# Calico on Red Hat OpenShift 5: One Network and Security Model for Containers, VMs and AI > Source: > Published: 2026-11-09 18:52:22+00:00 We’re pleased to announce that Calico is supported on Red Hat OpenShift 5, the latest version of the industry’s leading hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes. Tested and validated to run on Red Hat OpenShift 5, Calico delivers high-performance networking and zero-trust network policy for containers, virtual machines on Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, and AI workloads, with one consistent policy model across the cluster. ## Built on a long-standing collaboration Calico has been a supported networking option for Red Hat OpenShift since OpenShift 4, and the Tigera Operator is listed in the [Red Hat Ecosystem Catalog](https://catalog.redhat.com/en/software/containers/tigera/operator/5e741d5cac3db903708a77d1). Red Hat OpenShift customers can install Calico through the Tigera Operator on a new cluster, or move existing clusters from OVN-Kubernetes to Calico using Tigera’s documented [migration path](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/getting-started/kubernetes/openshift/ovn-to-calico). ## What Calico brings to Red Hat OpenShift 5 - **High-performance networking, your choice of data plane.** Calico runs on eBPF, iptables or nftables, so teams can match performance and operational needs cluster by cluster. - **Zero-trust network policy.** Calico enforces Kubernetes NetworkPolicy and extends it with Calico’s own policy model, including cluster-wide rules, so default-deny and microsegmentation apply consistently. - **Policy you can test before you enforce it** . Staged policies show the effect of a rule on live traffic before it blocks anything. - **Stable networking for VMs.** Calico IPAM keeps VM IP addresses through KubeVirt live migration on Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, and BGP advertises them straight into the data center network. - **Built-in flow visibility.** Calico Whisker shows live flows and which policy allowed or denied each one, making connectivity issues quick to trace. ## About Red Hat OpenShift 5 Red Hat OpenShift 5 streamlines complex operations across IT environments and accelerates next-generation workloads, spanning AI, virtual machines and containerized workloads. With integrated operational intelligence capabilities, Red Hat OpenShift 5 offers interactive, agentic troubleshooting and automated update risk assessments. Additionally, the platform introduces zero-trust security guardrails with post-quantum control plane cryptography and hardened multi-tenancy. This full-stack approach to intelligence and security, across containers, Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization, and AI workloads, empowers organizations with a flexible, scalable platform to help lower operational costs and enhance compliance. “Red Hat OpenShift 5 evolves the application platform to offer built-in intelligence that streamlines day-to-day operations while delivering the strict multi-tenancy and sovereignty protections modern organizations require. We are pleased to work with Tigera to certify and deliver trusted solutions running on Red Hat OpenShift 5, helping organizations transform their hybrid cloud operations and scale into the AI-driven future.” — Mike Barrett, vice president and general manager, Hybrid Cloud Platforms, Red Hat ## Going further with Calico Enterprise For organizations that need more, Calico Enterprise builds on Calico Open Source with policy tiers and recommendations, Service Graph, flow and DNS logs, L7 visibility, and egress gateways. For teams migrating virtual machines to Kubernetes, layer 2 bridging extends existing VLANs into the cluster, so VMs can migrate to Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization without a network redesign. ## Better together Red Hat OpenShift 5 introduces zero-trust security guardrails at the platform level; Calico extends that posture to every workload-to-workload connection on it. Together they give security and platform teams one place to define, verify and audit how containers, VMs and AI services communicate across hybrid clouds. “Red Hat OpenShift customers are consolidating containers, virtual machines and AI workloads onto one platform. Calico gives them one network and one security model to match, so teams can bring VMs and AI services onto Red Hat OpenShift with a consistent approach to networking and security.” — Phil DiCorpo, senior director of product management, Tigera ## Get started Calico is supported on Red Hat OpenShift 5 today. [Read the OpenShift installation guide](https://docs.tigera.io/calico/latest/getting-started/kubernetes/openshift/), or [talk to our team](https://www.tigera.io/contact/) about Calico for VM migration and advanced observability. **About Tigera** Tigera secures AI agents on any Kubernetes platform, from the kernel with eBPF. With Tigera Lynx, enterprises run AI agents in production and stay in control: Lynx discovers every agent, governs every call, contains any agent that steps out of line, and keeps a record of what each one did. Tigera created Project Calico, which secures more than 8 million Kubernetes nodes every day, and the commercial Calico platform is trusted by Global 2000 enterprises including NVIDIA, Royal Bank of Canada, Chipotle, Bloomberg, and GoDaddy. Learn more at [www.tigera.io](https://www.tigera.io/). *Red Hat, OpenShift and the Red Hat logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, LLC or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries.*