The Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) is a core component of OpenShift Container Platform that is responsible for managing the entire lifecycle of Kubernetes Operators. During the installation of IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation, OLM automates the process of installing, upgrading, and managing the dependencies of the CP4BA operator and all its related services. It uses catalog sources to discover available operators and then handles their deployment and ongoing management, ensuring the cluster's services remain consistent and stable.

A. Operator Hub catalog: The Operator Hub is a user interface for discovering and selecting available operators from catalogs, but it is not the component that actively manages their lifecycle.

C. Operator Framework: This is a broader, open-source toolkit that includes the OLM, the Operator SDK, and Operator Metering. OLM is the specific component within this framework that performs lifecycle management.

D. Operator discovery services: This refers to the mechanism by which OLM finds available operators and their versions in catalogs, not the manager component itself.

1. Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 Documentation: In the section "Understanding the Operator Lifecycle Manager

" it states

"Operator Lifecycle Manager (OLM) helps users install

update

and manage the lifecycle of all Operators and their associated services running across their clusters."

Source: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.14 Documentation

Operators > Understanding Operators > Understanding the Operator Lifecycle Manager.

2. IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation 23.0.2 Documentation: The installation procedure explicitly relies on the OLM. The step "Adding the catalog sources to a cluster" involves creating CatalogSource objects

which are then used by the OLM to make the operators available for installation from the OperatorHub.

Source: IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation 23.0.2 Documentation

Installing > Preparing for an online installation > Adding the catalog sources to a cluster.