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Prepare User Data and Argument Files

The EdgeForge process requires two configuration files. The .arg file and the user-data file. Each is responsible for a different aspect of the EdgeForge process. The .arg file configures the build process itself as well as its output, while the user-data file configures the Edge installer ISO. The following table briefly summarizes the differences between the two files.

Aspect.arg Fileuser-data File
PurposeConfigures the build process of the Edge Installer ISO and provider images.Configures the installation and the immediate post-installation environment of the Edge host.
When It's AppliedDuring Edge artifact generation (before deployment).During actual Edge host installation (after ISO boot).
FormatKey-value pairs.YAML in cloud-init format
Main ContentsImage architecture, OS/K8s versions, image registry information, secure boot settings, etc.Site information, proxy settings, network interfaces, cloud-init stages, tags, registration tokens.
FocusArtifact generation and packaging.System initialization and registration.
ControlsWhat gets built and how. For example, FIPS, SELinux, installer ISO name.How the Edge host behaves post-install. For example, network config, certs, power off behavior.

Since the .arg file controls the build process, you must ensure you provide the correct settings during build. If you provide the wrong arguments or miss any arguments, you will need to restart the build process to make changes. With user-data, you have an additional opportunity to provide site-specific configuration during site deployment. This can replace, supplement, or override the installer configuration you provide to the installer ISO. For more information, refer to Apply Site User Data.

After installation, you can also use Local UI to make edits to the user data file before you create a cluster. Refer to Edit User Data for more information.

This article guides you through several important parameters in the .arg file and configuration blocks in the user-data file. However, you can use many additional parameters to further customize your installation. Review the Edge Artifact Build Configurations and Installer Reference resource to learn more about all the supported configuration parameters you can use in the configuration user data.

tech preview

The Appliance Studio is a Tech Preview feature and is subject to change. For production workloads, create the .arg and user-data files manually.

Limitations​

  • Appliance Studio validates the schema of your .arg file and user-data, but it does not validate the value in each individual fields. Ensure that you input a valid value for each field to avoid creating invalid .arg and user-data files.

  • The install.extra-dirs-rootfs parameter is not available in Appliance Studio. If you need to use this parameter, you need to either create the file manually, or add the parameter manually after downloading the user-data file from Appliance Studio.

Prerequisites​

  • Git. You can ensure git installation by issuing the git --version command.

Procedure​

  1. Clone the CanvOS repository.

     git clone https://github.com/spectrocloud/CanvOS.git

    From the CanvOS directory, copy the user-data.template file and name the copy user-data. This is a template that you can use as a starting point to build your own user data file.

  2. View the available git tag.

    git tag

  3. Check out the latest available tag. This guide uses the tag v4.6.21 as an example.

    git checkout v4.6.21

Prepare .arg File​

  1. Specify the system architecture and OS distribution and version. These configurations will apply to both the OS of your Edge host before and after cluster formation.

  2. Specify the Kubernetes distribution and version. The Kubernetes distribution is used together with the OS distribution and version to create an immutable provider image that has your specified OS and Kubernetes.

    If you want to build multiple versions of a provider image with different Kubernetes versions, use the k8s_version.json file in the repository. You must leave the K8s_VERSION empty if you want to use the JSON file because it is only used when K8s_VERSION is not detected as an argument.

  3. Specify the image registry, image repository name, and image tag that will be used to tag your provider images. The custom tag, together with the Palette agent version (the same number as the Git tag you are using), the version and distribution of Kubernetes and the OS used by the image forms the tag of the image.

    For example, if your .arg file contains the following arguments, the full image reference would be ttl.sh/ubuntu:k3s-1.32.1-v4.6.21-demo.

    IMAGE_REGISTRY=ttl.sh
    IMAGE_REPO=ubuntu
    CUSTOM_TAG=demo
    K8S_DISTRIBUTION=k3s
    K8s_VERSION=1.31.7
    OS_DISTRIBUTION=ubuntu
    OS_VERSION=22

  4. (Optional) If your build machine isn't in a restricted network environment, or your build process does not require access to a proxy server, skip this step.

    You can use HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY to specify the URLs of the proxy servers to be used for your build.

  5. Refer to Edge Artifact Build Configurations for a comprehensive list of arguments you can use to customize the build.

Prepare User Data​

  1. Decide whether you want to deploy an Edge host that is managed locally or centrally by Palette. The default configuration is a centrally management Edge host. If you want to deploy an Edge host that is not connected to a Palette instance, you need to change the management mode to local. Add the managementMode parameter to under the stylus parameter.

    #cloud-config
    stylus:
      managementMode: local

    Edge hosts installed in local management mode require you to provide assets needed to provision clusters. For more information about the deployment lifecycle of locally managed Edge hosts, refer to Edge Deployment Lifecycle.

  2. If you want to deploy a locally managed Edge host, skip this step.

    If you want to deploy the Edge host in central management mode, you need to provide the Palette endpoint, in addition to either a registration token or QR code registration configuration. For more information about Edge host registration, refer to Edge Host Registration. For example, the following configuration provides the default Palette endpoint, a registration token, an a project name.

    #cloud-config
    stylus:
      site:
        # The Palette API endpoint to use. The default value is api.spectrocloud.com.
        paletteEndpoint: api.spectrocloud.com

        # The edgeHostToken is an auto-registration token to register the Edge host with Palette upon bootup.
        # This token can be generated by navigating to the Tenant Settings -> Registration Token.
        # Specify a name and select the project id with which the Edge host should register itself.
        edgeHostToken: aUAxxxxxxxxx0ChYCrO

        # The Palette project ID the Edge host should pair with. This is an optional field if an edgeHostToken is used and the token was assigned to a project.
        projectUid: 12345677788

Configure Cloud Init Stages (Optional)​

  1. Cloud-init stages allow you to configure your Edge host declaratively. For more information about cloud-init stages, refer to Cloud-init Stages.

    To configure clout-init stages for your Edge host, use the stages block. For example, the following configuration installs Amazon Systems Manager agent on your Edge host during the after-install-chroot stage.

    #cloud-config
    stages:
      after-install-chroot:
        - name: "Install SSM"
          commands:
            - snap install amazon-ssm-agent --classic
    tip

    You can also use the Operating System (OS) pack to apply additional customization using cloud-init stages. Both the Edge Installer configuration file and the OS pack support the usage of cloud-init stages. Refer to the Cloud-Init Stages to learn more.

Configure Users​

  1. If you would like to have SSH access to your Edge host, you must configure Operating System (OS) users on your Edge host. You can do this using the stages.initramfs.users block. Replace USERNAME with the name of your user and replace the value of the password with your password. You can also add the user to user groups, or add SSH keys to the list of authorized keys for that user.

    #cloud-config
    stages:
      initramfs:
        - users:
            USERNAME:
              passwd: ******
              groups:
                - sudo
              ssh_authorized_keys:
                - ssh-rsa AAAAB3N…
          name: Create user and assign SSH key

Configure Proxy Settings (Optional)​

  1. Optionally, you can configure HTTP/HTTPS proxy settings for your Edge host. This instructs the Edge host OS as well as the Palette agent to use the proxy server for outbound communications. Use the parameters from the table below to configure proxy settings for your Edge host.

    These settings are different from the proxy settings you provide to the .arg file. The settings in the .arg file apply to the builder machine during the build process, while the settings in user-data apply to the Edge host after installation.

    ParameterDescription
    siteNetwork.httpProxyThe URL of the HTTP proxy endpoint.
    siteNetwork.httpsProxyThe URL of the HTTPS proxy endpoint.
    siteNetwork.noProxyThe list of IP addresses or CIDR ranges to exclude routing through the network proxy.
    warning

    The proxy settings in user data configure Palette services to use the proxy network. However, these settings do not automatically apply to application workloads. To configure applications to use the proxy configurations, refer to Configure Applications to Use Proxy Server.

Configure Post-Installation Behavior (Optional)​

  1. You can use some parameters of the install block to configure what you'd like the Edge host to do after installation is complete. The default behavior for the Edge host is to stay on the "Installation Complete" screen, but you can configure it to power off or restart automatically. For example, the following configuration instructs the Edge host to power off automatically post-installation.

    #cloud-config
    install:
      poweroff: true
    warning

    If your want your Edge host to restart automatically, ensure that you remove the installation disk after the installation is complete and before the restart happens. Otherwise, the Edge host might start the installation process again.

Validate​

You can use the +validate-user-data build target of EdgeForge to validate that your user data follows the expected schema. You need to perform this action on an AMD64 (also known as x86_64) machine.

From the CanvOS directory, issue the following command to validate your user data.

sudo ./earthly.sh +validate-user-data
+validate-user-data | time=*2024-07-25T20:19:172* level=info msg="Validation successful"

Full .arg Samples​

The following are full examples of .arg files for various use cases. Use these examples as a starting point to help you create .arg files that fit your needs.

Trusted Boot​

Trusted Boot is a security feature that ensures the authenticity of the boot processes that are allowed to operate on your Edge device. To enable the feature, you must provide related arguments during the EdgeForge build process.

IMAGE_REGISTRY=ttl.sh
OS_DISTRIBUTION=Ubuntu
OS_VERSION=22
IMAGE_REPO=ubuntu-secure
CUSTOM_TAG=trusted-boot
K8S_DISTRIBUTION=rke2
ARCH=amd64
UPDATE_KERNEL=false
IS_UKI=true

The .arg file specifies IS_UKI to be true which tells the EdgeForge to build a Unified Kernel Image (UKI) required for Trusted Boot. In addition, it also specifies the OS version and distribution, as well as the Kubernetes version.

Two-Node Mode​

Palette Edge allows you to provision highly available clusters with two control plane nodes. Since the implementation replaces etcd with Postgres, this alters the Kubernetes layer and requires a different provider image to be built than for regular etcd-backed clusters. Therefore, you must specify TWO_NODE=true during the EdgeForge process in your .arg file.

IMAGE_REGISTRY=ttl.sh
OS_DISTRIBUTION=Ubuntu
OS_VERSION=22
IMAGE_REPO=ubuntu
CUSTOM_TAG=two-node
K8S_DISTRIBUTION=k3s
ARCH=amd64
HTTPS_PROXY=10.10.155.162
HTTP_PROXY=
PROXY_CERT_PATH=/etc/certs/proxy-cert
UPDATE_KERNEL=false

In addition, this .arg file specifies an HTTPS proxy server, which means that the build process will communicate with the proxy server to gain access to the internet. This does not affect the finished artifacts that are built.

Full User Data Samples​

The following are full examples of user data files for various use cases. Use these examples as a starting point to help you create user data configurations that fit your needs.

Centrally Managed Sites - Multiple User Data Configuration​

In this example, two configuration user data files are used. The first one is used in the staging phase and is included with the Edge Installer image. Note how the first user data contains the registration information and creates a user group. A bootable USB stick applies the second user data at the physical site. The secondary user data includes network configurations specific to the edge location.

Staging - included with the Edge Installer.

#cloud-config
stylus:
  site:
    paletteEndpoint: api.spectrocloud.com
    edgeHostToken: <yourRegistrationToken>
    tags:
      city: chicago
      building: building-1

install:
  poweroff: true

stages:
  initramfs:
    - users:
        kairos:
          groups:
            - sudo
          passwd: kairos
      name: Create user and assign to sudo group

Site - supplied at the edge location through a bootable USB drive. If specified, the projectName value overrides project information specified in the edgeHostToken parameter. You can add optional tags to identify the city, building, and zip-code. If the edge site requires a proxy for an outbound connection, provide it in the network section of the site user data.

#cloud-config
stylus:
  site:
    projectName: edge-sites
    tags:
      zip-code: 95135

Centrally Managed Sites - Single User Data​

This example configuration is for a centrally managed site. In this scenario, only a single Edge Installer configuration user data is used for the entire deployment process.

#cloud-config
stylus:
  site:
    paletteEndpoint: api.spectrocloud.com
    edgeHostToken: <yourRegistrationToken>
    projectName: edge-sites
    tags:
      city: chicago
      building: building-1
      zip-code: 95135

install:
  poweroff: true

stages:
  initramfs:
    - users:
        kairos:
          groups:
            - sudo
          passwd: kairos
      name: Create user and assign to sudo group

Apply Proxy & Certificate Settings​

This example showcases how you can include network settings in a user data configuration.

#cloud-config
stylus:
  site:
    paletteEndpoint: api.spectrocloud.com
    edgeHostToken: <yourRegistrationToken>
    projectName: edge-sites
    tags:
      city: chicago
      building: building-1
      zip-code: 95135
    network:
      httpProxy: http://proxy.example.com
      httpsProxy: https://proxy.example.com
      noProxy: 10.10.128.10,10.0.0.0/8
      nameserver: 1.1.1.1
      # configure interface specific info. If omitted all interfaces will default to dhcp
      interfaces:
        enp0s3:
          # type of network dhcp or static
          type: static
          # Ip address including the mask bits
          ipAddress: 10.0.10.25/24
          # Gateway for the static ip.
          gateway: 10.0.10.1
          # interface specific nameserver
          nameserver: 10.10.128.8
        enp0s4:
          type: dhcp
    caCerts:
      - |
        ------BEGIN CERTIFICATE------
        *****************************
        *****************************
        ------END CERTIFICATE------
      - |
        ------BEGIN CERTIFICATE------
        *****************************
        *****************************
        ------END CERTIFICATE------

install:
  poweroff: true

stages:
  initramfs:
    - users:
        kairos:
          groups:
            - sudo
          passwd: kairos
      name: Create user and assign to sudo group

Load Content From External Registry​

In this example, content is downloaded from an external registry.

#cloud-config
stylus:
  registryCredentials:
    domain: 10.10.254.254:8000/spectro-images
    username: ubuntu
    password: <yourPassword>
    insecure: true
  site:
    debug: true
    insecureSkipVerify: false
    paletteEndpoint: api.console.spectrocloud.com
    name: edge-appliance-1
    caCerts:
      - |
        -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----

        -----END CERTIFICATE-----

install:
  poweroff: false

stages:
  initramfs:
    - users:
        kairos:
          groups:
            - sudo
          passwd: kairos
      name: Create user and assign to sudo group

Create Bind Mounts​

Palette Edge allows you to create bind mounts from your Edge host to your cluster through the installer configuration file named user-data, which allows your cluster to use directories or files from your Edge host directly within your Kubernetes cluster. This setup is useful for scenarios where your applications are active in the cluster and need direct access to files or directories on the Edge host.

Several packs require you set up bind mounts in order to function. For example, the Portworx pack requires several folders to be mounted on Edge deployments. You can use the install.bind_mounts parameter to specify folders to be mounted. For example, the following user data mounts three folders required by Portworx from the Edge host to the cluster.

#cloud-config
stylus:
  site:
    debug: true
    insecureSkipVerify: false
    paletteEndpoint: api.console.spectrocloud.com
    name: edge-appliance-1
    caCerts:
      - |
        -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----

        -----END CERTIFICATE-----

install:
  bind_mounts:
    - /etc/pwx
    - /var/lib/osd
    - /var/cores

Multiple User Data Use Case​

If you don't need to apply any unique configurations on the device once it arrives at the physical site, then your site deployment flow would look like the following.

The flow of an install process not requiring additional customization

Should you need to apply different configurations once the device arrives at the physical site, you can use a secondary user data to support this use case.

Use the additional user data to override configurations from the previous user data that was flashed into the device or to inject new configuration settings. Using secondary user data at the physical site is a common pattern for organizations that need to change settings after powering on the Edge host at the physical location.

To use additional user data, create a bootable device, such as a USB stick, that contains the user data in the form of an ISO image. The Edge Installer will consume the additional user data during the installation process.

The flow of an install process with an additional customization occurring at the physical site. The additional customization is using a USB stick to upload the new user data.

When creating your Edge Installer, you can embed the user data into the installer image to eliminate providing it via a USB drive.

In the staging phase, you may identify user data parameter values that apply uniformly to all your edge sites. But you may also have some edge locations that require different configurations such as site network proxy, site certs, users and groups, etc. Site-specific configurations are typically not included in the Edge installer image. For the latter scenario, you can use a secondary user data configuration. Refer to the Apply Site User Data guide to learn more about applying secondary site-specific user data.

info

For your initial testing, your user data may include global settings and site-specific properties in a single user data. As you gain more experience, you should evaluate whether secondary site-specific user data is a better design for your use case.

Next Steps​

After you have finalized your Installer configuration, you can build the configuration into the Edge Installer ISO, or turn the user-data file into an ISO file to use before site deployment.