What is the nature and description of the request?
The OCP Web Console Upgrade page shows which versions are able to be upgraded to from the version you are currently using.
These options show up in a dropdown on the page for that version channel.
The header for that dropdown says "Recommended:" and then the list of available versions.
Customers frequently see the "Recommended:" wording, with the latest version for that channel at the top, to mean "This is the version you should upgrade to."
When this becomes a problem is if the customer is doing a multi-version upgrade to their environment. Specific versions must be used in order to get to the goal version. Upgrading to the latest for the current channel often times becomes a dead-end, as the latest is not always upgradeable after GA.
The request is to have "Recommended:" changed to "Available:" so that it more accurately reflects the contents of that list. The list shows what versions are available to be upgraded to in that version channel from the version you are currently using. Having it be "Recommended:" implies the latest version is the correct version, when this isn't always the case.
Proper SOP would be to choose the channel you are upgrading to and then select the version desired, if available. However, this is not always done and the customer may choose to upgrade to the latest of their current version before upgrading to the next x-stream version, and so on.
Why does the customer need this? (List the business requirements here)
Proper workflow would be to check the OCP Update Graph/Update Path Tool [1] for the current and officially support upgrade path to reach the desired goal version.
This tool is not always used or is known to all customers, or the path can be ignored or lost in communication if the upgrade is handed to another team within the company.
As such, the Web Console is used as the primary source for upgradeable versions.
The use of the wording "Recommended:" can be interpreted to imply "It is recommended to upgrade to the latest version" as the latest version tends to be at the top of the list.
It is not uncommon for the latest versions to not have an upgrade path for a week or more after it has been released, causing significant delays in upgrading the cluster to the necessary higher version.
Since OCP upgrades cannot be rolled back to previous versions, this causes the cluster to be stuck at a version that may be problematic until the upgrade path becomes unblocked/supported.
Changing the wording from "Recommended:" to "Available:" could help alleviate some of these instances, as it no longer directly implies that "The version listed below is the recommended version for your needs."
Adding a link to the Upgrade Path Tool [1] would also be very beneficial and the most clear and direct way to point customers to the proper and supported upgrade path for their multi-version upgrades.
Issue affects entire cluster performance/usability if cluster is stuck waiting for an upgrade path to make it to the necessary version. Especially if this cluster needs to match the version of other clusters in the fleet but cannot.
Normal Oren Kashi
Greg Rodriguez II