Deploying the BMC Helix Edge on node

Deploying BMC Helix Edge on a node ensures your IoT ecosystem operates efficiently at the network's edge.

Install an SSL certificate in the node
Configure Docker-bridge
Configure the Docker log settings
Update the host file
Update the .env file
Retrieve secret file
Deploy services

Before you begin

Install Docker on your UNIX environment; navigate to the Docker official documentation.
Install Docker-Compose; navigate to the Docker Official Documentation.
Docker.io account to access EdgeX Foundry images. You must log in with your docker.com account on the system you plan to deploy.

Task 1: Install an SSL certificate in the node for ml-edge-agent

Installing an SSL certificate in node for ml-edge-agent ensures secure communication between these services and external clients. You must install SSL certificates during the initial deployment of ml-edge-agent to establish secure communication channels from the outset.

Use the following steps to install the SSL certificate in node for ml-edge-agent:

Make sure that the SSL certificate is available in the crt format. For example: <cert-name>.crt
Copy the SSL certificate <cert-name>.crt file to <install directory>/hedge-certs.

Task 2: Configure Docker-Bridge

You must configure Docker-Bridge for virtual machines. If your VM loses network connectivity while starting the EdgeX stack with docker-compose up due to a Docker-Bridge network issue, use the following steps to resolve it:

Uninstall Docker entirely from the host.
Important
Before proceeding with the uninstallation process, it's crucial to consider any other containers that might be running on your system. Uninstalling the container in question could potentially affect the functionality of those other containers, leading to unintended consequences or disruptions in services.
Re-install Docker on the virtual computer.
Start or restart the Docker service or the daemon by using one of the following commands:
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo service docker start
To verify the docker0 bridge IP has changed to 10.104.0.1 from the default 172.17.0.1, enter the following command:
ifconfig
If the docker0 bridge IP does not change, restart the Docker services by using one of the following commands:
sudo service docker stop
sudo systemctl stop docker

Task 3: Configure Docker log settings

Stop the Docker service.
To limit the log file size, add a log-driver and log-opts to the /etc/docker/daemon.json file as shown in the example:
{
"log-driver": "json-file",
"log-opts": {"max-size": "30m", "max-file": "3"}
}
Start the Docker service.

Task 4: Update the/etc/hosts file

Remove or comment on all entries for 127.0.0.1 and 127.0.1.1.
For example: ##127.0.0.1 localhost
Update the /etc/hosts file with the names of all the service names with local IP in /etc/hosts.
127.0.0.1 hedge-secret-bootstrapper edgex-security-bootstrapper hedge-init edgex-security-secretstore-setup
edgex-core-common-config-bootstrapper edgex-core-consul edgex-vault edgex-redis edgex-support-notifications
edgex-core-metadata hedge-admin hedge-device-extensions meta-sync hedge-event-publisher hedge-remediate
nats-proxy edgex-mqtt-broker edgex-security-proxy-setup edgex-nats-server auth-proxy edgex-nginx hedge-elasticsearch
hedge-victoria-metrics hedge-db hedge-user-app-mgmt hedge-ml-management export-biz-data hedge-export
hedge-event hedge-ui-server hedge-grafana hedge-init hedge-node-red edgex-kuiper edgex-core-command data-enrichment
metadata-notifier hedge-ml-edge-agent hedge-ml-broker hedge-ml-anomaly-inferencing device-virtual
device-rest device-doms device-obd-go hedge-fleet-db

Task 5: Update the .env file

Navigate to hedge-deployment/docker/.env with your configuration details and update the following parameters in the .env file:

Parameter	Description	Example Value
CURRENT_HEDGE_NODE_SERVER_NAME	The name of the server or computer for the node.	clm-aus-w4gmrd
CURRENT_HEDGE_NODE_SERVER_IP	The IP address of the node's server or computer.	172.20.176.117
REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_SERVER_NAME	The name of the remote server where the core component is deployed.	<namespace-name>
REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_DOMAIN_NAME	The domain name is associated with the remote core server.	.bmc.com
REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_SERVER_IP	The IP address of the remote core server.	172.20.171.50
CURRENT_HEDGE_NODE_SERVER_DOMAIN_NAME	The domain name is associated with the node server.	.bmc.com
RSSO_TOKEN	BMC Helix Single Sign-On Token for BMC Helix Platform Common Services Tenant
RSSO_REFRESH_TOKEN	BMC Helix Single Sign-On refresh Token for BMC Helix Platform Common Services Tenant

After deploying the BMC Helix Edge core, the system displays the following values with the parameters required during the BMC Helix Edge node deployment.

REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_SERVER_NAME
REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_DOMAIN_NAME
REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_SERVER_IP

If you did not note the values, use the following command in the BMC Helix Edge core installer host to retrieve the details.

./deploy.sh <namespace> -node

Verify that all pods within the "<namespace>" namespace have stabilized before continuing.
1. Set up the BMC Helix Edge node environment variables:
  REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_SERVER_NAME=<namespace>
  REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_DOMAIN_NAME=.<domain-name>
  REMOTE_HEDGE_CORE_SERVER_IP=<CORE-IP>
2. Download and copy the following files to the /tmp/ directory of your HEDGE NODE(s) before initiating the HEDGE NODE setup process:
  /tmp/.mqttencpwd
  /tmp/.cnslenctok
  /tmp/nats.crt.pem
  /tmp/nats.key.pem
  Important
  Before starting the installation of BMC Helix Edge on node:
  - Authenticate: Use docker login with your appropriate user token to authenticate to the container registry.
  - Copy Files: Transfer the following files from the /tmp/ directory of BMC Helix Edge-Core to the /tmp/ directory of BMC Helix Edge node:
    .mqttencpwd
    .cnslenctok
    nats.crt.pem
    nats.key.pem

Task 6: Retrieve secret files for the edge node setup

Use the following steps, on the same machine where you downloaded and installed the Hedge core.

Navigate to the /tmp directory.
From the /tmp directory, copy the secret files to the directory on your edge node.
The specific copy instructions vary depending on your environment.
(Optional) If the secret files are missing from the /tmp directory, regenerate secret files by using the following command on your edge Kubernetes deployment:
Bash
./deploy.sh -node
This command fetches the most recent secret files, restores them to the /tmp directory on the core server, and prints instructions on setting up a node for the core.
After running the ./deploy.sh -node command, copy the newly generated secret files from the /tmp directory on the core server to the designated directory on the edge node.
Note
The specific directory for placing the secret files on the edge node might differ depending on the deployment configuration.

Task 7: Deploy services

Navigate to <install-location>/hedge-node/.env with your configuration details and update the parameters in the .env file.
Run the following commands:
make run
The system deploys the node services.