Getting Started

This chapter provides pointers on using Fleet Command to add a location, a system, an application, and create a deployment. The guide also covers setting up a virtual representation of the physical system at the edge location and managing that system remotely.

A location defines an edge location/site, such as a retail store or hospital where edge deployments will be installed.

1. To add a location, navigate to Fleet Command > Locations. Click Add Location on the top right corner of the page.

   

   
   

2. In the Add Location dialog, fill in the location information.

   

   • Location Name: Enter a location name. The name must start with a lowercase letter, followed by digits (0-9), lowercase letters (a-z), or a dash (-).

   • Description: Enter a description for the location.

   • Fleet Command Version: Choose the Fleet Command version for the location. While Fleet Command supports versions released within the last two months, we recommend selecting the latest version for all new locations.

   • Address: Enter the location’s physical address.

   • Allow High Availability: Enable high availability (HA) for this location (versions 1.25.1 or later). This option is available only during creation time and cannot be changed once the location is created. Refer to High Availability Locations for more information.

3. Click Add Location to save. You should see your newly-created location in the list.

   

   
   

4. To view your locations, select Fleet Command > Locations on the left navigation.

   

   
   

Updating Location Details

You can also edit the location description and address. Click on the ellipsis menu for a location and select Edit Location:

Note that you cannot change the high availability option once it’s set for a location.

Location Status

The Status column displays the current status of the location. The green check icon indicates the location is online and ready to accept deployments.

The following table describes the three possible system statuses for a location:

Status	Symbol	Description
Online		Location is ready to accept deployments.
Issue State		Issue: Expand the location for more information.
Offline		Location cannot be contacted, but applications may still be running.
Update in Progress		The location is updating with a newer version.

A system is a virtual representation of a physical system at the edge location. After the system is deployed at the edge location, it should be paired with a system in Fleet Command. This helps ensure that when software is deployed in Fleet Command, it is deployed to the physical system.

The first system added to the location is considered the controller-worker. The controller-worker is a Kubernetes controller node with the capability to run workloads. Additional nodes added to the location will be regarded as worker nodes.

If high availability is enabled for a location, the first three systems will default to the controller-worker role, and subsequent systems will be worker nodes. Refer to High Availability Locations for more information.

Follow these steps to add a system in Fleet Command.

1. You can add a system in two ways. The first is to click on the ellipsis menu for a location and select Add System.

   

   The second way is to select a specific location from the locations list and click Add System from the location details page.

   

   Both methods will take you to the Add System dialog.

2. In the Add System dialog, select the type of system. Click Add System to go to the next step.

   

   
   

3. Fill in the system information.

   

   • System Name: Enter a name for the new system. The name must start with a lowercase letter, followed by digits (0-9), lowercase letters (a-z), or a dash (-).

   • Description: Enter a description for the new system.

   • System Version: This is the software your system will be running. It is typically prefilled based on your location version.

   Select Confirm to go to the next step.

4. Follow the instructions in this dialog to download the installer to flash your device. Click Finish when done.

   

   
   

5. After the system is added, you will be taken to the Location details page. The activation code provided by Fleet Command and the expiration time are displayed in the system messages.

   

   The activation code will pair a system in Fleet Command with a physical server device at the edge location. Proceed to the Pairing a System with Fleet Command section to complete the pairing process.

   Note

   Some preparation at the physical edge site is needed before the system is ready to accept the activation code. Refer to the Edge Site Requirements section for more information.

   Important

   If the measured boot failed for your edge site, you might see the following error message for the system.

   

   Here are the descriptions for the contents on this page:

   [1] Location messages pane: displays messages for this location.

   [2] Location details pane: displays location details, including the current version and available updates.

   [3] Summary systems info: displays status summary for your systems that you can filter on.

   [4] System details pane: contains detailed information for each system. There will be one details pane per system for this location.

   [5] System messages pane: displays messages for this system.

   [6] Menu to access specific commands for a system.

   [7] Overview tab: contains the status, config, and system type.

   [8] Details tab: contains your system’s description, GPU types, networking, storage configuration, and Kubernetes labels.

   [9] Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) tab: contains MIG configuration information. Refer to Multi-Instance GPU for details.

   Note

   Multi-Instance GPU (MIG) support, a feature that allows secure partitioning of GPUs into separate GPU instances, can be enabled from the system details pane after deploying an application. Refer to Multi-Instance GPU for more information.

   
   

System Status

A system can be in one of the three possible states:

Status	Symbol	Description
Connecting		The system is connecting, updating, or rebooting.
Ready		The system is ready to run applications.
Issue		Issue: Refer to the banner for additional information.

The Status field in the Overview tab shows the current system status. In this example, the green “Ready” icon indicates that the system is ready to run applications.

System Issues and Messages

Fleet Command displays system issues and informational messages in the Location and System details panes. If your system is experiencing an issue, you will see a red error banner with details and recommendations for the next step.

System Commands

To access specific commands for a system, click on the system menu:

Pairing a System with Fleet Command

To pair a system with Fleet Command, complete the following steps:

1. Download the Fleet Command Discovery Image (ISO) from the Fleet Command Settings page to your local laptop or desktop (Ubuntu Linux, Mac, or Windows). The image will be named similarly to the following convention: fc-<version>-<arch>.iso, and administrators should always use the ISO version that matches the Location version they will be deploying. For additional information, refer to Adding a Location.

   Note

   For additional security, validate the system image with the available checksum from the Settings page, as shown below. Refer to the checksum validation for more information.

   

   
   

2. There are two ways you can load the Fleet Command Discovery Image (ISO) into your system.

Booting from Virtual Media

Follow each system provider’s instructions to load the Fleet Command Discovery Image (ISO) as a virtual media.

• HPE Systems

• Lenovo Systems

• Dell Systems

Booting from USB

The correct system image is loaded onto a USB flash drive. The following steps can be used to create a bootable USB flash drive with the Fleet Command Discovery Image (ISO):

1. Locate a 16GB USB flash drive.

2. On your local laptop or desktop, burn the image:

   • Ubuntu Linux: For creating a bootable USB flash drive on Ubuntu, use the Startup Disk Creator application on your Ubuntu computer. Follow the simple instructions outlined in the Ubuntu tutorials.

   • Apple macOS: For creating a bootable USB flash drive on your Mac, follow the instructions outlined in the tutorial.

   • Microsoft Windows: For creating a bootable USB flash drive on your Windows PC/Laptop, follow the tutorial’s instructions.

   • The USB flash drive has now been loaded with a Fleet Command system image and is ready to be used to boot systems.

3. Configure the system for the Fleet Command Stack installation:

   • Connect a monitor and a keyboard directly to the system or remotely access the system via the platform’s IPMI interface.

   • Power on the system

   • Update firmware as needed to meet company policies for systems deployed with limited access.

   • Access the BIOS settings

   • Set the system time to the local time (Fleet Command Stack will automatically set the OS time to local UTC)

4. Follow each system provider’s instructions to enable TPM and Secure Boot.

   • Enable TPM - Dell Systems - HPE Systems - Lenovo Systems

   • Enable Secure Boot - Dell Systems - HPE Systems - Lenovo Systems

5. Activate the system once the system has been appropriately configured.

   Note

   You must have your Fleet Command activation code for the next set of steps. The Fleet Command activation code is only valid for 12 hours after it is created.

   
   

6. The following steps will activate the system with Fleet Command via the activation code:

   • Plugin the provided Fleet Command Discovery USB flash drive to the edge system

   • Reboot or power on the system

   • You will be prompted to create an administrator password. This password will be used to access the edge system in the future.

   

   • Press Enter when finished.

   Note

   The Administrator password requirements are listed below. It is recommended that this password complies with any existing corporate password policy.

   • At least 14 and at max 128 characters long

   • At least one lowercase character

   • At least one upper case character

   • At least one digit

   • At least one of the following symbols: $,#@%^=./~_-!

   
   

7. Network and NTP will be configured automatically by the Fleet Command Stack. Wait while the configuration is completed; it may take several minutes.

   

   Important

   If the configuration is not completed automatically, it may require a manual setup in the Advanced Configurations dialog. You will need to select the network with access to the internet.

   

   • You have the option to add the configuration manually in Advanced Configurations. To add the Advanced Configuration option, press CTRL+C after you enter the Administrator password.

   • You can select Configure Network Interfaces if you have multiple network interfaces to choose the right one. Once you choose the correct network interface, you can use DHCP or manually configure the static IP. You will need to select the network with access to the internet.

   

   • Once you select the correct network interface, you can use DHCP or configure the edge system with a static IP.

   • You will need to select the network with access to the internet.

   

   • Example of static IP configuration screen.

   

   • You can add the NTP servers with the Configure NTP option if you want to add any.

   

   • If you want to add any proxy to the edge system, select Configure HTTP Proxy and add a proxy address.

   

   • If you want to customize the utilization of physical storage devices attached to the system, select Configure Storage and follow the steps outlined in Advanced Storage Configuration.

   • If you want to add any additional configuration, select Edit Configuration Manually and edit the configuration.

   

   
   

8. Enter the activation code.

   

   
   

9. Once the activation process has been completed, you will see the location change from “offline” to “online” in the UI. The system’s IP address is also shown in Fleet Command UI now.

Once a system at the edge has been paired with a system in Fleet Command, you are now ready to deploy software to the edge using the Fleet Command interface.

Configuring Your System

Once your system is set up, you can configure for multi-instance GPU. For more information, refer to Multi-Instance GPU Configuration.

Accessing Your System

Once your system is set up, you can remotely access it using Fleet Command Remote Console. For more information, refer to Remote Console.

An application defines what can be deployed to edge locations. The primary element of an application is the Helm chart which describes how the application will be deployed.

1. To add an application, select Applications in the Fleet Command navigation menu.

   

   
   

2. Click Add Application on the right side of the page.

   

   
   

3. Fill in the details for the application.

   

   • Display Name: This must be the unique name of the application.

   • Description: Create a description for the new application.

   • Helm Chart Name: The name of the Helm chart.

     Note

     You can create multiple applications with the same Helm Chart Name as long as the Display Name is unique.

   • Helm Chart Version: This must be the exact version of the application listed in the helm repository.

   • Helm Repo URL (no trailing slash): The user’s unique Helm repository URL where all of their helm charts are stored. Helm repository URL can be NGC Catalog Helm Charts or other Public Helm Repos or NGC Private Registry for maximum security.

     • For example: https://helm.ngc.nvidia.com/egxdefault

4. You can view all of your applications on the Applications page.

   

   
   

For example, there are two applications listed on the following Applications page: Face Mask Detection App and Video Analytics Demo.

Deployments join systems at physical edge sites with the applications hosted on Fleet Command in the cloud. Through a Fleet Command deployment, the Admin selects the application they would like to deploy and the locations they would like to deploy it to. The deployment will operate based on the application’s Helm chart and given configuration.

1. To create a deployment, go to Fleet Command > Deployments. On the Deployments page, click Create Deployment in the top menu.

   

   
   

2. The Create Deployment page will display. Fill in the information for the deployment.

   

   • Deployment Name: Enter a name for the deployment.

   • Locations: Select the location(s) to deploy to.

   • Security Overrides (Optional): Use this feature to override the default security settings for a deployment. Security overrides can only be selected on initial deployment creation and cannot be changed afterward without recreating the deployment. If security overrides are chosen, a message will be display on the Locations and Deployments pages. For detailed information on the options, refer to the Security Overrides section.

     Note

     Most security override options are only available with locations version 1.9.3 or newer. For versions older than 1.9.3, only the Allow system device access option is available.

     
     

   • Application: Select an application for the deployment.

   • Target Namespace Specify a Kubernetes namespace to deploy your application into. The default value is “default”. This value is not editable after creation.

   • Application Configuration: Add configuration overrides for this deployment if the application allows.

     1. Using the standard template format (same as Helm Charts), users can override existing configuration from the values YAML file or set a value. For example, setting the cameras to be used:

        

        
        

     2. To deploy the application to the systems at a specific location, check the box at the bottom and click Deploy.

        Note

        If multiple deployments/applications are assigned to a single location, you must confirm that they do not conflict. Some examples to keep in mind are service/application ports, resources (over subscribing), duplicate applications, or other application conflicts within the same namespace. Ensure you search for the application Helm chart, not the container, model, or collections.

        
        

Checking Deployment Status

The icon listed in the Deployment Status column indicates the current status. The following screenshot shows a green icon indicating that the deployment is online and that the application is deployed to the location.

The following table describes the three possible deployment statuses:

Status	Symbol	Description
Deploying		Application is deploying to the locations selected.
Online		Application has deployed successfully with pod creation on the location.
Issue		Expand the location for additional information.

Accessing the Application

Once the application has been deployed successfully, you can access the application using the Remote Application Access feature from Fleet Command. For more information on using this feature, refer to Remote Application Access.