Installation overview

Event Processing is an operator-based release and uses custom resources to define the deployment configuration. Event Processing requires the installation of the IBM Operator for Apache Flink and the Event Processing operator.

These operators deploy and manage the entire lifecycle of your Flink and Event Processing instances.

• The Flink operator deploys an instance of a Flink cluster that is defined in the FlinkDeployment Custom Resource Definition (CRD).
• The Flink operator deploys an instance of a Flink session job that is defined in the FlinkSessionJob CRD.
• The Event Processing operator deploys an instance of Event Processing that is defined in the EventProcessing CRD.

Your installation depends on how you want to process the event sources:

• To utilize the low-code canvas and deploy flows, install the IBM Operator for Apache Flink and the Event Processing operator, along with an instance of Flink and an instance of Event Processing.
• To create and manage Flink session jobs in a session cluster, you can install only the IBM Operator for Apache Flink, deploy a session cluster instance defined by the FlinkDeployment custom resource type, and then deploy the Flink session job defined by FlinkSessionJob custom resource type.

Note: Ensure that the Event Processing operator version and the IBM Operator for Apache Flink version are the same.

Installing Event Processing includes the following high-level steps:

1. Depending on your platform and environment, select the right procedure:

   • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform online environment which has access to the internet.
   • Offline environment (also referred to as air-gapped or disconnected).
   • Other Kubernetes platform online environment which has access to the internet.

2. Install the IBM Operator for Apache Flink operator. The operator will then be available to install and manage your Flink instances.

   Note: To create and run Flink session jobs, you can install only the IBM Operator for Apache Flink and its associated custom resource types (FlinkDeployment and FlinkSessionJob). You can skip the installation of the Event Processing operator and the EventProcessing custom resource type.

3. Install the Event Processing operator. The operator will then be available to install and manage your Event Processing instances.
4. Install the FlinkDeployment custom resource type to create an instance of the Flink.
5. Optional: Install the FlinkSessionJob custom resource type to deploy a customized Flink session job from scratch.
6. Using the Event Processing operator, install an instance of the Event Processing by applying the EventProcessing custom resource type.