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Provisioning an AWS instance

Use the Edge Services portal to provision Amazon Web Services (AWS) instances. Before provisioning an AWS instance, an AWS cloud must be created. When you provision an AWS instance, you must select which AWS cloud to associate it with. After an AWS instance has been provisioned, you can stop and lock a server or edit the AWS instance details. If you no longer need an AWS instance, you can delete it.

To provision an AWS instance:

  1. Click Provisioning, then click Instances.

    The Edge Services portal shows the instances (e.g., bare metal servers, virtual machines) created for your organization.
Instances
  1. Click + ADD.

    The Edge Services portal shows the Create Instance window.
Create Instance window
  1. In the Create Instance window, select the operating system, then click NEXT.

    The Edge Services portal shows the Instance Summary section.
Create Instance (showing Group tab)
  1. In the Instance Summary section, complete the following fields:
Field Description
GROUP Select the group associated with this AWS instance. (required)
CLOUD Select the relevant AWS cloud. (required)
NAME Type a unique name for the AWS instance. (required)
ENVIRONMENT Select the environment for the AWS instance from the drop-down. The environment provides a way to segment your instances by labels. Instance environments can be changed by editing the instance.
LABELS Type a label for AWS instance task organization. You can edit labels of provisioned instances.
  1. Click NEXT.

    The Edge Services portal shows the Configuration Options section.
Create Instance - Configure tab
  1. In the Configuration Options section, complete the following fields:
Field Description
VERSION Select the version of the operating system (OS) used in this instance.
LAYOUT
 This field shows the default preconfigured provisioning options available for the selected Instance Type and Cloud.
PLAN Select the plan option. The cost of the plan varies on the size of the storage and computing power selected. (required)
RESOURCE POOL Select the virtual private cloud to apply to the AWS instance being provisioned. (required)
VOLUMES Type the name of the volume, select the storage size, and select the type of volume. (required)

To add additional volumes, click the + icon. 
NETWORKS Select the network for the instance. Click the + icon to add networks. (required)
SECURITY GROUP Select a security group to enable connectivity and access to your AWS instance. (required)
Selecting default enables egress access on any port and ingress access for other instances with the same security group. 
PUBLIC IP

Select one of the following options:

  • Subnet Default — automatically assigns the external IP address to the instance.
  • Assign EIP — assign a specific external IP address.
User Group Select the user group for this instance.
Advanced Options

Select the Advanced Options drop-down for the following fields:

  • SCALE FACTOR — Type the number of nodes to be created with the instance.
  • HOSTNAME — Choose a hostname, domain, and time zone to associate with the AWS instance.
  • SKIP AGENT INSTALL — Select this option to skip installing the agent on the AWS instance. Install the agent to capture and track valuable information such as memory usage and storage availability. You can view the infomation collected for the instance on the viewing details page. Without the agent installed, this information is not collected or available.
  • IAM PROFILE — Select the container for the IAM role used to pass role information to the EC2 instance in AWS.
  • KMS KEY ID — Type the identifier of your key for AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
  • TAGS — Enter a unique tag name and value to each AWS instance for tracking purposes. Tags are name value pairs. For example, type Location for the name, and New Brunswick for the value.
  • ENVIRONMENT PREFIX — Type the environment variable prefix. If one is not provided, it is automatically generated based on the instance type. 
  • ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES — Type the environment variable values used by applications on the AWS instance. Environment variables are a set of dynamic named values stored within the system used by applications.
  1. Click NEXT.

    The Edge Services portal shows the Automation section. Skip this section. It has no effect on AWS instance provisioning.
  1. Click NEXT to skip the Automation section.

    The Edge Services portal shows the Summary review window. This is the final screen to check selections from previous steps.
Create Instance - Summary
  1. If you want to make copies of the AWS instance being provisioned, click Options, then select the number of copies in the COPIES field.

    Copied instances are given the same name as the original with a hyphen followed by a sequentially-generated number appended to the name. For example, if you name an instance AWS Instance A, the Edge Services portal names the copy AWS Instance A-1. You can edit the name of the copies after they have been provisioned.
  1. To provision the AWS instance and any copies, click COMPLETE.

    The Edge Services portal begins provisioning the AWS instance.