Proposed Path for Candlepin 5.0 Upgrade in Katello (EL9 vs. EL10)

As we map out our transition to EL10 and plan our upcoming dependency upgrades, we need to address our integration path for Candlepin 5.0 in Katello.

The Situation

Candlepin 5.0 is built exclusively for EL10. Due to upstream build and dependency constraints, this version of Candlepin cannot be built or run on EL9. Since Katello Nightly (Future Katello 5.0) needs to transition to Candlepin 5.0, we have to split our strategy based on the underlying Enterprise Linux version.

The Proposed Plan

To ensure we can adopt Candlepin 5.0 on our next-gen platform without breaking current development pipelines, we propose the following approach for Katello nightly:

  • Katello Nightly on EL9: Will continue to use Candlepin 4.8. Since Candlepin 5.0 cannot be built on EL9, we will freeze this pipeline on the older Candlepin release.

  • Katello Nightly on EL10: Will use Candlepin 5.0. Once we branch and officially target EL10 for Katello 5.0, Candlepin 5.0 will be the default.

Why This Matters & Potential Impact

This split-version approach allows us to move forward with EL10 adoption. However, it does mean we will temporarily support two different Candlepin versions across our active development streams.

Before we implement this change, we want to ensure we aren’t overlooking any development, packaging, or testing bottlenecks.

  • Do you foresee any compatibility issues between Katello nightly (Katello 5.0) and Candlepin 4.8 vs. 5.0?

  • Are there specific pipelines, workflows, or developer environments that this split will negatively impact?

Please share your thoughts, concerns, or feedback below!

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Katello, realistically, can only carry one version of VCRs for integration tests. I think we can just use Candlepin 5.0 and test for issues against it since it will become the main version that Katello uses.

We’ve done some testing with Candlepin 4.8, but we should probably soon perform proper testing and VCR recording of Candlepin 5.0. I might suggest we get a Candlepin 5.0 container and record the VCRs even before we have an official 5.0 container shipped with Katello so we’re ahead of the curve.

2 Likes