Setting up install config parameters

This section outlines configuring and deploying the Helix Edge core using environment-specific configuration files. You no longer need to modify the deploy.sh script directly to set configuration parameters. Instead, you will use dedicated environment files.

The Helix Edge core uses the following environment files to manage settings for different deployment types:

• env: Used for production deployments.
• env-STAG: Used for setting up a staging environment.
• env-DEV: Used for setting up a development environment.

Before deploying, you must update the relevant configuration file with the appropriate parameters for your environment.

Deployment methods

You can reference the appropriate env file as input for deployment by using any one of the following methods:

• Configuring the env parameter: Recommended for consistent setups
• Using command-line arguments: Recommended for one-off deployments

Deployment table summary

 Configuring the env parameter

This method is recommended for consistent setups. 

1. Open the deploy.sh script and locate the ENV variable.

2. Update it to specify the desired environment:

   For production

   Bash
   export ENV=prod

   For staging

   Bash
   export ENV=stag

   For development

   Bash
   export ENV=dev

3. Run the deploy.sh script.
   The system automatically uses the configuration file corresponding to the ENV variable you set.

   Bash
   ./deploy.sh <namespace>
4. Replace <namespace> with the desired namespace for your deployment.

Using command-line arguments

This method is recommended for one-off deployments.

1. Run the deploy.sh script with one of the following flags to specify the environment directly:

   For production

   Bash
   ./deploy.sh <namespace> -prod

   For staging

   Bash
   ./deploy.sh <namespace> -stag

   For development

   Bash
   ./deploy.sh <namespace> -dev
2. Replace <namespace> with the namespace for your deployment.

Integrating with BMC Helix IT Operation Management using a custom CA-signed certificate

Use the following steps if BMC Helix IT Operation Management uses a custom Certificate Authority (CA) signed certificate.

1. Get the custom CA-signed certificate from your BMC Helix IT Operation Management Administrator.
2. To rename and copy the certificate, perform the following steps:
   1. Rename the certificate file to custom_cacert.pem.
   2. Copy the renamed file to <BMC Helix IoT Edge core Install Directory>/hedge-core/commons/certs.
3. To set the environment variable, perform the following steps:
   1. Open the <BMC Helix IoT Edge Install Directory>/hedge-core/env file. 
   2. Change the value of IS_ADE_CUSTOM_CERT to true.
      The default value is false.
4. Double-check all other environment variables in the env file to make sure they are correctly configured.
5. Start the BMC Helix IoT Edge deployment.

Deploying the BMC Helix Edge core with Kubernetes Load Balancer

The BMC Helix IoT Edge core supports service deployment with load balancers on self-managed Kubernetes clusters, provided the load balancer is already configured in the cluster. Kubernetes does not natively provide load balancers for bare-metal clusters.

To deploy the BMC Helix Edge core with Kubernetes Load Balance for self-managed clusters

1. Set up a network load balancer in the Kubernetes cluster.
   For more information on configuring the Kubernetes cluster, see the MetalLB documentation. 
   Kubernetes cluster administrators perform this step.
2. To set an environment variable, perform the following steps:
   1. Open the <BMC Helix IoT Edge Install Directory>/hedge-core/env file.
   2. Change the IS_LOADBALANCER value to true.
      The default value is false.
3. Double-check that the other environment values are accurate.

4. Initiate the BMC Helix IoT Edge deployment.

   Important:

   Before setting IS_LOADBALANCER to true, make sure the Kubernetes cluster is properly configured with a network load balancer such as MetalLB and has a pool of at least seven routable, static IP addresses available.

Setting up for the installation

1. Customize the env file with variables.

2. The env file displays the scripts with parameters. The following script is an example for your reference:  

   ## Possible Values: CORE, NODE, or CORE_NODE ##
   
   export CURRENT_HEDGE_NODE_TYPE=CORE_NODE
   
   ## NOTE: Change to your kubernetes server's domain name (prefixed with . Eg: ".bmc.com") ##
   ##       (Make sure to prefix the domain name with a '.')       ##
   
   export K8S_DOMAIN_NAME=.[Domain Name]
   
   export KUBECONFIG= [Location of kubeconfig file]
   
   export NFSSTORAGECLASS=[Storage-Class-Name]
   
   export SECRETS_FILE=/opt/bmc/hedge/hedge-core/_hedge_secrets_inp.yaml
   export PULL_SECRET=[Pull Secret Name mentioned in _hedge_secrets_inp.yaml ]
   
   ## Set IS_CLOUD_DEPLOY to true if deploying on a Cloud hosted Kubernetes, false if its a self-managed Kubernetes
   export IS_CLOUD_DEPLOYMENT=false
   
   ## Quality of Service for MQTT and other global parameters to be used across services
   export MQTT_QOS=0
   export MQTT_RETAIN=false
   export PERSISTONERROR=false
   export METRICREPORTINTERVAL=1800
   
   ## Set UID_HTTP_HEADER to "helix_sso_uid" (default) for RSSO auth, else "X-Credential-Identifier" for basic auth
   export UID_HTTP_HEADER=helix_sso_uid
   
   ## Set IS_EXTERNAL_AUTH to "true" (default) for RSSO (or other external authentication providers), else "false" for basic auth
   export IS_EXTERNAL_AUTH=true
   
   # Set DATASTORE_PROVIDER to "ADE" (default) or "Hedge" based on your choice of persistent storage. Hedge for local storage.
   export DATASTORE_PROVIDER=ADE
   
   export TRAINING_PROVIDER=ADE
   
   ## When Provider is ADE/AI Foundation, the below is the connectivity configuration
   export ADE_TENANT_URL=[ADE Tenant URL]
   
   ## Access key for each tenant is generated from the UI and then provide permissions to the key
   export ADE_ACCESS_KEY=[ADE Access Key]
   export ADE_ACCESS_SECRET_KEY=[ADE Access Secret Key]
   export ADE_TENANT_APIKEY=[ ADE Tenant APIKEY]
   export ADE_TENANT_ID=[ADE Tenant ID]
   
   ## DOCKER REGISTRY
   export REGISTRY_HOST=[Docker Registry Host Name & project]
   
   ## Helix products
   export HELIX_MONITOR_URL=[BHOM Url]
   
   
   ## set this to one or more comma separated valid profiles: all,virtual,demo,es,vm,biz
   ## if you need to install these optional services, make sure to also enable them in vars_core and/or vars_node from the "ansible" folder
   export COMPOSE_PROFILES=
   #export COMPOSE_PROFILES=# one or more of - all,virtual,demo,es,vm,biz,fleet
   
   # Valid values for ENV - dev, beta, prod
   export ENV=dev 

3. Update the following parameters in the env file:  

   Parameter	Description
   CURRENT_HEDGE_NODE_TYPE	Set the type of the current node. In this case, the node type is a CORE_NODE.
   K8S_DOMAIN_NAME	Change this parameter to the domain name of the Kubernetes server name, prefixed with a '.' For example, .bmc.com.
   KUBECONFIG	Set the path name to the kubeconfig file for Kubernetes.
   NFSSTORAGECLASS	Type the name of the storage class from NFS. For more information, see Deploying NFS.
   SECRETS_FILE	Set the path name to the secrets file.
   REGISTRY_HOST	Set the registry host name where the product images are present.
   PULL_SECRET	Set the pull secret for accessing container images.
   IS_CLOUD_DEPLOY	Set this parameter to true if deploying on a cloud-hosted Kubernetes. Otherwise, set to false if it is a self-managed Kubernetes.
   MQTT_QOS	Set MQTT to Quality of Service.
   MQTT_RETAIN	Set MQTT to retain.
   PERSISTONERROR	Set persistence on error.
   METRICREPORTINTERVAL	Set the metric reporting interval.
   UID_HTTP_HEADER	Set the HTTP header for user identification. The default value is helix_sso_uid.
   IS_EXTERNAL_AUTH	Set to true if by using an external authentication provider, such as Helix BMC Helix SSO.
   DATASTORE_PROVIDER	Set the data store provider (BMC Helix or BMC Helix Edge). The default value is ADE.
   TRAINING_PROVIDER	Set the training provider (BMC Helix Innovation Studio, BMC Helix Innovation Studio Common Services, or another provider). The default value is ADE.
   ADE_TENANT_URL	Set the BMC Helix tenant URL.
   ADE_TENANT_ID	(optional) Set the BMC Helix tenant ID.
   ADE_ACCESS_KEY	Set the BMC Helix access key.
   ADE_ACCESS_SECRET_KEY	Set the BMC Helix access secret key.
   ADE_TENANT_APIKEY	Set BMC Helix tenant API key.
   HELIX_MONITOR_URL	Enter the URL of BMC Helix Monitor.
   COMPOSE_PROFILES	Enter one or more profiles of all: virtual, demo, elastic search, Victoria machine, and biz.
   EXPOERT_HEDGE_ADE_USERNAME	Enter the ADE admin user name in this field. You can override this with the same user name that you created on ADE and use it in Hedge for authentication.

4. Validate variables for error prevention manually.