OCP Planning · Research date 2026-07-21 · Public sources, adversarially verified
Working backwards from hardware arrival on April 1, 2027: what must land when — across NVIDIA's ship schedule, the driver/GPU Operator/certification pipeline, and the OpenShift release calendar. Switch the enablement scenario to see how the certified-support date moves. Click any mark for detail and its source.
Three ways the enablement pipeline can play out, from verified historical lag data (Hopper 2022–23, Blackwell 2024–25) and Red Hat's pledged Day-0 target for Rubin.
| Scenario | Precedent | Certified on OpenShift by | Margin vs Apr 1, 2027 | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day-0 pledge holds | Pledged (CES Jan 5, 2026) — never yet executed end-to-end | Rubin GA, fall 2026 | ~4–7 months ahead | ✓ Comfortable |
| Blackwell-style lag | ~5–6 months ship → certified (2024–25) | Q1–Q2 2027 | ≈ 0 — lands at arrival | ⚠Tight |
| Hopper-style lag | ~14 months ship → certified (2022–23) | Q4 2027 or later | 6+ months late | ✕ Hardware waits on Day-0 / Tech-Preview support |
True software-GA dates from errata/lifecycle API — not marketing-blog dates. New-GPU support lands via GPU Operator + z-stream, so it does not require a new OCP minor.
| Version | GA | Full support ends | Maintenance ends | EUS ends | RHEL base | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.18 (EUS) | 2025-02-25 | 2025-09-17 | 2026-08-25 | 2028-02-25 | 9.4 | |
| 4.19 | 2025-06-17 | 2026-01-21 | 2026-12-17 | — | 9.6 | |
| 4.20 (EUS) | 2025-10-21 | 2026-05-03 | 2027-04-21 | 2028-10-21 | 9.6 | Maintenance ends 20 days after hardware arrival |
| 4.21 | 2026-02-03 | 2026-09-09 | 2027-08-03 | — | 9.6 | |
| 4.22 (EUS) | 2026-06-09 | 2026-12-31 | 2027-12-31 | 2029-06-30 | 9.8 | Primary path |
| OpenShift 5 | intent: end 2026 – early 2027 | non-binding roadmap preview (article 7134648) · dual RHCOS 9/10 base · in-place upgrade from 4.x promised | 9 & 10 | Contingency path | ||
None of this is public — it has to come from NVIDIA, Red Hat, and the rack OEM. Check items off as answers come back; the timeline's assumptions get replaced by committed dates.
Built from public sources researched and adversarially verified on 2026-07-21 (13-agent research workflow). Items marked assumption are extrapolations from Hopper/Blackwell precedent, not vendor statements. Hardware-arrival date of 2027-04-01 supplied by the planning team.