Support for IBM Cloud Paks - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: Where do I go for Red Hat product support for IBM Cloud Paks?

A: Customers should contact IBM support for support of Red Hat products that are included with Cloud Paks. Red Hat technical support engineers collaborate with IBM support to provide the best possible experience to customers. To ensure efficient processing of Cloud Pak support cases, customers should open a ticket with IBM support (not with Red Hat support).

Q: How do I get my Red Hat account ID?

A: A Red Hat login is the user ID customers input when creating a Red Hat account. If a company has an existing account that customers need to join, the organization administrator on the account can grant access to the account if needed. See login options and support in the Red Hat Customer Portal. If customers need assistance, please call the regional customer service representative listed here.

Customers may be prompted in one of two ways to access their Red Hat products as part of a Cloud Pak order:

1) IBM will send a Proof of Entitlement or Order Confirmation email which contains a link to Passport Advantage Online in order to connect a Red Hat account. This link will direct you to the software downloads page where you will be prompted to link your Cloud Pak order to your Red Hat account. You will then be directed to a Red Hat page where you can login using existing Red Hat account credentials or create a new Red Hat account. If you have questions or require support, please contact IBM’s eCare team directly.

2) Red Hat will send a confirmation email to the technical or organization administrator on the Red Hat account with instructions on how to access the Red Hat products. If no login has been created yet on this account, you will receive a specific Login Creation email that will allow you to do so. This email is the only way to create a login associated to your account. Please contact Red Hat Customer Service if you have not received it within the next hour.

Q: How do I find out who my Red Hat account organization administrator is?

A: Please contact IBM’s eCare team to request the contact information of your Red Hat account’s organization administrator.

Q: How do I access and download Red Hat entitlements?

A: After you have your entitlements confirmed in your account either through linking your account or Red Hat confirmation email, you may use your existing account login or your account login as requested from Red Hat customer service, to log in to the Red Hat Customer Portal in order to download products and view your current entitlements. For more help with the Customer Portal please see the tutorial here. From the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform downloads page, select the version needed for your Cloud Pak. Current supported versions of Openshift for Cloud Paks can be viewed here. You need an active subscription or evaluation before you can download Red Hat products.

Q: How do I add other users to our Red Hat account?

A: As an Organization Administrator, you can grant and manage access permissions for individuals in your organization. Find instructions for adding users to your account in the Red Hat Customer Portal.

Q: How can I use Red Hat OpenShift with IBM Cloud Paks?

A: All Cloud Paks, with the exception of the Cloud Pak for Applications, provide a restricted use license of OpenShift in support of the services provided by the software in the Pak. These use cases are defined in the terms you agreed to upon the purchase of your Cloud Pak from IBM.

Q: How do I manage my subscriptions for Red Hat OpenShift and IBM Cloud Paks?

A: All Red Hat Openshift subscriptions are managed in the Red Hat Customer Portal. Customers that obtained a Red Hat OCP subscription with an IBM Cloud Pak and that need assistance with this management process will be assisted by IBM. Reach out to IBM eCustomer Care in your geography for assistance with entitlement issues or open a support request on the IBM Support Portal for assistance using the subscription manager.

Q: How do I move from a Red Hat OpenShift evaluation subscription to a production subscription of IBM Cloud Paks?

A: Once your Red Hat OpenShift evaluation subscriptions have expired and your productions subscriptions have been activated within your account in the Red Hat Customer Portal, you will need to follow one of the below steps:

For OpenShift 3.11 you will have to manually attach a new subscription to all hosts using the Red Hat Subscription Manager tool (RHSM). For steps on how to do this please reference the following guide: Install OpenShift 3.11 - Attach Openshift Platform Subscription

For OpenShift 4.x your subscriptions, Cluster will be automatically assigned a 60-day Red Hat evaluation subscription. Users will need to edit the cluster subscription settings in OpenShift Cluster Manager to use your OCP Subscriptions. For CloudPak Clusters, the cluster subscriptions settings need to be set to have SLA set to Self-Support, and Support Type set to Business Partner Support (L3). Openshift Cluster Manager (OCM) will automatically the Subscriptions to your cluster using Subscription Watch in cloud.redhat.com. You can access the following article for an overview of Subscription Management using OCM in OpenShift and how to change your Subscription settings for OCP 4.x.

Q: How do I move from a Red Hat OpenShift for IBM Cloud Pak evaluation subscription to a production subscription of Red Hat OpenShift for IBM Cloud Paks?

A: The process will be the same as listed above. For OpenShift 3.11 you will need to manually attach your production subscriptions to each host using the Red hat Subscription Manager tool (RHSM): Install OpenShift 3.11 - Attach Openshift Platform Subscription. For Openshift 4.x your subscriptions will automatically be managed in OpenShift Cluster Manager which you can review here: Openshift 4.x Subscription Management.

Q: I have an existing cluster with Red Hat OpenShift subscriptions, as well as a Cloud Pak installation with Red Hat OpenShift for Cloud Pak. Should I contact IBM for all Cloud Pak and OpenShift support cases, or can I still contact Red Hat directly for OpenShift issues?

A: You should contact IBM support for all your Cloud Pak and OpenShift for Cloud Pak questions. You can contact Red Hat for your OpenShift Container Platform questions.

Q: I have configured my RHOCP cluster to run both restricted and unrestricted workloads but I have not consumed all available cores yet. How can I determine the available RHOCP core capacity for both the restricted and unrestricted cores within the cluster?

A: IBM provides a License Service as part of IBM Cloud Pak Common Services, which is included in all IBM Cloud Paks. IBM License Service collects and measures the license usage of IBM Cloud Paks at the cluster level. Cloud Pak customers can use IBM License Service and the Red Hat Customer Portal to manually calculate the available capacity of both restricted use and unrestricted use entitlements of OpenShift Container Platform and IBM Cloud Paks.

Q: How do I link my Cloud Pak order to my Red Hat account so I can view and access my Cloud Pak Red Hat entitlements?

A: For Cloud Pak orders requiring Red Hat account linking, please follow these instructions provided by IBM. For further questions about his process, please contact IBM eCare.

Q: How can I configure OpenShift Container Platform to run both restricted and unrestricted workloads within the same cluster while ensuring my restricted OpenShift Container Platform remains in compliance with its terms of use?

A: Please review IBM’s guidance on how to manage Cloud Pak OpenShift Container Platform clusters with mixed OpenShift entitlements.