Blueprints Overview
Purpose: For platform engineers and leadership, explains what blueprints are, how they layer on the platform foundation, and which one to start with.
What Is a Blueprint
A blueprint is a versioned, opinionated deployment pattern that extends the openCenter platform foundation with workload-specific services, compliance controls, and operational runbooks. Every blueprint shares:
- GitOps-managed lifecycle (FluxCD + Kustomize)
- Security hardening (Kyverno policies, Pod Security Admission, SOPS encryption)
- Observability (Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, Tempo, OpenTelemetry)
- Air-gap readiness (signed Zarf artifacts)
Blueprints live in openCenter-gitops-base (and openCenter-gitops-enterprise for enterprise overlays), not in the CLI. The CLI generates the cluster configuration that references blueprints.
Blueprint Types
| Type | Purpose | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | Core platform — every cluster gets this | Kubernetes (observability, security, GitOps) |
| Workload | Infrastructure patterns for specific workload classes | Cloud (OpenStack), AI (GPU) |
| Industry | Compliance and operational controls for regulated sectors | Finance, Healthcare, Telco |
| Data Services | Managed data infrastructure operated as platform services | Streaming (Kafka), Databases (PostgreSQL) |
Composition Model
Blueprints compose — an industry blueprint layers compliance controls on top of the foundation, and can include data services. A Finance cluster running Kafka gets the foundation + streaming blueprint + finance compliance controls.
Choosing a Blueprint
| If you need… | Start with… |
|---|---|
| Production Kubernetes with observability and security | Platform Foundation |
| Private cloud (OpenStack + Kubernetes) | Cloud Blueprint |
| GPU workloads with policy controls | AI Blueprint |
| Managed Kafka or databases | Data Services |
| SOC2/PCI/NIST compliance | Finance Blueprint |
| HIPAA compliance | Healthcare Blueprint |
| Edge-to-core fleet management | Telco Blueprint |
Further Reading
- Blueprint Catalog — complete list with status and timelines
- Platform Foundation — services every cluster receives
- Portfolio Strategy — data services roadmap and commercial model