Red Hat OpenShift Lightspeed is a groundbreaking virtual assistant powered by generative AI, designed to simplify the OpenShift Container Platform experience. By using a natural-language interface, it answers user questions, troubleshoots issues, and provides guidance on using OpenShift more efficiently. In this post, we’ll explore the features, requirements, use cases, and limitations of OpenShift Lightspeed.
What is OpenShift Lightspeed? #
OpenShift Lightspeed improves the OpenShift user experience by offering intelligent assistance through a natural language interface within the OpenShift web console. It aims to boost user productivity by providing guidance, troubleshooting help, and knowledge rooted in Red Hat’s hybrid cloud expertise.
Notably, Lightspeed may share user input with third-party LLM providers such as OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, or WatsonX. Currently in Developer Preview, Lightspeed is not production-ready, so users should avoid using it for business-critical workloads.
Key Features and Functionality #
- Natural Language Interface: Users interact with OpenShift Lightspeed using simple English questions and commands.
- Troubleshooting and Guidance: Lightspeed provides step-by-step instructions and solutions to OpenShift-related issues, such as installing operators or scaling pods.
- Cluster Resource Insights: Users can obtain information about their cluster resources through commands provided by Lightspeed. For example, it can tell you how many pods are running in a specific namespace.
- Documentation Access: Lightspeed links users to relevant official OpenShift documentation for more in-depth information.
- Object Analysis: Users can submit cluster objects, including YAML files, logs, and events, to Lightspeed for analysis and insights.
How to Use OpenShift Lightspeed #
OpenShift Lightspeed integrates seamlessly into the Red Hat OpenShift platform, providing users with an intuitive, AI-powered assistant to enhance their experience. By typing simple commands in English, users can ask questions like, “How do I install the Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization operator?” or “How do I scale a pod automatically?”
Lightspeed responds with clear, step-by-step guidance, such as instructions on scaling pods or providing the YAML files needed to get started. Although Lightspeed does not directly interact with the cluster, it provides the necessary commands that users can execute to achieve their goals. For instance, if you want to know the number of pods running in a particular namespace, Lightspeed can give you the exact command to find that information. Additionally, it offers links to official documentation for those who want to learn more.
Requirements for Using OpenShift Lightspeed #
To use OpenShift Lightspeed, ensure that you have the following:
- OpenShift Cluster: Your Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster must be version 4.15 or later and running on x86 hardware.
- Internet Connectivity: The cluster must have internet access and telemetry enabled for the Developer Preview release.
- LLM Subscription: You will need a trial or paid subscription to a supported Large Language Model (LLM) provider like OpenAI, Azure OpenAI, or WatsonX for API access to completions and inferences.
While Lightspeed primarily supports SaaS LLM providers, connecting to self-hosted or self-managed model servers that claim OpenAI API compatibility might be possible, though Red Hat has not tested or supported this feature.
You can download the OpenShift Lightspeed operator from the Operator Hub, and documentation is available online.
Data Usage and Privacy Considerations #
OpenShift Lightspeed collects user interactions, including chat messages and feedback, which may contain sensitive information about your OpenShift cluster and resources.
Key Points Regarding Data Usage:
- Limited Filtering and Redaction: The Developer Preview release has limited capabilities to filter or redact sensitive information before sending it to the LLM provider. Avoid entering data you do not want to share.
- Data Usage Agreement: By using Lightspeed, you agree to allow Red Hat to utilize all messages exchanged with the LLM provider for any purpose.
- Transcript Collection: Lightspeed temporarily logs complete conversation transcripts, including user queries, messages sent to the LLM provider, and their responses. Red Hat receives these logs every two hours.
- Feedback Collection: Lightspeed collects user feedback, including feedback scores, text feedback, user queries, and LLM responses, and sends it to Red Hat.
- Data Security and Access: The Red Hat Insights system’s backend handles transcript and feedback data, following its security policies and access restrictions.
- Data Deletion Request: At the end of the Developer Preview period, users can request data deletion by contacting Red Hat.
OpenShift Lightspeed is in its Early Stage #
It’s important to emphasize that OpenShift Lightspeed is currently in Developer Preview. This means:
- Not Production-Ready: Lightspeed is not intended for production or business-critical workloads.
- Limited Support: Red Hat does not offer formal support for Developer Preview features.
- Potential for Change: Features and functionality may change or be removed without notice.
Conclusion #
Red Hat OpenShift Lightspeed introduces innovative generative AI to enhance the OpenShift user experience. Although still in its early stages, it shows promise in streamlining OpenShift operations, troubleshooting issues, and accelerating user learning.
As OpenShift Lightspeed evolves beyond the Developer Preview phase, we can expect it to unlock even more potential for OpenShift users.
