Install OpenShift Virtualization

OpenShift Virtualization—built on KubeVirt—enables you to run virtual machines (VMs) and containers side-by-side on your OpenShift platform. It lets you bring traditional VM workloads into your containerized world with a unified management layer.

Prerequisites

Before you begin:

• A working OpenShift Container Platform version 4.6, 4.8, 4.14+, or compatible level deployed on RHEL-based hosts
• OC CLI installed and authenticated
• You must have cluster-admin privileges
• A default StorageClass is required for provisioning VM disk volumes

Install Operator from OpenShift Web Console (GUI)

1. Log into the OpenShift web console and select the Administrator perspective.
   
2. Navigate to Operators → OperatorHub and search for “OpenShift Virtualization”
   
3. Select the OpenShift Virtualization tile, click Install:
   • Choose “stable” channel
   • Make sure the Installed Namespace is the operator-recommended: openshift-cnv
   • Use Automatic approval strategy (ensures automatic updates)
     
4. After installation, go to Operators → Installed Operators → OpenShift Virtualization, and click Create HyperConverged.
   
   • Use the default name kubevirt-hyperconverged (don’t rename it)
   • Accept defaults or configure placement (infra/workload nodes) if needed
   • Click Create to launch the hyperconverged deployment
     
5. Navigate to Workloads → Pods, and wait for all pods in the openshift-cnv namespace to reach Running status.
   
6. Once complete, you’ll see a new Virtualization menu in the console, letting you manage VMs