Chapter 3. Prerequisites
A strong working knowledge of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Red Hat OpenStack or Red Hat OpenShift Platform is required. A Red Hat Certified Engineer and a Red Hat OpenStack Platform Certified Engineer or Red Hat Certified Specialist in OpenShift Administration accreditation is preferred and suggested before participating.
3.1. Partner eligibility criteria
You must meet the following requirements before applying for a bare-metal certification:
- You are part of the Red Hat Hardware Certification program.
- You are in a support relationship with Red Hat by means of the TSANet network or a custom support agreement.
3.2. Certification targets
The certification targets provide details and requirements about the components and products relevant to the certification.
Specific information for each of the certification components is provided when applicable.
3.2.1. Server
- IPI component certification
The server must have earned the following certifications:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux System
Red Hat OpenStack Platform Compute Node OR Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform, depending on the platform that you are certifying.
Each certification is keyed to the respective Cloud Platform product version and its associated ironic revision. You can certify your server for either RHOSP or RHOCP, or for both if your hardware is compatible with the ironic drivers for that platform.
- The server must have a baseboard management controller (BMC) installed.
- Assisted installer component certification
The server must have earned the following certifications:
- Red Hat Enterprise Linux System
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform
- The server must be bare-metal. VMs are not supported.
3.2.2. Red Hat Cloud Platform Products
- IPI component certification
You can certify BMC and bare-metal servers for the following versions of Red Hat products:
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform 17.1
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12, 4.13, 4.14, or 4.15
- Assisted Installer component certification
You can certify bare-metal servers for the following versions of Red Hat products:
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.13, 4.14, or 4.15 and RHEL 9.2 or 9.4
3.2.3. Baseboard management controllers (BMC)
- IPI component certification
A BMC is a specialized microcontroller embedded or installed on the motherboard of a server which administers the interface between systems management software and physical hardware platforms. The bare metal service in the Red Hat Platforms provisions systems for use in a cluster by utilizing the BMC in a server, to control power, network booting, and automating the deployment of a node as well as terminating those nodes when they become unnecessary.
BMC can be certified as a component for use in leveraging, across server systems where the same BMC can be utilized in multiple systems. Similar to leveraging components in the Red Hat Hardware Certification programs, having tested the interaction between the BMC and the Red Hat software, Red Hat is leveraging the partner’s internal quality analysis testing, to provide a more efficient certification process without introducing risk to customer environments. So, partners utilizing leveraging in bare metal certifications with their BMCs and server systems are recommended to conduct their own testing with the specific server system, the specific BMC, and the specific Red Hat Cloud Platform product to validate the specific combination. But you need not submit individual certification results to Red Hat for every combination.
3.2.4. Bare Metal Drivers
- IPI component certification
BMCs must use supported ironic drivers provided in the corresponding Red Hat Cloud Platform product. You cannot certify a BMC that requires an ironic driver that is not included in the Red Hat product.
