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Concepts

What is OpenShift SDLC

Andrios Robert

• 1 min read

The pods were already running before the commit hit main. That’s the power of integrating OpenShift with a disciplined SDLC. You cut the lag between code, build, test, and deploy to near zero—and still keep governance tight.

What is OpenShift SDLC

OpenShift SDLC is the practice of aligning the software development life cycle with Red Hat OpenShift’s container platform. It’s not just about hosting apps in Kubernetes. It’s about embedding the entire lifecycle—plan, code, build, test, release, deploy, operate—into an automated, observable flow that runs on OpenShift.

Key Stages in OpenShift SDLC

  1. Planning – Use Git repos as the single source of truth. Define features, security requirements, and compliance early.
  2. Development – Local dev containers mirror production OpenShift configurations. Engineers push changes without environment drift.
  3. Build – Source-to-Image (S2I) builds remove manual container creation. Builders are versioned and reusable.
  4. Test – Automated CI pipelines run on OpenShift Pipelines (Tekton). Unit, integration, and security scans block bad code.
  5. Release – Images are signed and stored in an internal OpenShift registry. Deployment configs are codified as YAML to ensure repeatability.
  6. Deploy – Blue-green or canary deployments happen via native OpenShift DeploymentConfigs or Operators. Rollbacks are instant.
  7. Operate – Cluster monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana surfaces performance and errors. Logs are centralized and searchable.
  8. Feedback – Metrics and alerts feed directly into planning to close the loop.

Benefits of OpenShift for the SDLC

  • Strong RBAC and security controls built into the platform
  • CI/CD pipelines native to the cluster, reducing external tool sprawl
  • Scalable multi-tenant architecture for parallel teams and environments
  • Integrated monitoring, logging, and alerting from day one

Best Practices for OpenShift SDLC

  • Treat everything as code: infrastructure, pipelines, and deployment configs in version control
  • Use namespaces to isolate stages and teams, enforcing policies with admission controllers
  • Automate testing at every stage; never deploy unvalidated code
  • Standardize base images to reduce security vulnerabilities
  • Continuously patch clusters and dependencies without blocking delivery

When you build your SDLC on OpenShift, speed does not compromise control. Every commit moves through a secure, automated path to production. Every deployment is observable, reversible, and reproducible.

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