Connect and configure Edge Appliance

You need the login details for the appliance to connect to it. The Transfer Appliance Team provides the appliance login details once you have validated your appliance.

Configure your IP address

Edge Appliance is configured to use DHCP by default. You can configure your appliance to use a static IP instead.

To use a static IP:

  1. Connect the appliance's port 3 to your laptop.

  2. SSH into the appliance using the IP address 169.254.20.1.

  3. Enter the username and password provided to you by the Transfer Appliance Team.

  4. Provide the static IP and gateway details to the ta config command:

    ta config --ip=STATIC_IP --data_port="RJ45" --gw=GATEWAY_IP

Once you've configured your IP address:

  1. Terminate this session.
  2. Disconnect the ethernet cable from port 3.
  3. Connect to port 1 to the network and SSH into the appliance using the IP you assigned.

Connect to Edge Appliance

  1. Connect the appliance to your network. Connect an ethernet cable between the left-most port 1 on the appliance, and an open RJ45 port that's connected to your network.

  2. Connect to the appliance:

    Windows

    1. Open Putty.
    2. For Connection type, select SSH.
    3. In the Host Name field, enter: 169.254.20.1
    4. For Connection type, verify that SSH is selected.
    5. Click Open.
    6. Enter the username and password provided by the Transfer Appliance Team when prompted.

    Linux

    1. Run the following command: 
      ssh USERNAME@169.254.20.1
      Replace USERNAME with the username provided by Transfer Appliance Team.
    2. Enter the Edge Appliance password when prompted.

    Mac

    1. Run the following command: 
      ssh USERNAME@169.254.20.1
      Replace USERNAME with the username provided by Transfer Appliance Team.
    2. Enter the Edge Appliance password when prompted.

Configure appliance software

Before you transfer data to Edge Appliance you must verify the status of the appliance, and configure the software on the appliance to work on your network.

To configure the appliance's software, follow these steps on the appliance.

  1. Run ta status.

    The response looks like the following example:

    You are ready to configure the appliance.

Next steps:
» Configure the appliance using one of the following commands:
  > ta config --data_port=RJ45 --ip=dhcp

» To set a static IP address and netmask, use the '--ip' flag. For example:
  > ta config --data_port=RJ45 --ip=192.168.0.100/24

» To set a static IP address and gateway, use the '--ip' and '--gw' flags. For example:
  > ta config --data_port=RJ45 --ip=192.168.0.100/24 --gw=192.168.0.1

  2. Run the appropriate ta config command for your network configuration. For example, if you're using DHCP, run:

    ta config --data_port=RJ45 --ip=dhcp

    The following response is returned:

    Configuring, encrypting, and mounting data partition...
Verified partition settings for "/mnt/ta_metadata".
Partition key generated and encrypted.
Verifying partition settings and mounting data partition.
This may take several minutes to finish...
Mounted partition "/mnt/ta_data_base".
Verified partition settings for "/mnt/ta_data_base".
Data partition is mounted.
Network is configured.
Configured NFS share "/mnt/ta_data".
Configured NFS share "/mnt/ta_local".
NFS share for paths [/mnt/ta_data /mnt/ta_local] are configured.

Appliance has been successfully configured. You can begin copying data.

Use these commands to mount the NFS share from your client:
> sudo mkdir /mnt/data
> sudo mount 192.168.0.100:/mnt/ta_data /mnt/data

Move service account keys onto the appliance

The steps to configure your Google Cloud project created two service account keys: key.json and register_key.json.

Transfer both keys onto your Edge Appliance. You can either copy the files, or copy and paste the contents into new files on the appliance. The keys must end up in the following locations:

/tmp/key.json
/tmp/register_key.json

Create the Anthos Bare Metal cluster

From your SSH session, run the following commands to create your project's Anthos cluster.

export CLUSTER_NAME=YOUR_CLUSTER_NAME

# Create the Anthos Bare Metal cluster
cd ~
ta cluster create --cluster=$CLUSTER_NAME

The following two fatal errors are returned; they're expected and don't affect successful creation of the cluster:

  • check_disks_pass
  • vip_test

Cluster creation may take approximately 20 minutes to complete.

Enable online data transfer

You can optionally enable online data transfer. When online data transfer is enabled, data copied to the appliance is streamed to your Cloud Storage bucket. After the data is uploaded to your Cloud Storage bucket, the data is removed from the appliance. Online transfer requires outbound internet access.

ta online

Install drivers

If your appliance is a GPU appliance, you must install the Nvidia drivers. Your appliance must be connected to the internet to be able to download the drivers. Once connected, run the following command:

ta gpu_drivers install