How are JBoss Products supported when used in container images?

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform
  • Red Hat JBoss

Issue

  • What level of support can I expect when creating my own container images with JBoss products?
  • Which container formats and runtimes are supported for JBoss products?
  • Can I use existing Container images to build our own images?

Resolution

Red Hat provides customers with JBoss Middleware products as containerized images specifically for use with OpenShift Container Platform. Red Hat JBoss Middleware for OpenShift containerized images are designed, built and tested to enable developers a stable and supported path to quick-start building and deploying applications. These container images are supplied with usage documentation and supported on various OpenShift Container Platform versions, as noted on their respective release notes.

Customers may have a requirement to create and maintain their own container images that include JBoss Middleware products. Red Hat treats custom-built images as 'custom software' and will not provide support for the resulting images themselves, but rather the JBoss Middleware products included as part of the images, as long as the images are built using components that comply with the Supported Configuration Page, in coordination with Red Hat's Container Support Policy.

Taking into consideration that such custom images have not been delivered as part of a product release by Red Hat, customers should be aware that they may be asked to reproduce an issue outside of a containerized context to receive the necessary level support for JBoss Middleware components. This practice applies to custom image usage on or off the OpenShift Container Platform.

FAQ:

Q: Am I supported running the Red Hat JBoss Middleware for OpenShift containerized images provided by Red Hat in a container environment other than OpenShift?
A: No. The container images Red Hat ships as part of the product ‘Red Hat JBoss Middleware for OpenShift’ are only tested and supported for running on OpenShift, such as JBoss EAP 7/8.

Q: Am I supported running JBoss Middleware products in runC, Docker, rkt, or other container engines?
A: All Red Hat JBoss Middleware for OpenShift products in active development provide containerized images designed for and tested with OpenShift. Red Hat does not provide JBoss Middleware for OpenShift containers to run on any other container platforms. Customers are free to create and maintain their own containers for JBoss Middleware products for other container engines, but Red Hat can only provide commercially reasonable support for those environments.

Q: If I have created a custom container image and have an issue, am I required to reproduce this outside of a container environment?
A: It’s not a hard requirement but may be necessary as part of troubleshooting. In some scenarios Red Hat support will be able to assist resolving issues without the need to know specifics of the environment, or without modifications of the environment. However, the possibility remains that the environment must be changed to understand or resolve the issue.

Related Articles

For further information and policies about JBoss Middleware Containers, please see the following articles:

JBoss Middleware Container Support FAQ
Support of Red Hat Middleware products and components on Red Hat OpenShift
Support for Red Hat JBoss Middleware Containers
Support Guidelines for Red Hat Middleware Products Deployed in 3rd-party Environments

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