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Prepare Infrastructure

The prepared infrastructure guide covers preparing the user-data ISO creation, accessing Local UI, and linking the Edge nodes to the leader node. Follow the guide sequentially by reviewing each subsection to ensure a successful preparation of the infrastructure. The three sub-sections are:

  1. User-Data Preparation
  2. Boot Up and Access Local UI
  3. Link Edge Nodes to Leader Node

User-Data Preparation​

The user data contains the configuration for the Edge nodes. The user data is the instruction set for setting up the devices or machines that will be part of the Palette management cluster.

Follow these steps to prepare the user-data ISO. Skip to step 5 if your nodes only support a single removable media connection.

Prerequisites​

  • Access to the PaletteAI ISO. Reach out to your Spectro Cloud representative to get access.
  • mkisofs installed or similar utility to create the ISO.
  • At least 300 GB of free space to download the PaletteAI ISO.

Create User Data​

  1. Create a new file called user-data.yaml. Use the following command to create the file.
cat > user-data.yaml << 'EOF'
#cloud-config
install:
  reboot: true
  poweroff: false
  device: auto
  grub_options:
    extra_cmdline: "fips=1 selinux=0"
  bind_mounts:
  - /etc/lvm
  - /var/lib/drbd
  - /var/lib/linstor.d
  - /var/lib/piraeus-datastore
  - /var/lib/calico

stylus:
  debug: false
  trace: false
  installationMode: airgap
  skipStylusUpgrade: true
  includeTui: true

stages:
  after-reset:
      - commands:
          - |
            sudo lvchange -an drbd-vg
            sudo lvremove -f drbd-vg
            sudo vgremove drbd-vg
        if: "vgs drbd-vg >/dev/null 2>&1"
        name: Wipe and prepare secondary SSD for CSI...
  kairos-install.pre.after:
      - commands:
          - |
            sudo lvchange -an drbd-vg
            sudo lvremove -f drbd-vg
            sudo vgremove drbd-vg
        if: "vgs drbd-vg >/dev/null 2>&1"
        name: Wipe and prepare secondary SSD for CSI...
EOF

Update the device value to the drive to use for the Palette ISO stack, such as /dev/sda. Auto selects the largest available drive, which may not be the desired behavior, especially in multi-drive environments. If you want the appliance to power off after installation, set install.poweroff to true. If you want to customize the Palette agent, check out the Edge Installer Configuration Reference page.

  1. Create an empty file called meta-data.

    touch meta-data

  2. Create the user-data ISO using the following command.

    mkisofs -output user-data.iso -volid cidata -joliet -rock user-data meta-data

  3. Load the user-data 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 Palette Enterprise 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 Palette Enterprise ISO to the nodes, or use a USB drive to boot the nodes from the ISO. For Machine as a Service (MAAS), you can upload and deploy ISOs using Packer. Refer to the MAAS documentation for more information.

    Ensure that the user-data ISO is accessible to all nodes that will be part of the Palette management cluster.

  4. Upload the PaletteAI ISO to your infrastructure provider. This can be done using the web interface of your infrastructure provider or using command-line tools. Ensure that the PaletteAI ISO is accessible to all nodes that will be part of the Palette management cluster.

This concludes the user-data preparation. The next step is to prepare for booting up the nodes from the ISO and accessing the Local UI.

Validation​

  1. Validate both the user-data ISO and the PaletteAI ISO uploaded to your infrastructure provider. If you created an ISO using physical media, validate that the PaletteAI ISO is bootable.

  2. Verify the user-data settings are correct. More importantly, verify the install.device value is correct and matches the drive you want to use for the Palette ISO stack. Typically, this is /dev/sda.

Boot Up and Access Local UI​

The next set of steps assumes that you have completed the User Data Preparation section and that each node meets the Hardware Requirements specified in the Overview and Prerequisites section.

Prerequisites​

  • Completed the User-data Preparation section.

  • At least six devices or machines available that meet the Hardware Requirements specified in the overview and prerequisites section.

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

  • At least six IP addresses available for the nodes that will be part of the Palette management cluster. You can configure these IP addresses during the cluster creation steps in Local UI.

  • A Web Browser to access the Local UI on port 5080.

Boot Up​

  1. Attach the PaletteAI ISO and the user-data ISO to the nodes and ensure the boot order is set to boot from the PaletteAI ISO first.

    warning

    If your nodes only support a single removable media connection, attach the PaletteAI ISO only.

    For example, in VMware vSphere, the VMs will have the PaletteAI ISO in CD/DVD drive one and the user-data ISO in CD/DVD drive 2. Refer to the documentation of your infrastructure provider for specific instructions on how to attach and boot from multiple ISOs.

  2. Power on the nodes, if they are not already powered on. The boot-up process may take up to 30 minutes or more. If you used the configuration above, the nodes will restart automatically once the Palette agent is installed.

    Boot Up

    As mentioned earlier, this process may take up to 30 minutes or more. If you review the image above, the nodes are still booting up and copying content to the disk.

  3. Wait for each node to display the Terminal User Interface (TUI). The TUI will allow you to configure a system user, password, and network. The password is used to access the Local UI. 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. Check out the Initial Edge Host Configuration with Palette TUI page to learn more about the TUI

  4. Upon completion of reviewing the TUI options, navigate to the Exit option in the TUI's left Main Menu. Press Enter to exit the TUI. Wait for the edge host to become ready and display the device information box. The device information will contain the IP address and port for the Local UI. Refer to the image below for an example.

    Edge Host Ready

  5. Open a web browser and navigate to the Local UI on port 5080 and the IP address of the edge host. Log in with the system user and password configured in the TUI.

    Local UI

  6. Repeat this process for each edge host.

    info

    Network proxy is configured in Local UI. In the next section, Link Edge Nodes to Leader Node, you can use that opportunity to configure the network proxy for the edge nodes.

This concludes the boot up and access Local UI. The next step is to link the edge nodes to the leader node.

The next set of steps assumes you have completed the Boot Up and Access Local UI section and that each node meets the Hardware Requirements specified in the overview and prerequisites section.

Prerequisites​

  • Completed the Boot Up and Access Local UI section.

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

  • A Web Browser to access the Local UI on port 5080.

  1. Pick one of the edge nodes and navigate to the Local UI. Use the IP address of the edge node and port 5080 to access the Local UI. For example, if the IP address of the edge node is 10.10.10.10, the Local UI will be accessible at https://10.10.10.10:5080.

  2. From the left main Menu, click Linked Edge Hosts.

  3. Click Generate token. The host begins generating tokens that you will use to link this host with other hosts. The Base64 encoded token contains the IP address of the host, as well as a One-Time Password (OTP) that will expire in two minutes. Once a token expires, the leader generates another token automatically.

  4. Click the Copy button to copy the token.

    Generate Token

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

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

  7. Click Link this device to another.

    Link Host

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

  9. Click Confirm.

  10. Repeat steps 5-9 for every host you want to link to the leader host.

  11. If you are using a network proxy, take a moment to configure the network proxy for the edge nodes. You can configure the network proxy for edge nodes on the overview page of the Local UI. Click on the Proxy section's edit icon to configure the network proxy.

  12. Click Confirm to save the network proxy configuration.

Validation​

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

  2. Verify all the edge nodes are linked to the leader node. Navigate to the Linked Edge Hosts page and verify all the edge nodes are listed.

Next Steps​

At this point, your infrastructure is prepared, and you may begin the configuration of the Helm chart values. Proceed to the Prepare Helm Chart Values section.