OpenShift Application Containerization and Workload Migration Program
Assessed, containerized, and migrated a portfolio of legacy application workloads from virtual machines onto an existing OpenShift platform, establishing a repeatable release path based on standardized container builds, Helm-packaged deployments, and Argo CD promotion across environments.
Architecture Diagram
Technical Implementation
- Ran a containerization readiness assessment across the application portfolio to categorize workloads by runtime dependencies, network topology, stateful storage requirements, and external service coupling, then used that inventory to sequence the migration and identify applications needing architecture changes before they could run on Kubernetes.
- Standardized container builds by using Tekton to orchestrate Buildah-based image build and scan stages, with approved and version-pinned base images, multi-stage Dockerfiles where appropriate, and minimal runtime images aligned to OpenShift security constraints. Each build was checked with Hadolint for Dockerfile quality and Trivy for known vulnerabilities before versioned images were published to the platform registry.
- Packaged each application as a Helm chart with consistent resource requests and limits, liveness and readiness probes, Route and Service definitions, and SecurityContext settings aligned with the OpenShift admission model, while defining namespace, RBAC, NetworkPolicy, PodDisruptionBudget, and HorizontalPodAutoscaler standards for all migrated services.
- Integrated each application into the Argo CD deployment model with Git-based promotion through development, staging, and production values, validated rendered manifests with helm lint and kubeconform before each promotion, and ran smoke tests and load checks in staging before cutting traffic across from the VM-based platform.
Client Delivery & Handover
The migration was run as a structured program with the client application owners, platform team, and operations leads so containerization standards, scheduling constraints, and cutover risk tolerance were defined before migration began rather than resolved per application. Each wave was planned jointly, applications were validated in lower environments first, and cutover decisions were made with the application owner present. Handover included containerization standards documentation, Tekton pipeline patterns, Helm chart templates, Argo CD application definitions, migration runbooks, and enablement sessions for both application and platform teams.
Outcome
The client retired a significant portion of its VM-based workload footprint, moved migrated services onto a more consistent OpenShift operating model, and left application teams with a clearer, repeatable release path for future workloads.
Project Snapshot
Category
Kubernetes & OpenShift
Sector
Manufacturing
Duration
16 weeks
Next Step
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