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Setup and administration

Manually install the Connector in AWS

Contributors netapp-bcammett
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To manually install the Connector on your own Linux host, you need to review host requirements, set up your networking, prepare AWS permissions, install the Connector, and then provide the permissions that you prepared.

Before you begin

You should review Connector limitations.

Step 1: Review host requirements

The Connector software must run on a host that meets specific operating system requirements, RAM requirements, port requirements, and so on.

Dedicated host

The Connector is not supported on a host that is shared with other applications. The host must be a dedicated host.

Supported operating systems

  • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

  • CentOS 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, and 7.9

  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6, 7.7, 7.8, and 7.9

    The host must be registered with Red Hat Subscription Management. If it's not registered, the host can't access repositories to update required 3rd-party software during Connector installation.

    The Connector is supported on English-language versions of these operating systems.

Hypervisor

A bare metal or hosted hypervisor that is certified to run Ubuntu, CentOS, or Red Hat Enterprise Linux is required.

Red Hat Solution: Which hypervisors are certified to run Red Hat Enterprise Linux?

CPU

4 cores or 4 vCPUs

RAM

14 GB

AWS EC2 instance type

An instance type that meets the CPU and RAM requirements above. We recommend t3.xlarge.

Key pair

When you create the Connector, you'll need to select an EC2 key pair to use with the instance.

Disk space in /opt

100 GiB of space must be available

Disk space in /var

20 GiB of space must be available

Docker Engine

Docker Engine is required on the host before you install the Connector.

Step 2: Set up networking

Ensure that the network location where you plan to install the Connector supports the following requirements. Meeting these requirements enables the Connector to manage resources and processes within your hybrid cloud environment.

Connections to target networks

A Connector requires a network connection to the location where you're planning to create and manage working environments. For example, the network where you plan to create Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems or a storage system in your on-premises environment.

Outbound internet access

The network location where you deploy the Connector must have an outbound internet connection to contact specific endpoints.

Endpoints contacted during manual installation

When you manually install the Connector on your own Linux host, the installer for the Connector requires access to the following URLs during the installation process:

  • https://support.netapp.com

  • https://mysupport.netapp.com

  • https://cloudmanager.cloud.netapp.com/tenancy

  • https://stream.cloudmanager.cloud.netapp.com

  • https://production-artifacts.cloudmanager.cloud.netapp.com

  • https://*.blob.core.windows.net

  • https://cloudmanagerinfraprod.azurecr.io

    The host might try to update operating system packages during installation. The host can contact different mirroring sites for these OS packages.

Endpoints contacted from the Connector

The Connector requires outbound internet access to contact the following endpoints in order to manage resources and processes within your public cloud environment for day-to-day operations.

Note that the endpoints listed below are all CNAME entries.

Endpoints Purpose

AWS services (amazonaws.com):

  • CloudFormation

  • Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)

  • Identity and Access Management (IAM)

  • Key Management Service (KMS)

  • Security Token Service (STS)

  • Simple Storage Service (S3)

To manage resources in AWS. The exact endpoint depends on the AWS region that you're using. Refer to AWS documentation for details

https://support.netapp.com
https://mysupport.netapp.com

To obtain licensing information and to send AutoSupport messages to NetApp support.

https://*.api.bluexp.netapp.com

https://api.bluexp.netapp.com

https://*.cloudmanager.cloud.netapp.com

https://cloudmanager.cloud.netapp.com

https://netapp-cloud-account.auth0.com

To provide SaaS features and services within BlueXP.

Note that the Connector is currently contacting "cloudmanager.cloud.netapp.com" but it will start contacting "api.bluexp.netapp.com" in an upcoming release.

https://*.blob.core.windows.net

https://cloudmanagerinfraprod.azurecr.io

To upgrade the Connector and its Docker components.
Proxy server

If your organization requires deployment of a proxy server for all outgoing internet traffic, obtain the following information about your HTTP or HTTPS proxy. You'll need to provide this information during installation.

  • IP address

  • Credentials

  • HTTPS certificate

Note that BlueXP does not support transparent proxy servers.

Ports

There's no incoming traffic to the Connector, unless you initiate it or if the Connector is used as a proxy to send AutoSupport messages from Cloud Volumes ONTAP to NetApp Support.

  • HTTP (80) and HTTPS (443) provide access to the local UI, which you'll use in rare circumstances.

  • SSH (22) is only needed if you need to connect to the host for troubleshooting.

  • Inbound connections over port 3128 are required if you deploy Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems in a subnet where an outbound internet connection isn't available.

    If Cloud Volumes ONTAP systems don't have an outbound internet connection to send AutoSupport messages, BlueXP automatically configures those systems to use a proxy server that's included with the Connector. The only requirement is to ensure that the Connector's security group allows inbound connections over port 3128. You'll need to open this port after you deploy the Connector.

Enable NTP

If you're planning to use BlueXP classification to scan your corporate data sources, you should enable a Network Time Protocol (NTP) service on both the BlueXP Connector system and the BlueXP classification system so that the time is synchronized between the systems. Learn more about BlueXP classification

Step 3: Set up permissions

You need to provide AWS permissions to BlueXP by using one of the following options:

  • Option 1: Create IAM policies and attach the policies to an IAM role that you can associate with the EC2 instance.

  • Option 2: Provide BlueXP with the AWS access key for an IAM user who has the required permissions.

Follow the steps to prepare permissions for BlueXP.

IAM role
Steps

  1. Log in to the AWS console and navigate to the IAM service.

  2. Create a policy:

    1. Select Policies > Create policy.

    2. Select JSON and copy and paste the contents of the IAM policy for the Connector.

    3. Finish the remaining steps to create the policy.

      Depending on the BlueXP services that you're planning to use, you might need to create a second policy. For standard regions, the permissions are spread across two policies. Two policies are required due to a maximum character size limit for managed policies in AWS. Learn more about IAM policies for the Connector.

  3. Create an IAM role:

    1. Select Roles > Create role.

    2. Select AWS service > EC2.

    3. Add permissions by attaching the policy that you just created.

    4. Finish the remaining steps to create the role.

Result

You now have an IAM role that you can associate with the EC2 instance after you install the Connector.

AWS access key
Steps

  1. Log in to the AWS console and navigate to the IAM service.

  2. Create a policy:

    1. Select Policies > Create policy.

    2. Select JSON and copy and paste the contents of the IAM policy for the Connector.

    3. Finish the remaining steps to create the policy.

      Depending on the BlueXP services that you're planning to use, you might need to create a second policy.

      For standard regions, the permissions are spread across two policies. Two policies are required due to a maximum character size limit for managed policies in AWS. Learn more about IAM policies for the Connector.

  3. Attach the policies to an IAM user.

  4. Ensure that the user has an access key that you can add to BlueXP after you install the Connector.

Result

You now have an IAM user that has the required permissions and an access key that you can provide to BlueXP.

Step 4: Install the Connector

After the pre-requisites are complete, you can manually install the software on your own Linux host.

Before you begin

You should have the following:

  • Root privileges to install the Connector.

  • Details about a proxy server, if a proxy is required for internet access from the Connector.

    You have the option to configure a proxy server after installation but doing so requires restarting the Connector.

    Note that BlueXP does not support transparent proxy servers.

  • A CA-signed certificate, if the proxy server uses HTTPS or if the proxy is an intercepting proxy.

About this task

The installer that is available on the NetApp Support Site might be an earlier version. After installation, the Connector automatically updates itself if a new version is available.

Steps

  1. Verify that docker is enabled and running.

    sudo systemctl enable docker && sudo systemctl start docker

  2. If the http_proxy or https_proxy system variables are set on the host, remove them:

    unset http_proxy
unset https_proxy

    If you don't remove these system variables, the installation will fail.

  3. Download the Connector software from the NetApp Support Site, and then copy it to the Linux host.

    You should download the "online" Connector installer that's meant for use in your network or in the cloud. A separate "offline" installer is available for the Connector, but it's only supported with private mode deployments.

  4. Assign permissions to run the script.

    chmod +x BlueXP-Connector-Cloud-<version>

    Where <version> is the version of the Connector that you downloaded.

  5. Run the installation script.

     ./BlueXP-Connector-Cloud-<version> --proxy <HTTP or HTTPS proxy server> --cacert <path and file name of a CA-signed certificate>

    The --proxy and --cacert parameters are optional. If you have a proxy server, you will need to enter the parameters as shown. The installer doesn't prompt you to provide information about a proxy.

    Here's an example of the command using both optional parameters:

     ./BlueXP-Connector-Cloud-v3.9.38 --proxy https://user:password@10.0.0.30:8080/ --cacert /tmp/cacert/certificate.cer

    --proxy configures the Connector to use an HTTP or HTTPS proxy server using one of the following formats:

    • http://address:port

    • http://user-name:password@address:port

    • http://domain-name%92user-name:password@address:port

    • https://address:port

    • https://user-name:password@address:port

    • https://domain-name%92user-name:password@address:port

      Note the following:

      • The user can be a local user or domain user.

      • For a domain user, you must use the ASCII code for the \ as shown above.

      • BlueXP doesn't support passwords that include the @ character.

    --cacert specifies a CA-signed certificate to use for HTTPS access between the Connector and the proxy server. This parameter is required only if you specify an HTTPS proxy server or if the proxy is an intercepting proxy.

  6. Wait for the installation to complete.

    At the end of the installation, the Connector service (occm) restarts twice if you specified a proxy server.

  7. Open a web browser from a host that has a connection to the Connector virtual machine and enter the following URL:

    https://ipaddress

  8. After you log in, set up the Connector:

    1. Specify the BlueXP account to associate with the Connector.

    2. Enter a name for the system.

    3. Under Are you running in a secured environment? keep restricted mode disabled.

      You should keep restricted mode disabled because these steps describe how to use BlueXP in standard mode. You should enable restricted mode only if you have a secure environment and want to disconnect this account from BlueXP backend services. If that's the case, follow steps to get started with BlueXP in restricted mode.

    4. Select Let's start.

Result

The Connector is now installed and is set up with your BlueXP account.

If you have Amazon S3 buckets in the same AWS account where you created the Connector, you'll see an Amazon S3 working environment appear on the BlueXP canvas automatically. Learn how to manage S3 buckets from BlueXP

Step 5: Provide permissions to BlueXP

Now that you've installed the Connector, you need to provide BlueXP with the AWS permissions that you previously set up. Providing the permissions enables BlueXP to manage your data and storage infrastructure in AWS.

IAM role

Attach the IAM role that you previously created to the Connector EC2 instance.

Steps

  1. Go to the Amazon EC2 console.

  2. Select Instances.

  3. Select the Connector instance.

  4. Select Actions > Security > Modify IAM role.

  5. Select the IAM role and select Update IAM role.

Result

BlueXP now has the permissions that it needs to perform actions in AWS on your behalf.

Go to the BlueXP console to start using the Connector with BlueXP.

AWS access key

Provide BlueXP with the AWS access key for an IAM user that has the required permissions.

Steps

  1. Ensure that the correct Connector is currently selected in BlueXP.

  2. In the upper right of the BlueXP console, select the Settings icon, and select Credentials.

    A screenshot that shows the Settings icon in the upper right of the BlueXP console.

  3. Select Add Credentials and follow the steps in the wizard.

    1. Credentials Location: Select Amazon Web Services > Connector.

    2. Define Credentials: Enter an AWS access key and secret key.

    3. Marketplace Subscription: Associate a Marketplace subscription with these credentials by subscribing now or by selecting an existing subscription.

    4. Review: Confirm the details about the new credentials and select Add.

Result

BlueXP now has the permissions that it needs to perform actions in AWS on your behalf.

Go to the BlueXP console to start using the Connector with BlueXP.