope (Remains Unchanged):

• No API (engineering opinion needed)
• Helm-based deployments
• Automated issue resolution
• Non-OLM managed workloads
• Direct operator upgrade execution

Documentation Considerations:

• Document operator precheck interpretation guide