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Version: v2.0

DxOperator OpenShift Quick-Start Guide

This guide walks you through deploying a Microsoft SQL Server Availability Group using DxOperator on Red Hat OpenShift. By following the steps, you will:

  • Install DxOperator on your OpenShift cluster using the administration console.
  • Deploy a SQL Server Availability Group (AG) within that cluster.

Prerequisites​

  • A Red Hat OpenShift cluster with access to OperatorHub.
  • A valid DxEnterprise license with availability group management features and tunnels enabled. A fully featured Developer Edition is available free for non-production use. To purchase DxEnterprise software for production workloads, please contact us.

Install DxOperator using the OpenShift DxOperator bundle​

  1. Log into RedHat Openshift via the UI.
  2. In the left-hand menu, select Ecosystem > Software Catalog.
  3. Search for DxOperator.
  4. Install DxOperator.

Deploy a new SQL Server AG cluster by creating a DxSqlAg​

  1. Create a secret to store DX_PASSKEY, DX_LICENSE, and MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD.
    1. In the menu, select Workloads > Secrets.
    2. Select Create > Key/value Secret.
    3. For Secret name, enter dxe.
    4. For Key, enter DX_PASSKEY, and for Value, enter your desired DxEnterprise cluster passkey. This value will be set as the cluster passkey for the DxEnterprise component to be deployed.
    5. Select Add key/value.
    6. For Key, enter DX_LICENSE, and for Value, enter your DxEnterprise license code.
    7. Select Add key/value.
    8. For Key, enter MSSQL_SA_PASSWORD, and for Value, enter your desired password for the SQL Server sa account.
      caution

      Your password must meet SQL Server password requirements, or the container deployment will fail. See the SQL Server Password Policy for more details.

    9. Select Create.
  2. Navigate to Ecosystem > Installed Operators
  3. At the top, select the Project: drop-down and choose or create the project to contain the SQL Server Availability Group
  4. Select DxOperator from the list of operators
  5. In the box labeled DxSqlAg, click on Create instance.
  6. Enter a name for the deployment.
  7. Open the sqlAgConfiguration collapsible box
    1. Fill in the desired number of Synchronous Replicas, Asynchronous Replicas, and Configuration Only Replicas.
    2. Set the availabilityGroupName.
    3. Set the availabilityGroupListenerPort to 14033.
  8. Open the statefulSetSpec collapsible box dropdown, and within it, podSpec. Then open each of the following:
    1. dxEnterpriseContainer:
      1. For DxEnterprise Secret, select the secret dxe as created in step (1).
      2. Accept the DxEnterprise EULA
      3. Set VHOST name
    2. mssqlServerContainer
      1. For SQL Server Secret, select the secret dxe as created in step (1).
      2. Select the Product ID or a license key
      3. Accept the SQL Server EULA
  9. Click Create.
  10. Wait for the installation to complete before proceeding.
  11. Verify that your Availability Group is successfully created.
    1. In the menu, select Ecosystem > Installed Operators > DxOperator.
    2. Click on the DxSqlAg tab, followed by the item with the name chosen in the previous step
    3. Click on the Resources tab and verify the pods and load balancers were created

What You Accomplished​

You've successfully deployed a production-ready SQL Server Availability Group on OpenShift using DxOperator. With this setup, you now have:

  • Enterprise-grade high availability for your SQL Server workloads running in containers
  • Automatic failover that keeps your applications running even during node or instance failures
  • A foundation for production-ready database deployments that scale with your organization

Next Steps​