1. Background

In OpenShift, the must-gather tool is critical for collecting diagnostics and logs during incident response and support cases. It is typically referenced using the operators.openshift.io/must-gather-image annotation within an Operator’s metadata. However, in air-gapped (disconnected) environments, access to the required must-gather image can be restricted unless it is explicitly included during the mirroring process.

The PTP Operator currently references a must-gather image via this annotation but does not include the image as part of its bundle payload, leaving a gap in diagnostics support for disconnected environments. The increasing the importance of complete and self-sufficient tooling availability in production environments.

2. Business Impact

Organizations deploying OpenShift in air-gapped or security-sensitive environments (such as telco, defense, or financial sectors) rely on automated mirroring and bundling processes to ensure that all necessary components are available within the cluster. The current absence of the must-gather image from the PTP Operator bundle introduces several risks and inefficiencies:

• Delayed Incident Response: Missing diagnostics tools increase time-to-resolution for critical issues.

• Manual Overhead: Operators must perform additional manual steps to mirror the correct image and validate it separately.

• Support Friction: Lack of consistent log collection may delay or complicate interactions with Red Hat support.

This limitation reduces operational efficiency and may violate internal compliance policies that require predefined, self-contained software artifacts.

3. Requirements

To address the above issues, the following requirements are proposed:

• Bundle Inclusion: The must-gather image referenced by the PTP Operator should be explicitly included in the operator’s bundle and the must-gather image gets annotated on the PTP Operator CSV operators.openshift.io/must-gather-image .

• Mirroring Compatibility: Ensure that when the PTP Operator is mirrored using official OpenShift tools, the associated must-gather image is automatically fetched and available for use in disconnected environments.

• Documentation Update: Update official documentation and release notes to reflect the inclusion of the must-gather image and provide clear instructions for its use in disconnected deployments.

4. Affected Components

The enhancement request would impact the following components:

• PTP Operator Metadata: Update to ensure the must-gather-image is part of the mirrored content.

• Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) Integration: Ensure compatibility with OLM workflows when deploying in disconnected mode.

• Mirroring Toolchain Support: Compatibility with oc adm catalog mirror and oc-mirror tools for complete mirroring.

• Documentation and Support Processes: To guide users in utilizing the must-gather image post-mirroring.