Demo Management Intefaces Project

Hello, and welcome to this lesson. In this lesson we’ll explore the OpenShift web console and the oc CLI. You’ll learn how to use the console Catalog to deploy applications (for example, a Python app) and how to use the oc command-line tool bundled with Minishift to inspect and interact with a local OpenShift cluster. The OpenShift web console provides a catalog of pre-configured builder images and templates that make application deployment straightforward. To deploy a Python application, select the Python catalog item and follow the deployment wizard—enter the application repository or source, choose resource limits and environment variables, and finish the deployment.

You can deploy many other services the same way—databases, CI/CD tools, message brokers, etc. Creating custom catalog items and templates is a more advanced topic and is outside the scope of this lesson.

Projects and the Add to Project workflow

On the console’s right-hand side you will see a list of Projects. By default, OpenShift creates a project named “My Project” (myproject) for the logged-in developer user. Use the “Create Project” button to add additional, named projects. Clicking a project opens the Project Overview, which shows:

Applications and their current status
BuildConfigs and DeploymentConfigs (build and deploy workflows)
Routes and Services for network exposure
Persistent storage and monitoring information

Use the “Add to Project” button (top-right) to add applications or resources to the selected project—this launches the same catalog-based deployment flow shown above.

Getting the oc CLI

The oc command-line tool is the primary CLI for interacting with OpenShift from your terminal. If you’re using Minishift, it includes a compatible oc client. If you are not using Minishift, you can download the OpenShift CLI from the web console Help menu:

In the web console, open the Help menu (top-right) and choose Command Line Tools to find oc downloads and instructions.

A screenshot of a GitHub Releases page for OpenShift Origin v3.9.0 showing the release title and a list of downloadable assets (client/server tarballs and source zip files).

Minishift caches the oc binary locally and also prints the commands needed to configure your shell to use it. The following sections show a typical Windows CMD workflow when using Minishift.

Using the oc client bundled with Minishift

When Minishift starts it prints essential information including the web console URL and how to log in. Example (trimmed) Minishift start output:

-- OpenShift cluster will be configured with ...
    Version: v3.9.0
Using Docker shared volumes for OpenShift volumes
Using 192.168.99.102 as the server IP
Starting OpenShift using openshift/origin:v3.9.0 ...
OpenShift server started.

The server is accessible via web console at:
    https://192.168.99.102:8443

You are logged in as:
    User:    developer
    Password: <any value>

To login as administrator:
    oc login -u system:admin

If oc is not on your PATH, attempting to run oc from a shell that doesn’t have it configured will produce an error like this on Windows:

c:\minishift-1.16.1-windows-amd64>oc login -u system:admin
'oc' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

To add the oc binary to your PATH, run minishift oc-env and evaluate the printed command in your shell. Example Minishift output on Windows CMD:

c:\minishift-1.16.1-windows-amd64>minishift oc-env
SET PATH=C:\Users\mmums\.minishift\cache\oc\v3.9.0\windows;%PATH%
REM Run this command to configure your shell:
REM     @FOR /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('minishift oc-env') DO @call %i

Run the SET command printed by minishift oc-env to update PATH for the current session:

c:\minishift-1.16.1-windows-amd64>SET PATH=C:\Users\mmums\.minishift\cache\oc\v3.9.0\windows;%PATH%

After updating PATH you can log in as the cluster administrator:

c:\minishift-1.16.1-windows-amd64>oc login -u system:admin
Logged into "https://192.168.99.102:8443" as "system:admin" using existing credentials.

You have access to the following projects and can switch between them with 'oc project <projectname>':

    default
    kube-public
    kube-system
  * myproject
    openshift
    openshift-infra
    openshift-node
    openshift-web-console

Using project "myproject".

The system:admin user has cluster-wide privileges and can access all system projects.

Using the REST API with curl

OpenShift exposes a REST API that you can call directly. In OpenShift 3.x, older resources live under /oapi; newer APIs use /api or /apis. To list projects via the API you need:

TLS handling (skip verification for local Minishift clusters with -k, or provide the CA certificate with --cacert).
An Authorization header containing a valid Bearer token.

Obtain a token using oc. Log in as the developer user and then get the token:

c:\minishift-1.16.1-windows-amd64>oc login -u developer -p developer
Login successful.

Retrieve the token for the current user:

c:\minishift-1.16.1-windows-amd64>oc whoami -t
4uBPKdbevVgSU1nWfQjYqXP5WJOYRKZjhBFSpIuwR7k

Use that token in a curl request to the Projects endpoint. For local clusters you’ll commonly use -k to skip TLS verification:

C:\Users\mmums>curl -k https://192.168.99.102:8443/oapi/v1/projects -H "Authorization: Bearer 4uBPKdbevVgSU1nWfQjYqXP5WJOYRKZjhBFSpIuwR7k"

A successful response returns JSON listing the projects you can access. Example (trimmed) response:

{
  "metadata": {
    "selfLink": "/oapi/v1/projects"
  },
  "items": [
    {
      "metadata": {
        "name": "myproject",
        "selfLink": "/oapi/v1/projects/myproject",
        "uid": "75a50eef-4c3b-11e8-8098-e2e0de05d311",
        "resourceVersion": "1411",
        "creationTimestamp": "2018-04-30T05:58:09Z",
        "annotations": {
          "openshift.io/description": "Initial developer project",
          "openshift.io/display-name": "My Project",
          "openshift.io/requester": "developer",
          "openshift.io/sa.scc.mcs": "s0:c8,c7",
          "openshift.io/sa.scc.supplemental-groups": "1000070000/10000",
          "openshift.io/sa.scc.uid-range": "1000070000/10000"
        }
      },
      "spec": {
        "finalizers": [
          "openshift.io/origin",
          "kubernetes"
        ]
      },
      "status": {
        "phase": "Active"
      }
    }
  ]
}

If you prefer not to use -k with curl, retrieve the OpenShift CA certificate from the cluster and use curl --cacert <path-to-ca.pem> instead.

Common commands and quick reference

Purpose	Command example
Log in as developer	`oc login -u developer -p developer`
Get current user token	`oc whoami -t`
List projects via `oc`	`oc get projects`
Switch project	`oc project myproject`
Configure `oc` from Minishift (Windows CMD example)	`@FOR /f "tokens=*" %i IN ('minishift oc-env') DO @call %i`
Call Projects API with curl (skip TLS)	`curl -k https://<server>:8443/oapi/v1/projects -H "Authorization: Bearer <token>"`

Summary

The OpenShift web console is a user-friendly way to browse builder images/templates and manage Projects and application resources.
The oc CLI (bundled with Minishift) enables scripting and automation for builds, deployments, and cluster administration.
Use minishift oc-env to print the commands needed to configure your shell to use the oc binary shipped with Minishift.
Use oc whoami -t to obtain a token that can be used with curl when calling the OpenShift REST API.

Links and references

OpenShift documentation: https://docs.openshift.com/
Minishift project: https://github.com/minishift/minishift
OpenShift CLI (oc) downloads and instructions: access via the web console Help → Command Line Tools

That’s it for this lesson.

Introduction

Pre-Requisite - Docker and Kubernetes

Getting Started with OpenShift

OpenShift Concepts - Projects and Users

Concepts - Builds and Deployments

Networks, Services, Routes and Scaling

Storage, Templates and Catalog

Conclusion and APPENDIX

Demo Management Intefaces Project

Projects and the Add to Project workflow

Getting the oc CLI

Using the oc client bundled with Minishift

Using the REST API with curl

Common commands and quick reference

Summary

Links and references

Watch Video

​Projects and the Add to Project workflow

​Getting the oc CLI

​Using the oc client bundled with Minishift

​Using the REST API with curl

​Common commands and quick reference

​Summary

​Links and references

Watch Video

Projects and the Add to Project workflow

Getting the oc CLI

Using the oc client bundled with Minishift

Using the REST API with curl

Common commands and quick reference

Summary

Links and references