Prepare Infrastructure

PaletteAI appliance preparation follows one of two paths:

• Single node — You provision one physical appliance. After you install the edge image and complete the Palette TUI, open Local UI on that host only. You do not use Linked Edge Hosts or leader/follower linking in this topology.
• Three-node — You provision three appliances, designate one as the leader, and then use Local UI to link the follower hosts to the leader so the management cluster can form.

Both paths use the same ISO-based installation and Palette TUI steps. Use the Prerequisites and Complete the deployment sections for your topology.

Prerequisites

• Access to the PaletteAI ISO. Contact your Spectro Cloud representative to get access.

• Network connectivity to the devices that will be part of the PaletteAI management cluster and the ability to access Local UI.

Ensure the following network ports are accessible for PaletteAI.

Single node

• TCP/443 — Open on the appliance for user access to the PaletteAI management cluster.
• TCP/6443 — Outbound from the PaletteAI management cluster to the Kubernetes API server of each deployed cluster.
• TCP/6443 — Inbound from deployed clusters to the Kubernetes API server of the PaletteAI management cluster.
• TCP/30003 — Inbound to the Zot OCI registry for deployed clusters.

Three-node

• TCP/443 — Open between all PaletteAI nodes and inbound for user access to the PaletteAI management cluster.
• TCP/6443 — Outbound from the PaletteAI management cluster to the Kubernetes API server of each deployed cluster.
• TCP/6443 — Inbound from deployed clusters to the Kubernetes API server of the PaletteAI management cluster.
• TCP/30003 — Inbound to the Zot OCI registry for deployed clusters.

• SSH access must be available on every node used for PaletteAI installation.

• Relevant permissions to install PaletteAI on the nodes including permission to attach or mount an ISO and set nodes to boot from it.

• A web browser to access Local UI on port 5080.

Hardware and Addressing

Single node

• One device that will serve as the control plane node and meet the Hardware Requirements for single-node deployment in the Appliance Installation overview.

• At least one IP address for that node. You can configure this address during cluster creation in Local UI.

Three-node

• Three devices that will serve as control plane nodes, each meeting the Hardware Requirements in the Appliance Installation overview.

• At least three IP addresses for the nodes in the PaletteAI management cluster. You can configure these IP addresses during cluster creation in Local UI.

Install the PaletteAI Edge Image

Perform the following steps on each appliance in the deployment: once for single-node mode or three times for a three-node management cluster.

1. Download the PaletteAI ISO. Contact your Spectro Cloud representative if you do not have access to the ISO.

2. Load the PaletteAI ISO to a bootable device, such as a USB stick, or upload the ISO to a datastore in your VMware environment. You can use several software tools to create a bootable USB drive, such as balenaEtcher.

   • For VMware vSphere, you can upload the PaletteAI ISO to a datastore using the vSphere Client or the govc CLI tool. Refer to the vSphere or govc documentation for more information.
   • For bare metal, you can use tools like scp or rsync to transfer the PaletteAI ISO to the nodes, or use a USB drive to boot the nodes from the ISO.

   Ensure that the PaletteAI ISO is accessible to every node that will be part of the PaletteAI management cluster.

3. Attach the PaletteAI ISO to each node and ensure the boot order is set to boot from the PaletteAI ISO first.

   For example, in VMware vSphere, the VMs will have the PaletteAI ISO in CD/DVD drive 1. Refer to the documentation of your infrastructure provider for specific instructions on how to attach and boot from an ISO.

4. Restart the nodes to start the installation process.

5. Once the nodes have rebooted and entered the GRand Unified Bootloader (GRUB) menu, allow PaletteAI to select the Palette Edge Interactive Installer boot option automatically.

6. Once the Palette Edge Interactive Installer window appears, select the target disk for installation.

   warning

   With legacy BIOS, the firmware attempts to boot devices in the order listed in the BIOS screen. To boot from the installed OS, the disk selected during install should either be top of the list or the only bootable device present.

7. Choose the post-installation action: nothing, reboot, or poweroff, then press ENTER.

8. Review the Installation Summary.

9. Press ENTER to start the installation.

10. Wait for the installation process to complete. This may take 30 minutes or more, depending on the resources available on the nodes. If you selected the reboot option in step 7, the nodes will reboot and display the Palette TUI after completion. If you chose the poweroff action in step 7, power on the nodes.

11. In the Palette TUI, provide credentials for the initial account. This is used to log in to Local UI and for SSH access to the node. Press ENTER to continue.

12. In the Palette TUI, the available configuration options are displayed. These options are described in the following steps. Use the TAB key or the up and down arrow keys to switch between fields. When you make a change, press ENTER to apply the change. Use ESC to go back.

13. In Hostname, check the existing hostname and, optionally, change it to a new one.

14. In Network Adapter, select a network adapter to configure. By default, the network adapters request an IP automatically from the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server. The Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) block of an adapter's possible IP address is displayed in the Network Adapter screen without selecting an individual adapter.

    There are a few options you can configure for each network adapter:

    • You can change the IP addressing scheme of the adapter and choose static IP instead of DHCP. In Static IP mode, you need to provide a static IP address, subnet mask, and the address of the default gateway. Specifying a static IP removes the existing DHCP settings.
    • If desired, specify the VLAN ID. A VLAN ID enables you to logically segment network traffic on the same physical network interface, providing network isolation and enhanced traffic management. If you assign a VLAN ID, the host tags all outgoing packets from that adapter with the specified VLAN identifier.
    • You can also specify the Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) for your network adapter. The MTU defines the largest size, in bytes, of a packet that can be sent over a network interface without needing to be fragmented.

15. In DNS Configuration, specify the IP address of the primary and alternate name servers. You can optionally specify a search domain.

16. After you are satisfied with the configurations, navigate to Quit and press ENTER to finish the configuration. Press ENTER again on the confirmation prompt.

    After a few seconds, the terminal displays the Device Info and prompts you to provision the device through Local UI.

    tip

    If you need to access the Palette TUI again, issue the palette-tui command in the terminal.

17. Single node: When the only appliance shows Device Info, continue to Single node.

    Three-node: Repeat steps 1–16 on each of the other appliances until all three nodes have finished the Palette TUI and display Device Info. Then continue to Three-node.

Complete the deployment

Single node

Host linking is not used in single-node mode. You do not generate tokens or use Linked Edge Hosts to attach followers; the cluster is formed from the single appliance you already configured.

1. In your web browser, go to https://<node-ip>:5080. Replace <node-ip> with the IP address of the appliance. Log in using the credentials you set in step 11 of Install the PaletteAI Edge Image. If you changed the default console port, replace 5080 with the Local UI port. The Local UI address is also displayed on the node terminal.

   If you are accessing Local UI for the first time, a security warning may be displayed in your web browser. This is because Local UI uses a self-signed certificate. You can safely ignore this warning and proceed to Local UI.

   

2. (Optional) If you need to configure an HTTP proxy server for the node, complete the following steps. Otherwise, skip to Validate.

   1. From the left main menu, click Edge Host.

   2. On the Edge Host page, click the pencil icon next to HTTP Proxy.

   3. Supply the proxy server information.

   Field	Description
   HTTP Endpoint	The address of the HTTP proxy server. Used to route HTTP traffic through the proxy.
   HTTPS Endpoint	The address of the HTTPS proxy server. Used to route HTTPS traffic through the proxy.
   No Proxy	Addresses or domains that should bypass the proxy and connect directly. Useful for local or internal network resources.
   CA Certificates	CA certificates used to authenticate the proxy server. The certificates must be base64-encoded.

   4. Click Confirm.
   info

   Updating the HTTP proxy settings causes HTTP/HTTPS services on the Edge host to restart. You will not be able to access the console for a short duration.

Three-node

For three control plane nodes, one host acts as the leader and coordinates the others through Linked Edge Hosts. Refer to Link Hosts for more information.

1. Decide which host will be the leader. Use the Local UI of this node first to manage the group that forms the PaletteAI management cluster.

2. In your web browser, go to https://<node-ip>:5080. Replace <node-ip> with the IP address of the leader. Log in using the credentials you set in step 11 of Install the PaletteAI Edge Image. If you changed the default console port, replace 5080 with the Local UI port. The Local UI address is also displayed on the node terminal.

   If you are accessing Local UI for the first time, a security warning may be displayed in your web browser. This is because Local UI uses a self-signed certificate. You can safely ignore this warning and proceed to Local UI.

   

3. (Optional) If you need to configure an HTTP proxy server on the leader, complete the following steps. Repeat on other nodes from their own Local UI sessions if each appliance needs proxy settings.

   1. From the left main menu, click Edge Host.

   2. On the Edge Host page, click the pencil icon next to HTTP Proxy.

   3. Supply the proxy server information.

   Field	Description
   HTTP Endpoint	The address of the HTTP proxy server. Used to route HTTP traffic through the proxy.
   HTTPS Endpoint	The address of the HTTPS proxy server. Used to route HTTPS traffic through the proxy.
   No Proxy	Addresses or domains that should bypass the proxy and connect directly. Useful for local or internal network resources.
   CA Certificates	CA certificates used to authenticate the proxy server. The certificates must be base64-encoded.

   4. Click Confirm.
   info

   Updating the HTTP proxy settings causes HTTP/HTTPS services on the Edge host to restart. You will not be able to access the console for a short duration.

4. From the left main menu, click Linked Edge Hosts.

5. Click Generate token. Use this token to link the leader host to each follower host. The token includes the host IP address and a Base64-encoded OTP that expires after two minutes. When the token expires, the leader generates a new token automatically.

6. Click the Copy button to copy the leader's token.

   

7. Log in to Local UI on a host that you want to link to the leader host.

8. From the left main menu, click Linked Edge Hosts.

9. Click Link this device to another.

   

10. In the pop-up box that appears, paste the token you copied from the leader host.

11. Click Confirm.

12. Repeat steps 7–11 for every remaining host you want to link to the leader host.

13. Confirm that all linked hosts appear in the Linked Edge Hosts table on the leader. The following columns should show the required statuses.

    Column	Status
    Status	Ready
    Content	Synced
    Health	Healthy

    Content synchronization takes at least five minutes to complete, depending on your network resources.

Validate

Single node

1. Log in to Local UI on the appliance.

2. Confirm Local UI is available and you can use Edge Host and other menus as needed. You do not need to verify Linked Edge Hosts—that flow applies only when multiple edge hosts are linked to a leader.

Three-node

1. Log in to Local UI on the leader host.

2. Open the Linked Edge Hosts page and confirm all edge nodes are linked to the leader. Verify that each node is listed with a Ready status, Synced content, and a Healthy health status.

Next Steps

After you prepare the infrastructure, create a cluster and install PaletteAI. For single-node deployments, use Local UI on the same host when the deployment guide refers to logging in to the leader.