RMU build Gen-1.5: I. Prerequisites

This page is part of the RMU build Gen-1.5 runbook.

Verification with DFINITY Foundation

• DFINITY must do some bridge updating prior to this starting. We will also verify a few details. Please contact them at least a week prior to your planned start date.

Determine Networking Information

You need to know:

• Your 1G (Management Uplink) IP information (from your network provider):
  • Usable customer address range and Network Mask
  • Gateway for the customer address range

This will be needed for DNS Records.

You must:

• Allocate one of your available IP addresses (External IP) from your usable customer address range to assign to the RMU.
• It would be advantageous to the IC if you have the first two nodes in each DC redeployed with IPv4 prior to executing this runbook.

Hardware requirements

This runbook uses the hardware that most Gen-1 sites already have, in particular, the Supermicro Skylake RMU which will be repurposed as part of these directions.

• You will need to purchase a USB Console Cable such as one of these. Purchase one according to whatever laptop you intend to use and bring into the data center:
  • USB-C for use with a Mac or a Windows laptop having a USB-C jack: Amazon example
  • USB-A for Windows laptops that do not have a USB-C jack: Amazon example
• For sites that do NOT already have a Supermicro Skylake RMU (some of the earliest had an Intel NUC instead), please contact DFINITY for recommendations for your situation.

Domain Name

You will need an Internet Domain that you have access to in order to add the required A records. This will be referred to as <domain> in the commands and examples in the rest of the document.

If you have multiple data centers, we recommend prepending your site code (<dc>) to your root domain name. E.g. xx1.domain.com

We will be adding 2 records (with optional dc):

1. A - teleport.<dc>.<domain> with External IP
2. A - *.teleport.<dc>.<domain> with External IP

These records will allow you to access your RMU and hosted services remotely and securely.

Data Center Resources

Smart Hands or a technicial who will travel to the data center

Crash Cart with a VGA adapter (for SuperMicro) or HDMI (for NUC)

USB Drive

You will need one high-speed USB drive.

Download Proxmox VE’s latest release ISO installer from https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads (currently v8.1.x) and flash to a USB stick.

1. Download balenaEtcher
   
2. Insert USB drive and open balenaEtcher
   
3. Select Flash from file and then select the downloaded Proxmox ISO NOTE: The screen might look different based on your operating system
   
4. Ensure that your USB drive is ticked and then click Select
   
5. Select Flash!
   
6. It will flash the image onto the USB drive
   
7. You are done!
   

Continue to A. Install Proxmox

Go to the index of the Gen-1.5 RMU build runbook.