Installation overview

Get started with installing CSM Operator. Learn about the concept of installing CSM Operator, the installation artifacts, and where these artifacts are hosted.

CSM Operator is installed by installing the various components shipped in CSM Operator. In this release of CSM Operator, only a single component, Strimzi, requires installation. Strimzi is installed by installing the Strimzi Cluster Operator with a Helm chart.

Installation artifacts and artifact locations

CSM Operator ships with various installation artifacts. These artifacts are hosted at two locations, the Cloudera Docker registry and the Cloudera Archive.

Both the Cloudera Docker registry and the Cloudera Archive require Cloudera credentials (username and password) for access. Credentials are provided to you as part of your license and subscription agreement. You can access both the registry and the archive using the same credentials.

Cloudera Docker registry – container.repository.cloudera.com

The Docker registry hosts the Helm chart as well as all Docker images used for installation.

Table 1. CSM Operator artifacts on the Cloudera Docker registry
Artifact	Location	Description
Strimzi Docker image	`container.repository.cloudera.com/cloudera/kafka-operator:0.41.0.1.1.0-b79`	Docker image used for deploying Strimzi and its components.
Kafka Docker image	`container.repository.cloudera.com/cloudera/kafka:0.41.0.1.1.0-b79-kafka-3.7.0.1.1`	Docker image used for deploying Kafka and related components.
Strimzi Cluster Operator Helm chart	`oci://container.repository.cloudera.com/cloudera-helm/csm-operator/strimzi-kafka-operator:1.1.0-b79`	Helm chart used to install the Strimzi Cluster Operator with `helm install`.

Cloudera Archive – archive.cloudera.com/p/csm-operator/

The Cloudera Archive hosts various installation artifacts including the Helm chart, configuration examples, a YAML file containing all CRDs, diagnostic tools, and the maven artifacts.

Accessing the Cloudera Archive and the artifacts it hosts is not necessary to complete installation. All artifacts on the archive are supplemental resources. The following table collects the CSM Operator directories located in the archive with an overview of what artifacts they contain and how you can use them.

Table 2. CSM Operator directories on the Cloudera Archive
Archive Directory	Description
https://archive.cloudera.com/p/csm-operator/1.1/charts/	The charts directory contains the Helm chart. This is the same chart that is available on the Docker registry. Cloudera recommends that whenever possible you install with the chart hosted on the registry. The chart on the archive is provided in case you cannot access the registry or want to download the chart using a browser.
https://archive.cloudera.com/p/csm-operator/1.1/examples/	The examples directory includes various examples of resource configuration files. You can use these to quickly deploy Kafka and other components in Kubernetes following installation
https://archive.cloudera.com/p/csm-operator/1.1/install/	The install directory contains a single YAML file that collects all Strimzi Cluster Operator CRDs. The purpose of this file is twofold. One, the CRDs are rich in comments. Reviewing them can help you better understand how Kafka is deployed and managed with Strimzi in CSM Operator. It is a supplemental resource to the documentation. Two, this file is used to upgrade CRDs during CSM Operator upgrades. The CRDs are also included in the Strimzi Cluster Operator Helm chart, and Helm will automatically install the necessary CRDs to Kubernetes. You do not need to install them separately with the file hosted on the archive.
https://archive.cloudera.com/p/csm-operator/1.1/maven-repository/	The maven artifacts can be used to develop your own applications or tools for use with CSM Operator.
https://archive.cloudera.com/p/csm-operator/1.1/tools/	The tools directory contains command line tools that you use to collect diagnostic information and to troubleshoot cluster issues.