OpenShift

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OpenShift is Red Hat's Kubernetes-based hybrid-cloud application platform for building, deploying, operating, and modernizing containerized applications.

Last updated October 14, 2026

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First read: Oct 29, 2026
Latest read: Nov 1, 2026

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Overview

OpenShift is a Red Hat platform for developing, deploying, and operating containerized applications across public clouds, private datacenters, edge locations, and managed-service environments. It combines Kubernetes orchestration with an integrated developer and operations experience, security controls, networking, storage, monitoring, software supply-chain tooling, and application services. The platform is intended to reduce the operational burden of running Kubernetes while giving enterprises a consistent application platform across different infrastructure environments. The product originated from OpenShift, Inc., a platform-as-a-service company that Red Hat acquired in 2010. Red Hat subsequently introduced OpenShift as a hosted service in 2011. Early versions were designed around application deployment through a platform-as-a-service model, while later generations moved toward a container-based architecture. OpenShift became closely associated with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Docker-compatible containers, Kubernetes, and a broader ecosystem of cloud-native tools. Its technical direction changed substantially when OpenShift Container Platform was introduced using Kubernetes as its orchestration foundation. OpenShift is offered in several forms. Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform is the self-managed enterprise distribution for datacenters and infrastructure controlled by a customer or service provider. Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated provides a managed OpenShift cluster operated by Red Hat on selected public-cloud infrastructure. Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS, commonly abbreviated ROSA, is an AWS-integrated managed service operated jointly through Red Hat and Amazon Web Services. Azure Red Hat OpenShift is the corresponding service delivered with Microsoft Azure. Red Hat also markets OpenShift as a platform for virtual machines and for hybrid application modernization, not only for newly written cloud-native workloads. The platform's positioning is enterprise hybrid cloud rather than a narrowly focused Kubernetes distribution. OpenShift emphasizes a supported, integrated stack with a common control model, policy framework, developer tooling, observability, and lifecycle management. It supports workloads written in multiple programming languages and frameworks and can host both containers and, through OpenShift Virtualization, virtual machines. OpenShift's ecosystem includes Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS, the Operator Framework, OpenShift Pipelines, OpenShift GitOps, OpenShift Service Mesh, OpenShift Serverless, and the Red Hat OpenShift AI portfolio. OpenShift is sold primarily through enterprise subscriptions, support, managed services, and cloud-marketplace arrangements. Customers include organizations in regulated industries and other sectors that require portability, security governance, long-term support, and integration with existing datacenter and public-cloud investments. The brand's main competitive context includes upstream Kubernetes platforms, managed Kubernetes services from major cloud providers, and enterprise container platforms from vendors such as SUSE and Canonical. OpenShift remains an active Red Hat product family within IBM's hybrid-cloud business.

History

OpenShift traces its commercial origins to Makara, a cloud application platform company acquired by Red Hat in 2010. Red Hat used the OpenShift name for a hosted platform-as-a-service product introduced in 2011. The initial service sought to simplify application deployment by abstracting infrastructure and providing developers with managed runtimes, databases, and deployment workflows. It represented an early attempt by a major enterprise open-source vendor to offer a cloud application platform rather than only operating-system software and support. The first OpenShift implementation used technology associated with Makara's platform and supported multiple application runtimes. Red Hat later offered variants aimed at developers, private-cloud users, and enterprise customers. OpenShift Enterprise brought the concept into customer-controlled environments, where organizations could run the platform behind their own security perimeter and integrate it with existing infrastructure. OpenShift Online provided a hosted service for application developers, while OpenShift Dedicated eventually offered managed clusters for enterprise customers. A major transformation occurred with the OpenShift 3 generation. Instead of relying primarily on the earlier platform-as-a-service architecture, Red Hat rebuilt the product around Linux containers and Kubernetes orchestration. This aligned OpenShift with the rapidly expanding cloud-native ecosystem and gave it a more portable foundation across physical, virtual, and public-cloud infrastructure. The platform combined Kubernetes with Red Hat Enterprise Linux, later with the specialized Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS operating system, and with a set of enterprise-focused administration, security, networking, storage, and developer features. OpenShift 4 continued the move toward automated cluster lifecycle management. Red Hat emphasized declarative configuration, Operators, automated updates, and a consistent experience across infrastructure environments. This generation also strengthened the distinction between upstream Kubernetes and a supported enterprise platform: OpenShift supplied opinionated defaults, integrated components, tested release combinations, and commercial support. Those characteristics appealed to organizations that wanted Kubernetes capabilities without assembling and maintaining every layer independently. The 2019 acquisition of Red Hat by IBM placed OpenShift at the center of IBM's hybrid-cloud strategy. IBM promoted the platform as a common foundation for applications running in datacenters, multiple public clouds, and edge environments. Red Hat continued to operate as a distinct IBM business, and OpenShift retained its Red Hat branding. The product family expanded through cloud-provider partnerships, including Azure Red Hat OpenShift with Microsoft Azure and Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS with Amazon Web Services. Over time, OpenShift broadened from container deployment into a more comprehensive application platform. Its associated capabilities include image and registry workflows, source-to-image build processes, Operators, CI/CD through OpenShift Pipelines, GitOps through OpenShift GitOps, service-mesh functions, serverless workloads, observability, and policy management. OpenShift Virtualization added the ability to run and manage virtual machines alongside containers on the same Kubernetes-based platform. Red Hat OpenShift AI extended the portfolio toward data-science and machine-learning development, model serving, and AI operations. The current OpenShift portfolio includes self-managed, hosted, and cloud-integrated forms. OpenShift Container Platform is deployed and operated by customers or partners. OpenShift Dedicated is managed by Red Hat, while ROSA and Azure Red Hat OpenShift are delivered through close integrations with AWS and Microsoft Azure. These options support Red Hat's broader strategy of offering a consistent application platform while allowing customers to choose where clusters and workloads run. OpenShift remains active and is marketed for new cloud-native applications, modernization of existing systems, regulated workloads, edge computing, virtual machines, and AI-related applications.

2021
ROSA becomes generally available
[9]ROSA becomes generally availableredhat.com
Red Hat and AWS introduced a generally available managed OpenShift service running on AWS.
2020
OpenShift Virtualization becomes generally available
[4]Red Hat OpenShift Virtualizationredhat.com
Red Hat made it possible to run virtual machines alongside containerized workloads on OpenShift.
2019
IBM completes Red Hat acquisition
[3]IBM completes acquisition of Red Hatnewsroom.ibm.com
OpenShift became part of IBM's hybrid-cloud portfolio after IBM completed its acquisition of Red Hat.
2015
OpenShift 3 establishes the Kubernetes-based platform
[8]OpenShift 3 establishes the Kubernetes-based platformredhat.com
The third major generation shifted OpenShift toward Docker-compatible containers and Kubernetes orchestration.
2012
OpenShift Enterprise is introduced
[7]OpenShift Enterprise is introducedredhat.com
Red Hat expanded OpenShift into a customer-controlled enterprise platform for private-cloud and datacenter deployments.
2011
OpenShift launches
[6]OpenShift launchesredhat.com
Red Hat introduced OpenShift as a hosted platform-as-a-service for developing and deploying applications.
2010
Red Hat acquires Makara
[5]Red Hat acquires Makararedhat.com
Red Hat acquired Makara, a cloud application platform company whose technology became the foundation for the OpenShift initiative.

Products and positioning

An enterprise hybrid-cloud application platform that packages Kubernetes with integrated security, developer tooling, operations management, and support across datacenter, public-cloud, and edge environments.

Enterprise Kubernetes platform · 2015
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform
The self-managed core OpenShift product for datacenters, private clouds, edge locations, and supported public-cloud infrastructure. It provides Kubernetes orchestration together with Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS, cluster management, networking, storage integrations, security controls, developer workflows, Operators, monitoring, and lifecycle management. It is designed for organizations that want a supported and integrated application platform under their own operational control.
Managed cloud service
Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated
A managed OpenShift service in which Red Hat operates the underlying cluster infrastructure and platform lifecycle. It is intended for customers that want OpenShift's enterprise application and Kubernetes capabilities without managing the full control plane and cluster operations themselves.
Cloud-provider managed service · 2021
Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS
A jointly delivered managed OpenShift service integrated with Amazon Web Services. ROSA allows customers to run OpenShift clusters in AWS regions while using AWS infrastructure and account relationships together with Red Hat's OpenShift software, support, and lifecycle model.
Cloud-provider managed service · 2019
Azure Red Hat OpenShift
A managed OpenShift service delivered through the Microsoft Azure ecosystem. It combines Red Hat's enterprise Kubernetes platform with Azure infrastructure, networking, identity, and billing capabilities for customers seeking a supported OpenShift environment in Azure.
Virtualization platform · 2020
Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization
An OpenShift capability for running and managing virtual machines alongside containers on the same Kubernetes-based platform. It supports gradual modernization by allowing traditional virtualized workloads and cloud-native applications to share cluster operations, networking, policy, and management processes.
AI and machine-learning platform · 2023
Red Hat OpenShift AI
A portfolio for developing, serving, and managing artificial-intelligence and machine-learning workloads on OpenShift. It is aimed at data scientists, application developers, and operations teams that need governed model-development and deployment workflows across hybrid-cloud environments.

Brand decisions

2021
Launch a managed OpenShift service on AWSProduct launch
Background
Customers wanted managed Kubernetes operations while preserving OpenShift's enterprise controls, support model, and developer experience.
Action taken
Red Hat and AWS made Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS generally available.
Aftermath
ROSA strengthened OpenShift's public-cloud distribution model and gave AWS customers a native path to managed OpenShift clusters.
Source
2020
Expand OpenShift beyond containersStrategy
Background
Many enterprise customers continued to operate virtual machines while adopting containers and Kubernetes incrementally.
Action taken
Red Hat expanded OpenShift with virtualization capabilities so virtual machines and containers could be operated on a shared platform.
Aftermath
OpenShift's addressable use cases broadened from container application deployment to workload consolidation and application modernization.
Source
2019
Make OpenShift central to IBM's hybrid-cloud strategyM&A
Background
IBM acquired Red Hat as enterprises increasingly sought consistent application platforms across private infrastructure and multiple public clouds.
Action taken
IBM retained Red Hat as a distinct subsidiary and positioned OpenShift as a foundational layer for hybrid-cloud application deployment and modernization.
Aftermath
OpenShift gained a larger role in IBM's cloud, automation, data, and AI portfolio while continuing to be marketed under the Red Hat brand.
Source
2015
Rebuild OpenShift around Kubernetes and containersGeneration change
Background
The original platform-as-a-service architecture faced a market increasingly organized around portable Linux containers and Kubernetes orchestration.
Action taken
Red Hat introduced the OpenShift 3 generation with Kubernetes-based orchestration, container images, and a revised enterprise platform architecture.
Aftermath
The change aligned OpenShift with the cloud-native ecosystem and established the technical foundation for subsequent OpenShift releases.
Source

Recent events

2023
Red Hat expands OpenShift for virtual machines and AI workloads[1]Red Hat OpenShiftredhat.com
Product launch
Red Hat continued extending OpenShift beyond conventional container workloads through OpenShift Virtualization and the OpenShift AI portfolio.
2021
Red Hat and AWS make Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS generally available[9]ROSA becomes generally availableredhat.com
Product launch · M&A
ROSA expanded OpenShift's managed-service model through an offering integrated with Amazon Web Services infrastructure and account management.
2019
IBM completes acquisition of Red Hat[3]IBM completes acquisition of Red Hatnewsroom.ibm.com
M&A
IBM completed its acquisition of Red Hat. OpenShift became part of IBM's hybrid-cloud portfolio while Red Hat continued operating as a distinct subsidiary and brand.
2015
OpenShift Container Platform adopts Kubernetes-based architecture[8]OpenShift 3 establishes the Kubernetes-based platformredhat.com
Product generation
The OpenShift 3 generation centered the platform on Kubernetes and Linux containers, marking a major architectural transition from the earlier platform-as-a-service implementation.
2011
Red Hat introduces OpenShift as a hosted platform-as-a-service offering[6]OpenShift launchesredhat.com
Product launch
Red Hat launched OpenShift as a hosted application platform, extending its enterprise open-source strategy into cloud application deployment.

Sources16 sources

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