About the OpenShift Hands-on Labs Training:
This program offers one-to-one assistance for every lab with detailed steps, explanations, and real-time support.
Last Updated: 29th March, 2025
Start the LabScenario: Set up your personal Linux server for OpenShift and DevOps learning and hands-on practice.
Objective: Learn to create and prepare a RHEL v9 system for labs and CLI tools.
Scenario: Use Podman to build and run containers without Docker.
Objective: Gain skills in Podman CLI for rootless, daemonless container management.
Scenario: Set up a private container registry using Quay for internal team use.
Objective: Learn Quay registry setup, security, and repository management.
Scenario: Setup a mirror registry in air-gapped environments to host OpenShift images.
Objective: Configure and use ICSP for disconnected installations.
Scenario: Launch your personal GCP-based OpenShift practice cluster.
Objective: Learn GCP setup and OpenShift cluster integration.
Scenario:
Your team has provisioned a new OpenShift cluster. You’re responsible for validating access using both the oc CLI tool and the OpenShift web console.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the OpenShift login mechanism.
Familiarize with oc command-line basics.
Access the OpenShift console and explore the UI.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You need to onboard a new developer team and quickly provide access to OpenShift without integrating external identity providers.
Learning Objectives:
Configure an identity provider using HTPasswd.
Create users with credentials.
Validate access and permissions.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A disk issue requires you to log in to a node’s operating system. You need to access the underlying CoreOS node.
Learning Objectives:
Understand how to SSH into CoreOS.
Know where logs and configs are stored.
Learn security model for RHCOS access.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You’re opening a support case and need to provide the current CoreOS, Kubernetes, and OpenShift versions running on your cluster.
Learning Objectives:
Retrieve version details of nodes and cluster.
Differentiate between OS and Kubernetes versions.
Validate if the environment is running the expected versions.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You're preparing for daily cluster operations and want to get comfortable with commonly used CLI commands.
Learning Objectives:
Explore most frequently used oc commands.
Understand usage patterns for resource management.
Improve CLI efficiency and confidence.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A developer is confused between projects and namespaces. You demonstrate creation and differences.
Learning Objectives:
Understand project vs namespace in OpenShift.
Create them via CLI and Console.
Learn how resource isolation and access control works.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A new developer team joins and needs an isolated namespace. You're asked to create and configure a new project.
Learning Objectives:
Create projects using CLI and Console.
Understand project isolation in OpenShift.
Assign RBAC permissions to users.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A user wants to test external access to a basic app. You're asked to deploy nginx using the OpenShift console.
Learning Objectives:
Use Developer perspective in OpenShift Web UI.
Create deployments and expose services via console.
Verify accessibility via routes.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A developer reports a stuck project in “Terminating” state. You are asked to fix it by force-deleting the project.
Learning Objectives:
Diagnose why a project is stuck.
Use force-delete techniques using JSON and API.
Understand finalizers and namespace lifecycle.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
Before performing a cluster upgrade, you're asked to take a full etcd backup as a disaster recovery measure.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the importance of etcd in OpenShift.
Learn to use etcdctl for snapshot creation.
Store backups securely and prepare for restoration.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A pod is stuck in a terminating state and blocking your CI/CD process. You are asked to forcefully delete it.
Learning Objectives:
Understand pod lifecycle and stuck conditions.
Use force deletion to remove blocked pods.
Investigate root causes for stuck pods.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
Users complain about slow access to apps. You're asked to scale the ingress pods to handle higher traffic.
Learning Objectives:
Identify ingress controller deployments.
Scale router pods horizontally.
Monitor ingress performance.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
New worker nodes have been added, but they are not joining the cluster. You must approve their CSRs.
Learning Objectives:
List and review CSRs.
Approve valid CSRs using CLI.
Understand node bootstrapping and trust flow.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A developer asks you to find logs from 4:30 PM yesterday to debug an intermittent bug.
Learning Objectives:
Retrieve container logs using oc logs.
Filter logs using timestamps.
Analyze logs during specific time windows.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You need to apply kernel patches on a node. Place the node in maintenance mode without affecting running apps.
Learning Objectives:
Cordon and drain nodes safely.
Prevent new pods from being scheduled.
Understand workload redistribution.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
Cluster nodes are showing certificate errors due to time skew. You need to configure proper time synchronization.
Learning Objectives:
Learn what Chrony is and its role.
Configure NTP sources using Chrony.
Troubleshoot time drift.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You want to schedule logging pods only on certain nodes. Use labels to group and target them.
Learning Objectives:
Add custom labels to nodes.
Use node selectors and affinity rules.
Group nodes logically.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A developer wants to test OpenShift locally. You’re asked to install CRC on their Windows laptop.
Learning Objectives:
Install and configure CRC on Windows.
Start and stop OpenShift cluster locally.
Use CRC for quick testing.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You plan to separate infra workloads (router, logging) from app workloads. Create a dedicated Infra MCP.
Learning Objectives:
Define custom MachineConfigPools.
Label and move nodes to new MCP.
Understand MCP updates and reboots.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You’ve finished a fresh install and want to confirm the environment is healthy.
Learning Objectives:
Perform basic checks on nodes, pods, and services.
Verify DNS, routing, and console access.
Ensure etcd and operators are working fine.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You want to prevent general workloads from running on specific nodes (e.g., Infra nodes).
Learning Objectives:
Understand node taints and tolerations.
Apply taints to nodes using CLI.
Control workload placement effectively.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
Your application is receiving high traffic. You're asked to increase the number of pod replicas for better availability.
Learning Objectives:
Understand ReplicaSet functionality.
Scale deployments using CLI and Console.
Validate scaling and pod readiness.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
An app team wants to debug request patterns and headers. You need to enable HTTP access logs for Ingress.
Learning Objectives:
Enable and configure router access logging.
Understand log fields and formats.
Store and monitor logs effectively.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You need to give a developer read-only access to a project while ensuring they can't deploy resources.
Learning Objectives:
Understand Roles, RoleBindings, and ClusterRoles.
Assign scoped permissions to users or groups.
Audit access and privilege escalation.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You need to monitor node usage, pod health, and resource metrics regularly for SRE dashboards.
Learning Objectives:
Understand Prometheus and Grafana in OpenShift.
Monitor cluster, nodes, and workloads.
Customize dashboards and alerts.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You're asked to set up an alert for high CPU usage in a namespace to notify the SRE team.
Learning Objectives:
Write and apply PrometheusRule CRs.
Configure alert receivers.
Validate alert firing using simulated loads.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A namespace is over-consuming resources, affecting cluster performance. You need to restrict CPU and memory.
Learning Objectives:
Apply LimitRange and ResourceQuota.
Enforce pod-level resource boundaries.
Audit usage with oc describe quota.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
An architect asks you to explain how OpenShift manages external access and distributes traffic to services.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the role of Load Balancers in OpenShift.
Learn about external vs internal LB options.
Know how Ingress and Routes use LB.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A pod remains in ContainerCreating state. You need to debug its lifecycle status and fix the issue.
Learning Objectives:
Know pod lifecycle phases and transitions.
Analyze events and conditions causing delays or errors.
Use probes to manage readiness and liveness.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
After a platform update, some features aren’t working. You need to check the health of Cluster Operators.
Learning Objectives:
Understand Cluster Operators in OpenShift 4.x.
View status and conditions.
Diagnose degraded operators.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You want to securely inject database credentials into an application without hardcoding them.
Learning Objectives:
Create, manage, and mount secrets.
Use secrets as environment variables or volumes.
Understand encryption at rest.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You need to externalize your app’s configuration (e.g., log level, feature flags) using a ConfigMap.
Learning Objectives:
Create and use ConfigMaps.
Inject config as environment variables or files.
Dynamically update app configs (if supported).
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A pod fails to start due to permission errors. You're asked to understand and configure the necessary SCC to allow the workload.
Learning Objectives:
Understand what SCCs are in OpenShift.
List and assign SCCs to users or service accounts.
Ensure secure container execution without violating policies.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
One namespace is consuming too many resources. You're assigned to apply resource quotas to control overuse.
Learning Objectives:
Define resource quotas and understand their purpose.
Apply limits on CPU, memory, and object counts.
Monitor quota usage and violations.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
During bare-metal install, you're asked to explain how nodes are configured automatically at boot time.
Learning Objectives:
Understand Ignition and its role in OpenShift provisioning.
Learn how machines are bootstrapped with configs.
Explore how MachineConfig and Ignition work together.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You’re troubleshooting a failed OpenShift installation and need to explain what happens during the bootstrap phase.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the role of the bootstrap node.
Identify key services and files during bootstrap.
Know when to remove the bootstrap node safely.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You’ve been given a green light to upgrade OpenShift from 4.x to the latest patch. Plan and perform the upgrade safely.
Learning Objectives:
Understand cluster upgrade workflow.
Use CLI and console to upgrade OpenShift.
Monitor upgrade progress and verify success.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
The CI/CD team needs Jenkins deployed via Operator. You’re tasked to install it from Operator Hub.
Learning Objectives:
Explore and search for Operators via Hub.
Install, bind, and deploy Operator-based services.
Understand CustomResourceDefinitions (CRDs).
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A node has hardware issues and must be taken out of service without affecting running pods.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the difference between cordon and drain.
Use oc adm cordon to prevent new pod scheduling.
Plan safe node maintenance.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You’re debugging a control plane issue and want to know which master is currently the etcd leader.
Learning Objectives:
Identify the etcd leader node.
Use etcdctl and metrics endpoints.
Understand how leader election works.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
To optimize compute resources, you’re asked to isolate router and logging components on Infra nodes.
Learning Objectives:
Label infra nodes and taint them.
Update deployments to use node selectors.
Validate pod migration and isolation.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You are deploying OpenShift 4.x in a VMware environment without internet access.
Learning Objectives:
Understand UPI (User-Provisioned Infrastructure) model.
Prepare ignition configs, DNS, load balancers.
Perform disconnected installation steps.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
A pod is failing to start, stuck in ImagePullBackError. You're asked to debug the full pod lifecycle.
Learning Objectives:
Understand all pod lifecycle states.
Learn about init containers and crash loops.
Use logs and events to troubleshoot.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You need to build a CI/CD pipeline that builds and deploys a sample app automatically using Jenkins.
Learning Objectives:
Deploy Jenkins and configure pipeline.
Integrate OpenShift BuildConfig and Deployment.
Trigger builds on code changes.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You require persistent storage for your workloads and need to install ODF for internal cluster storage.
Learning Objectives:
Understand ODF architecture and requirements.
Install via Operator and configure StorageCluster.
Validate PVC provisioning.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You are preparing your cluster for security compliance audits (like CIS benchmark). You’re asked to scan using Compliance Operator.
Learning Objectives:
Deploy and configure Compliance Operator.
Run scans against selected profiles (e.g., NIST, CIS).
Analyze and remediate findings.
What You Learn:
Scenario:
You are working on setting up your production cluster and must attach proper subscriptions.
Learning Objectives:
Understand Red Hat OpenShift licensing.
Learn about subscription types and entitlements.
Attach cluster to Red Hat Customer Portal or Satellite.
What You Learn: