AWS Deployment

Follow the steps below to deploy Chef Automate High Availability (HA) on AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud.

Install Chef Automate HA on AWS

Prerequisites

• Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) should be created in AWS before starting. Reference for VPC and CIDR creation

• If you want to use Default VPC we have to create public and private subnet, If subnet are not available. Please refer this

• We need 3 private and 3 public subnet in a vpc (1 subnet for each AZ). As of now we support dedicate subnet for each AZ.

• We recommend to create a new vpc. And Bastion should be in the same VPC.

• Get AWS credentials (aws_access_key_id and aws_secret_access_key) which have privileges like: AmazonS3FullAccess, AdministratorAccess.
  Set these in ~/.aws/credentials in Bastion Host:

  sudo su -
  

  mkdir -p ~/.aws
  echo "[default]" >>  ~/.aws/credentials
  echo "aws_access_key_id=<ACCESS_KEY_ID>" >> ~/.aws/credentials
  echo "aws_secret_access_key=<SECRET_KEY>" >> ~/.aws/credentials
  echo "region=<AWS-REGION>" >> ~/.aws/credentials
  

• Have DNS certificate ready in ACM for 2 DNS entries: Example: chefautomate.example.com, chefinfraserver.example.com Reference for Creating new DNS Certificate in ACM

• Have SSH Key Pair ready in AWS, so new VM’s are created using that pair. Reference for AWS SSH Key Pair creation

• We do not support passphrase for Private Key authentication.

• Preferred key type will be ed25519

• Make sure your linux has sysctl utility available in all nodes.

Deployment

Run the following steps on Bastion Host Machine:

1. Run below commands to download latest Automate CLI and Airgapped Bundle:

   #Run commands as sudo.
   sudo -- sh -c "
   #Download Chef Automate CLI.
   curl https://packages.chef.io/files/current/latest/chef-automate-cli/chef-automate_linux_amd64.zip \
   | gunzip - > chef-automate && chmod +x chef-automate \
   | cp -f chef-automate /usr/bin/chef-automate
   
   #Download latest Airgapped Bundle.
   #To download specific version bundle, example version: 4.2.59 then replace latest.aib with 4.2.59.aib
   curl https://packages.chef.io/airgap_bundle/current/automate/latest.aib -o automate.aib
   
   #Generate init config and then generate init config for existing infra structure
   chef-automate init-config-ha aws
   "
   

   Note

   Chef Automate bundles are available for 365 days from the release of a version. However, the milestone release bundles are available for download forever.

2. Update Config with relevant data. Click here for sample config

   vi config.toml
   

   • Give ssh_user which has access to all the machines. Example: ubuntu
   • Optional ssh_group_name make sure given group name is available in all machines, this value will be defaulted to ssh_user.
   • Give ssh_port in case your AMI is running on custom ssh port, default will be 22.
   • Give ssh_key_file path, this should have been download from AWS SSH Key Pair which we want to use to create all the VM’s. Thus, we will be able to access all VM’s using this.
   • We support only private key authentication.
   • Set backup_config to "efs" or "s3"
   • If backup_config is s3 then uncomment and set the value for following s3_bucketName attribute to your bucket name. If the bucket name does not exist, it will be created for you automatically.
   • Set admin_password which you can use to access Chef Automate UI for user admin.
   • If you don’t have a custom FQDN leave fqdn as empty for this AWS deployment. By default, AWS Application load balancer will be used as fqdn.
   • Set instance_count for Chef Automate, Chef Infra Server, Postgresql, OpenSearch.
   • Set AWS Config Details:
     • Set profile, by default profile is "default"
     • Set region, by default region is "us-east-1"
     • Set aws_vpc_id, which you had created as Prerequisite step. Example: "vpc12318h"
     • Set private_custom_subnets to the 3 private subnets we created in prerequisites step and set public_custom_subnets to the 3 public subnets we created in prerequisites step: example : ["subnet-07e469d218301533","subnet-07e469d218041534","subnet-07e469d283041535"]
     • Set ssh_key_pair_name, this is the SSH Key Pair we created as Prerequisite. This value should be just name of the AWS SSH Key Pair, not having .pem extention. The ssh key content should be same as content of ssh_key_file.
     • Set setup_managed_services as false, As these deployment steps are for Non-Managed Services AWS Deployment. Default value is false.
     • Set ami_id, this value depends on your AWS Region and the Operating System Image you want to use.
     • Please use the Hardware Requirement Calculator sheet to get information for which instance type you will need for your load.
     • Set Instance Type for Chef Automate in automate_server_instance_type.
     • Set Instance Type for Chef Infra Server in chef_server_instance_type.
     • Set Instance Type for OpenSearch in opensearch_server_instance_type.
     • Set Instance Type for Postgresql in postgresql_server_instance_type.
     • Set automate_lb_certificate_arn with the arn value of the Certificate created in AWS ACM for DNS entry of chefautomate.example.com.
     • Set chef_server_lb_certificate_arn with the arn value of the Certificate created in AWS ACM for DNS entry of chefinfraserver.example.com.
     • Set automate_ebs_volume_iops, automate_ebs_volume_size based on your load needs.
     • Set chef_ebs_volume_iops, chef_ebs_volume_size based on your load needs.
     • Set opensearch_ebs_volume_iops, opensearch_ebs_volume_size based on your load needs.
     • Set postgresql_ebs_volume_iops, postgresql_ebs_volume_size based on your load needs.
     • Set automate_ebs_volume_type, chef_ebs_volume_type, opensearch_ebs_volume_type, postgresql_ebs_volume_type. Default value is "gp3". Change this based on your needs.

   Note

   Click here to know more on adding certificates for services during deployment.

3. Continue with the provisioning the infra after updating config:

   #Run commands as sudo.
   sudo -- sh -c "
   #Print data in the config
   cat config.toml
   
   #Run provision command to deploy `automate.aib` with set `config.toml`
   chef-automate provision-infra config.toml --airgap-bundle automate.aib
   "
   

4. Once the provisioning is successful, if you have added custom DNS to your configuration file (fqdn), make sure to map the load-balancer FQDN from the output of previous command to your DNS from DNS Provider. After that continue with the deployment process with following.

   sudo -- sh -c "
   #Run deploy command to deploy `automate.aib` with set `config.toml`
   chef-automate deploy config.toml --airgap-bundle automate.aib
   
   #After Deployment is done successfully. Check status of Chef Automate HA services
   chef-automate status summary
   
   #Check Chef Automate HA deployment information, using the following command
   chef-automate info
   "
   

5. After the deployment successfully completed. To view the automate UI, run the command chef-automate info, you will get the automate_url. If we want to change the FQDN URL from the loadbalancer URL to some other FQDN URL, then use below template

• create a file a2.fqdn.toml

  [global]
   [global.v1]
    fqdn = "AUTOMATE-DNS-URL-WITHOUT-HTTP"
  

• Run the command to apply the config from bastion

   chef-automate config patch a2.fqdn.toml --automate
  

• create a file cs.fqdn.toml

  [global]
   [global.v1]
    fqdn = "AUTOMATE-DNS-URL-WITHOUT-HTTPS"
  [global.v1.external.automate]
    node = "https://AUTOMATE-DNS-URL"
  

• Run the command to apply the config from the bastion

   chef-automate config patch cs.fqdn.toml --chef_server
  

Check if Chef Automate UI is accessible by going to (Domain used for Chef Automate) https://chefautomate.example.com.

Sample config

[architecture.aws]
ssh_user = "ec2-user"
ssh_group_name = "ec2-user"
ssh_port = "22"
ssh_key_file = "~/.ssh/my-key.pem"
backup_config = "s3"
s3_bucketName = "My-Bucket-Name"
secrets_key_file = "/hab/a2_deploy_workspace/secrets.key"
secrets_store_file = "/hab/a2_deploy_workspace/secrets.json"
architecture = "aws"
workspace_path = "/hab/a2_deploy_workspace"
backup_mount = "/mnt/automate_backups"

[automate.config]
admin_password = "MY-AUTOMATE-UI-PASSWORD"
fqdn = ""
instance_count = "2"
config_file = "configs/automate.toml"
enable_custom_certs = false

# Add Automate Load Balancer root-ca
# root_ca = """root_ca_contents"""

# Add Automate node internal public and private keys
# private_key = """private_key_contents"""
# public_key = """public_key_contents"""

[chef_server.config]
instance_count = "2"
enable_custom_certs = false

# Add Chef Server node internal public and private keys
# private_key = """private_key_contents"""
# public_key = """public_key_contents"""

[opensearch.config]
instance_count = "3"
enable_custom_certs = false
# Add OpenSearch root-ca and keys
# root_ca = """root_ca_contents"""
# admin_key = """admin_private_key_contents"""
# admin_cert = """admin_public_key_contents"""
# private_key = """private_key_contents"""
# public_key = """public_key_contents"""

[postgresql.config]
instance_count = "3"
enable_custom_certs = false
# Add Postgresql root-ca and keys
# root_ca = """root_ca_contents"""
# private_key = """private_key_contents"""
# public_key = """public_key_contents"""

[aws.config]
profile = "default"
region = "ap-southeast-2"
aws_vpc_id  = "vpc12318h"
aws_cidr_block_addr  = ""
private_custom_subnets = ["subnet-e556d512", "subnet-e556d513", "subnet-e556d514"]
public_custom_subnets = ["subnet-p556d512", "subnet-p556d513", "subnet-p556d514"]
ssh_key_pair_name = "my-key"
setup_managed_services = false
managed_opensearch_domain_name = ""
managed_opensearch_domain_url = ""
managed_opensearch_username = ""
managed_opensearch_user_password = ""
managed_opensearch_certificate = ""
aws_os_snapshot_role_arn = ""
os_snapshot_user_access_key_id = ""
os_snapshot_user_access_key_secret = ""
managed_rds_instance_url = ""
managed_rds_superuser_username = ""
managed_rds_superuser_password = ""
managed_rds_dbuser_username = ""
managed_rds_dbuser_password = ""
managed_rds_certificate = ""
ami_id = "ami-08d4ac5b634553e16"
delete_on_termination = true
automate_server_instance_type = "m5.large"
chef_server_instance_type = "m5.large"
opensearch_server_instance_type = "m5.large"
postgresql_server_instance_type = "m5.large"
automate_lb_certificate_arn = "arn:aws:acm:ap-southeast-2:112758395563:certificate/9b04-6513-4ac5-9332-2ce4e"
chef_server_lb_certificate_arn = "arn:aws:acm:ap-southeast-2:112758395563:certificate/9b04-6513-4ac5-9332-2ce4e"
chef_ebs_volume_iops = "100"
chef_ebs_volume_size = "200"
chef_ebs_volume_type = "gp3"
opensearch_ebs_volume_iops = "100"
opensearch_ebs_volume_size = "200"
opensearch_ebs_volume_type = "gp3"
postgresql_ebs_volume_iops = "100"
postgresql_ebs_volume_size = "200"
postgresql_ebs_volume_type = "gp3"
automate_ebs_volume_iops = "100"
automate_ebs_volume_size = "200"
automate_ebs_volume_type = "gp3"
lb_access_logs = "false"
X-Contact = ""
X-Dept = ""
X-Project = ""

Minimum Changes required in sample config

• Give ssh_user which has access to all the machines. Eg: ubuntu, centos, ec2-user
• Give ssh_key_file path, this key should have access to all the Machines or VM’s. Eg: ~/.ssh/user-key.pem
• Provide region Eg: us-east-1
• Provide aws_vpc_id Eg: vpc-0a12*****
• Provide private_custom_subnets and public_custom_subnets
• Provide ssh_key_pair_name Eg: user-key
• Give ami_id for the respective region where the infra is been created. Eg: ami-0bb66b6ba59664870
• Provide certificate ARN for both automate and Chef server in automate_lb_certificate_arn and chef_server_lb_certificate_arn respectively.

Add more nodes In AWS Deployment post deployment

The commands require some arguments so that it can determine which types of nodes you want to add to your HA setup from your bastion host. It needs the count of the nodes you want to add as as argument when you run the command. For example,

• if you want to add 2 nodes to automate, you have to run the:

  chef-automate node add --automate-count 2
  

• If you want to add 3 nodes to chef-server, you have to run the:

  chef-automate node add --chef-server-count 3
  

• If you want to add 1 node to OpenSearch, you have to run the:

  chef-automate node add --opensearch-count 1
  

• If you want to add 2 nodes to PostgreSQL you have to run:

  chef-automate node add --postgresql-count 2
  

You can mix and match different services if you want to add nodes across various services.

• If you want to add 1 node to automate and 2 nodes to PostgreSQL, you have to run:

  chef-automate node add --automate-count 1 --postgresql-count 2
  

• If you want to add 1 node to automate, 2 nodes to chef-server, and 2 nodes to PostgreSQL you have to run:

  chef-automate node add --automate-count 1 --chef-server-count 2 --postgresql-count 2
  

Once the command executes, it will add the supplied number of nodes to your automate setup. The changes might take a while.

Remove Single Node From Cluster on AWS Deployment

The command requires some arguments so that it can determine which types of nodes you want to remove from your HA setup from your bastion host. It needs the IP address of the node you want to remove as an argument when you run the command. For example,

• If you want to remove node of automate, you have to run the:

  chef-automate node remove --automate-ip "<automate-ip-address>"
  

• If you want to remove node of chef-server, you have to run the:

  chef-automate node remove --chef-server-ip "<chef-server-ip-address>"
  

• If you want to remove node of OpenSearch, you have to run the:

  chef-automate node remove --opensearch-ip "<opensearch-ip-address>"
  

• If you want to remove node of PostgreSQL you have to run:

  chef-automate node remove --postgresql-ip "<postgresql-ip-address>"
  

Once the command executes, it will remove the supplied node from your HA setup. The changes might take a while.

Uninstall chef automate HA

To uninstall chef automate HA instances after unsuccessfull deployment, run below command in your bastion host.

    chef-automate cleanup --aws-deployment --force

or

    chef-automate cleanup --aws-deployment