Red Hat OpenStack Platform support policy update: Red Hat OpenStack Platform director now required for new deployments

Red Hat OpenStack Platform director, the deployment and lifecycle management tool for Red Hat OpenStack Platform, was first released in August 2015. Since that time, we have listened to our customers and have continued to add new functionality while enabling better stability to this tool - making it a key part of Red Hat’s mission to help make OpenStack deployments easier.

Designed from the ground up to help bridge the gap between the planning and design (day-0), the installation tasks themselves (day-1), and the ongoing operation, administration and management of the environment (day-2), director enables operators to deploy and manage Red Hat OpenStack Platform from within the same convenient and powerful lifecycle tool.

Starting with the general availability of Red Hat OpenStack Platform 13, director will be required for deployment and lifecycle management of every new deployment of Red Hat OpenStack Platform in order to receive full support from Red Hat. This policy currently applies only to new deployments and will not impact existing environments.

Red Hat understands there may be cases where director cannot be used, and in such situations we will require a support exception request where a review of the architecture will be done. Subject to approval, we will then continue to support the resulting customer deployment to the same degree as we have done to date. This process is designed to help both Red Hat and our customers understand what potential issues the non-director deployment may have, as well as to see if director could provide a better outcome.

This change is designed to help customers minimize potential disruption to their business by taking advantage of the tested configuration templates already included with director and by facilitating these conversations, we’re hoping to help improve overall customer experience.

Moving forward, Red Hat OpenStack Platform director will be the standard installer for all Red Hat OpenStack Platform installations and a support exception will be required in order to use an alternate installation tool.

Please note that this policy will not be enacted retroactively, therefore customers will not require a support exception for any existing deployments prior to June 27, 2018. It also does not apply to partners who are embedding OpenStack in a larger solution that has its own installer.

If you have any questions, please contact Red Hat Support.