Version: 0.12.0

RHEL9 Offline Production Install

This guide covers a fresh Kamiwaza production install on a RHEL9 host using the packaged prod RPM, offline wrap bundle, and install-prod.sh.

It is the administrator-facing install path for current offline release artifacts. For field-by-field analysis and internal background, see docs/install-config_final.md.

For the exact smoke-tested install flow used on rhel-install, see docs/rhel9-offline-prod-install-smoke.sh. It defaults to a direct host-side S3 pull from builds/offline/2026-03-05_0615, the tested release-0.11.0 tags, and AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_ENABLED=false, but you can override those via env vars.

Scope

This guide assumes:

a fresh RHEL9 host
release artifacts have already been built
you are installing from the packaged offline artifacts, not from live repos
install-prod.sh is the entrypoint

Inputs You Need

Before you start, decide these values:

DOMAIN: external hostname for the install, for example kamiwaza.example.com
ADMIN_PASSWORD: initial admin password
release artifact location:
- local directory, or
- s3://<bucket>/<prefix>/
offline image tags:
- app/core/init-users tag
- frontend tag
- chainguard base/containers tag

For many releases, all three tag groups use the same value. Do not assume that; confirm from release metadata for the build you are installing.

Historical site config blocks often include many values that are now derived from --domain, carried by chart defaults, or no longer used in the packaged Kubernetes install path. This guide only carries forward the fields that still need administrator input.

Required Artifacts

You need these files from the offline release:

kamiwaza-prod-*.x86_64.rpm
kamiwaza-helm.*.tar
kamiwaza-helm.sha256
kamiwaza-helm.asc
kamiwaza-tools-rpm.pub.gpg

Host Prerequisites

You need:

sudo access on the RHEL9 host
aws CLI only if you are pulling artifacts from S3

The packaged prereq payload now includes the supported RHEL9 bootstrap path. Use /opt/kamiwaza/scripts/bootstrap-prereqs.sh --embedded-root /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs after the prod RPM and wrap assets are staged.

Step 1: Set Operator Variables

Fill in the variables for your release:

DOMAIN="kamiwaza.example.com"
ADMIN_PASSWORD="replace-me"
RELEASE_DIR="$HOME/kamiwaza-release"

APP_TAG="release-0.11.0"
FRONTEND_TAG="${APP_TAG}"
CONTAINERS_TAG="${APP_TAG}"

If your release uses different frontend or container tags, set them explicitly. If your artifacts are already staged locally, set RELEASE_DIR to that path.

Step 2: Retrieve Release Artifacts

If the release artifacts are already on disk, skip to Step 3.

Example S3 pull. Kamiwaza supplies the bucket name and the build folder for your release:

BUCKET="<kamiwaza-release-bucket>"
PREFIX="builds/offline/<timestamp_folder>"

mkdir -p "${RELEASE_DIR}"
cd "${RELEASE_DIR}"
aws s3 cp --recursive "s3://${BUCKET}/${PREFIX}/" .

Step 3: Verify the Required Files Are Present

cd "${RELEASE_DIR}"

ls -1 \
  kamiwaza-prod-*.x86_64.rpm \
  kamiwaza-helm.*.tar \
  kamiwaza-helm.sha256 \
  kamiwaza-helm.asc \
  kamiwaza-tools-rpm.pub.gpg

Step 4: Install the Prod RPM

sudo dnf install -y perl
sudo rpm -Uvh --replacepkgs ./kamiwaza-prod-*.x86_64.rpm

Step 5: Stage the Wrap Bundle Files

sudo mkdir -p /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs
sudo cp ./kamiwaza-helm.*.tar ./kamiwaza-helm.sha256 ./kamiwaza-helm.asc \
  ./kamiwaza-tools-rpm.pub.gpg /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs/

Step 6: Install Host Prerequisites

sudo /opt/kamiwaza/scripts/bootstrap-prereqs.sh \
  --embedded-root /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs \
  --os rhel

export HELM_PLUGINS="/usr/local/share/helm/plugins"

Sanity check the required tools:

ansible-playbook --version | head -n1
podman --version
kubectl version --client
helm version
helmfile version
helm dt version

Step 7: Create the Optional Site Overrides File

Most installs can skip this step. Create the file only if you need non-default settings such as security banners, consent, ReBAC, or a non-prod template catalog stage.

Use this administrator-facing path:

/opt/kamiwaza/cluster/values/overrides.yaml

Example:

sudo tee /opt/kamiwaza/cluster/values/overrides.yaml > /dev/null <<'EOF'
core:
  security:
    consent:
      enabled: true
    banner:
      enabled: true
      topText: "UNCLASSIFIED//TEST SYSTEM"
      topColor: "#00A651"
      bottomText: "UNCLASSIFIED//TEST SYSTEM"
      bottomColor: "#00A651"

  # Override only if this install should use the staging template catalog.
  # This is the template catalog stage, not the container image registry.
  # templates:
  #   sync:
  #     stage: "STAGE"

  scheduler:
    extraEnv:
      # Keep only the env vars that still need explicit administrator input.
      # Most historical URL/auth fields are now chart-derived from --domain.
      - name: LICENSE_KEY
        value: "replace-with-license-key"
      - name: AUTH_REBAC_ENABLED
        value: "true"
      - name: AUTH_REBAC_BACKEND
        value: "postgres"
      - name: AUTH_REBAC_ALLOW_COMMUNITY_FALLBACK
        value: "true"

      # ReBAC session tracking is optional. Only enable it if you also provide
      # AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_REDIS_URL.
      # - name: AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_ENABLED
      #   value: "true"
      # - name: AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_ALLOW_INSECURE
      #   value: "true"
      # - name: AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_REDIS_URL
      #   value: "rediss://user:[email protected]:6379"
EOF

Notes:

Use core.security, not top-level security.
There is no stage registry site override in this install path. core.templates.sync.stage changes the template catalog only. Image registry selection comes from the install mode and release assets: offline installs use the local host.docker.internal:5001 registry, while online installs pull from the configured upstream registries.
Do not set global.domain here. Use --domain.
Do not set the admin password here. Use --admin-password.
Do not set KAMIWAZA_EXTERNAL_URL, Keycloak URLs, or JWT issuer here. The chart derives those from --domain.
Do not set AUTH_GATEWAY_*, AUTH_CALLBACK_URL, KAMIWAZA_ORIGIN, KAMIWAZA_CORS_ORIGINS, KAMIWAZA_KEYCLOAK_HOST, or network.traefik.logs.general.level here for this install path.
Do not set KAMIWAZA_MILVUS_ENABLED unless you are intentionally overriding the chart/Python defaults. The current production path already enables Milvus.
If you set AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_ENABLED="true", you must also provide AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_REDIS_URL.

Step 8: Export Offline Image Tags

Set the tags for the release you are installing:

export KAMIWAZA_VERSION="${APP_TAG}"
export KAMIWAZA_IMAGE_TAG="${APP_TAG}"
export KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_APP_IMAGE_TAG="${APP_TAG}"
export KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_INIT_KEYCLOAK_USERS_TAG="${APP_TAG}"
export KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_CORE_TAG="${APP_TAG}"
export KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_FRONTEND_TAG="${FRONTEND_TAG}"
export KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_CHAINGUARD_BASE_TAG="${CONTAINERS_TAG}"

These exported vars cover the current offline app/frontend/container tag paths for the packaged release flow.

Step 9: Run the Offline Install

sudo -E /opt/kamiwaza/scripts/install-prod.sh \
  --offline \
  --skip-prereq-bootstrap \
  --domain "${DOMAIN}" \
  --admin-password "${ADMIN_PASSWORD}" \
  --wrap-bundle '/opt/kamiwaza/prereqs/kamiwaza-helm.*.tar' \
  --wrap-sha256 /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs/kamiwaza-helm.sha256 \
  --wrap-signature /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs/kamiwaza-helm.asc \
  --wrap-pubkey /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs/kamiwaza-tools-rpm.pub.gpg \
  -e helm_timeout=12m \
  -y

Keep the --wrap-bundle glob quoted exactly as shown.

Step 10: Verify the Install

kubectl get pods -n kamiwaza

kubectl -n kamiwaza get secret kamiwaza-user-admin \
  -o jsonpath="{.data.password}" | base64 -d; echo

curl -kI "https://${DOMAIN}"

What this confirms:

the Kamiwaza namespace came up
the admin password secret was created
the external hostname is reachable

How Configuration Is Supplied

For this install path, configuration comes from three places:

--domain

This sets the external domain and the domain-derived URLs used by the chart.
--admin-password

This seeds the kamiwaza-user-admin secret and the initial admin user setup.
the exported KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_* tag vars plus /opt/kamiwaza/cluster/values/overrides.yaml

Keep the exported KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_FRONTEND_TAG and KAMIWAZA_OFFLINE_CHAINGUARD_BASE_TAG values when a release uses split frontend/container tags. Use the values file only for site-specific non-default settings.

If you are tempted to set direct Keycloak URLs, JWT issuer, CORS origins, or other external URL fields by hand, stop and check whether --domain already covers them. For this packaged path, it usually does.

Troubleshooting

`aws: command not found`

Install AWS CLI or skip the S3 download step and stage the release artifacts locally.

`no wrap chunk files matched glob`

Keep the --wrap-bundle argument quoted:

--wrap-bundle '/opt/kamiwaza/prereqs/kamiwaza-helm.*.tar'

ReBAC session startup failure

If you enable AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_ENABLED="true", you must also provide AUTH_REBAC_SESSION_REDIS_URL.

Embedded prereq payload missing

If /opt/kamiwaza/prereqs/rpms/ is missing after RPM install, verify that you installed the correct packaged prod RPM for the offline release.

docs/install-config_final.md: field-by-field analysis and admin notes
infra/smoke-rhel9/OFFLINE-E2E.md: automated two-host offline smoke flow

Scope​

Inputs You Need​

Required Artifacts​

Host Prerequisites​

Step 1: Set Operator Variables​

Step 2: Retrieve Release Artifacts​

Step 3: Verify the Required Files Are Present​

Step 4: Install the Prod RPM​

Step 5: Stage the Wrap Bundle Files​

Step 6: Install Host Prerequisites​

Step 7: Create the Optional Site Overrides File​

Step 8: Export Offline Image Tags​

Step 9: Run the Offline Install​

Step 10: Verify the Install​

How Configuration Is Supplied​

Troubleshooting​

aws: command not found​

no wrap chunk files matched glob​

ReBAC session startup failure​

Embedded prereq payload missing​

Related Docs​