OpenShift is a Kubernetes-based container platform for building, deploying, and operating containerized workloads with integrated lifecycle controls. It provides an enterprise-grade distribution of Kubernetes with enhanced security, developer tooling, and operational automation.
OpenShift is available in two primary forms:
- Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (OCP) - Commercial enterprise distribution
- OKD - Community-driven open-source distribution (formerly Origin)
- Kubernetes distribution with integrated operator workflows and Cluster Version Operator
- Built-in routing, image registry, and developer tooling (Source-to-Image, builds)
- Cluster-wide policy, RBAC, and security controls (Security Context Constraints)
- Upgrade orchestration through cluster operators with automated updates
- Integrated CI/CD pipelines (OpenShift Pipelines based on Tekton)
- Service mesh capabilities (OpenShift Service Mesh based on Istio)
- Serverless workloads (OpenShift Serverless based on Knative)
- Multi-cluster and hybrid cloud management (Advanced Cluster Management)
- Enterprise Kubernetes platform operations with commercial support
- Internal developer platforms with standardized deployment paths
- Regulated environments requiring policy-driven cluster management
- Hybrid cloud deployments across on-premises and public clouds
- GitOps-driven infrastructure automation
- Multi-tenant container platforms with strong isolation
- Core: Go
- Orchestration: Kubernetes (upstream K8s)
- Operator Framework: Kubernetes operators for lifecycle management
- Container Runtime: CRI-O (container runtime interface)
- Networking: OVN-Kubernetes, OpenShift SDN
- Registry: Quay.io integration, integrated registry
- OKD (Community): Apache-2.0
- OpenShift Container Platform: Commercial subscription (Red Hat)
- ✅ Active platform ecosystem (Red Hat OpenShift + community OKD)
- Latest OCP version: 4.21 (stable), 4.20 (EUS - Extended Update Support)
- Latest OKD version: 4.21.0-okd-scos.7 (stable, February 2026)
- OKD next release: 4.22.0-okd-scos.ec.x (pre-release series)
- Kubernetes version: 1.31+ in OCP 4.21, 1.34.2 in OKD 4.22.x
- Base OS: CentOS Stream CoreOS (OKD), RHEL CoreOS (OCP)
- Release cadence: ~4 months for minor versions
- Support: At least 4 minor versions supported concurrently
¶ History and References