Overview of Installation Options for KNIME Business Hub
About this guide
This document provides an overview of the support and compatibility matrix for KNIME Business Hub installations. It is intended for IT administrators, platform engineers, and solution architects evaluating or operating KNIME Business Hub in Kubernetes-based environments. It focuses on supported and validated infrastructure components rather than step-by-step installation instructions.
Installation types
KNIME Business Hub offers several installation types to support different infrastructure and operational needs. Each installation type has specific advantages and disadvantages. The following overview helps you choose the installation that best fits your environment. General prerequisites and supported technologies apply to all installation types. You can find installation-type-specific details in the dedicated sections.
Overview of installation types
| Installation type | Description | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|---|
| kURL-based (embedded cluster) | Installs KNIME Business Hub on a new Kubernetes cluster using kURL. | Automated setup, bundled components, suitable for isolated environments | Limited flexibility, not designed for large-scale or highly customized environments, supports only single-node or small clusters |
| Existing cluster (Helm-based / Argo CD) | Deploys on an existing Kubernetes cluster using Helm charts with Argo CD. | Uses existing Kubernetes infrastructure, integrates with enterprise tooling, and supports complex environments. Enables DevOps and GitOps workflows with Helm and Argo CD, simplifying upgrades and rollbacks. | Requires Helm/Argo CD expertise, manual setup and maintenance, less automated compared to kURL/KOTS |
| Existing OpenShift cluster (Helm-based / Argo CD) | Deploys on an existing OpenShift cluster using Helm charts with Argo CD. | Integrates with OpenShift features to provide enterprise-grade security and management, while combining OpenShift capabilities with Helm- and Argo CD-based GitOps workflows for advanced enterprise environments. | Higher operational complexity, requires OpenShift and Helm/Argo CD expertise, manual setup and maintenance |
INFO
Not all installation types are supported in all editions or without Professional Services. Refer to the Support & Compatibility Matrix and official documentation for details.
Support & compatibility matrix
Definitions
- Supported: Fully validated and maintained configurations. Guaranteed compatibility and upgrade path.
- Supported with Professional Services (PS): Deployments that require PS engagement for setup, customization, or maintenance. Compatibility and upgrade support depend on re-engagement.
Compatibility matrix
| Component | Supported | Supported with Professional Services | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kubernetes | AKS, EKS, GKE, OpenShift 4.x+, kURL | Rancher, Kubermatic, VMware Tanzu | Supported Kubernetes distributions must be within their respective vendor-supported lifecycle and compatible with the Kubernetes version required by the KNIME Business Hub release. |
| Ingress | Istio Ingress Gateway, HAProxy (OpenShift) | Ingress-NGINX is deprecated as of KNIME Business Hub 1.18.0. See the Ingress-NGINX Deprecation and Migration to Istio for migration to the Istio Ingress Gateway. | |
| Service Mesh | Istio 1.24+, OpenShift Service Mesh v2 & v3 | Service mesh in shared clusters | Support for service meshes assumes a dedicated cluster or namespace aligned with KNIME Business Hub reference architectures. |
| Database | Bundled Postgres (in-cluster), AWS RDS, Azure Database for PostgreSQL | EnterpriseDB (EDB), managed open-source PostgreSQL (only the Hub-supported PostgreSQL version is supported) | |
| Object Storage | Bundled MinIO (API 2006-03-01), AWS S3 | Azure Blob Storage (non-Chinese regions) using an S3 proxy, customer-managed external MinIO | |
| Authentication | AD/LDAP, SAML, OIDC, SCIM | Authentication support refers to integration with standard enterprise identity providers using the listed protocols. Feature availability may depend on the selected edition and identity provider capabilities. | |
| Security & Policies | Pod Security Standards, Kyverno/Gatekeeper policies aligned with the latest CIS Kubernetes Benchmark | Custom PSPs (restricted) | |
| Monitoring and Logging | Prometheus, Grafana | Sysdig (non-KOTS, Helm/Argo CD), Datadog, New Relic, Dynatrace | |
| Volume Storage | Volume expansion (embedded cluster only): SSD ≥ 500 GB for var | NFS drivers (latency considerations) | |
| Networking | Flannel, AWS VPC CNI, AWS NLB and ALB, Azure Kubenet, Azure CNI, GKE Dataplane V2, OVN-Kubernetes (OpenShift) | Default CNIs for VMware Tanzu, Kubermatic, Rancher |
Important notes on the compatibility matrix
- “Supported” assumes standard, documented configurations.
- Version compatibility (for example Kubernetes or Istio versions) must align with the KNIME Business Hub release in use.
- Deviations from documented reference architectures may require Professional Services.
Kubernetes supported versions
KNIME Business Hub 1.18 supports the following versions of Kubernetes:
- 1.30
- 1.31
- 1.32
- 1.33
- 1.34
OpenShift and Kubernetes support
If you are deploying KNIME Business Hub on an OpenShift cluster, refer to the OpenShift-specific documentation for the corresponding supported Kubernetes versions.
Database requirements for KNIME Business Hub
If you want to create the database for KNIME Business Hub services yourself, consider the following hard requirements:
- The service account used to connect to the database must either be the owner of the database or have the
CONNECT,CREATE, andTEMPORARYpermissions on the respective database. - The
publicschema must exist and must be the default schema when connecting to the database. - The database must be empty. No schemas (other than
public), tables, or other database objects must be pre-created. KNIME Business Hub services create and manage all required objects automatically.
Compatibility specifics for installations with Replicated
Operating system support for kURL-based installs
- Supported: Ubuntu 22.04 / 24.04 LTS, RHEL 8.x / 9.x, Amazon Linux 2023
- Not supported: SUSE, CentOS
Limitations for Replicated/KOTS installs
- kURL installations are supported only for embedded Kubernetes cluster.
- KOTS installations on existing Kubernetes clusters are supported only for customers upgrading existing KNIME Business Hub installations that were originally deployed using Replicated/KOTS with versions earlier than 1.17.
- Fresh installations of KNIME Business Hub starting with version 1.17 or later are not supported on existing Kubernetes clusters using Replicated/KOTS.
- Single-node deployments are supported for:
- Air-gapped environments
- KNIME Business Hub Basic and Standard editions
- Multi-node deployments require a Professional Services engagement.
Official installation documentation
For authoritative, up-to-date installation instructions, refer to the official KNIME Business Hub installation guides:
- Argo CD (Helm-based) — The recommended approach for new on-premises installations. Deploys KNIME Business Hub on an existing Kubernetes cluster using Helm charts managed by Argo CD. Suitable for enterprise DevOps and GitOps environments.
- Install Business Hub on an Embedded Cluster (kURL-based)
- Install Business Hub on an Existing Cluster
- Install Business Hub on an Existing OpenShift Cluster