EC2 Instances Using AMI in AWS Deployment

Infoblox supports the deployment of EC2 instances in AWS (Amazon Web Services) Cloud using Infoblox-provided AMI (Amazon Machine Image) with Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud). You can find the Infoblox AMI in Amazon Community AMIs or Public AMIs.

To deploy an EC2 instance using the Infoblox AMI, complete the following:

1. Log in to the AWS Management Console.
2. From the EC2 Dashboard, click Launch instance.
3. To choose an AWS AMI, do one of the following:
   1. For Community AMI: In Step1: Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI):
      • Click Community AMIs to search for the BloxOne AMI.
      • Enter Infoblox BloxOne in the search field.
      • Click Select to choose the Infoblox BloxOne 3.3 BYOL or the latest available AMI version.
   2. For Marketplace AMI: In Step1: Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI):
      • In the AWS Management console search field, enter Infoblox BloxOne.
      • Choose the InfoBlox BloxOne product from the Marketplace section.
4. In Step2: Choose a default Instance Type.
5. Click Next: Configure Instance Details.
6. In Step 3: Configure Instance Details, do the following:
   • Before configuring instance details, obtain a join token from the BloxOne Infoblox Portal, as follows:
     
     1. Log in to the Infoblox Portal at https://csp.infoblox.com.
     2. From the Infoblox Portal, click Configure > Administrations > Join Tokens.  
     3. Click Create Token.
     4. On the Create Token page, complete the following:
        
        • Name: Enter a name for the new token.
        • Description: Enter a description for this token,
        • TAGS: Click Add to associate keys with the EC2 instance and specify the following:

          • KEY: Enter a meaningful name for the key, such as a location or a department.  

          • VALUE: Enter a value for the key. For information about tags, see Managing Tags.

     5. Click Save & Close. 
        
     6. The join token string appears in the Copy Token? dialog box. Click Copy to copy the token. You should copy the token string and save it in a place where you can find it later. You need this token string when you configure your EC2 instance.
        The join token you created appears only once in the dialog box. When you close the dialog, you will not be able to retrieve the join token. Ensure that you copy it and save it on your system for future deployment purposes.
        
   • Number of instances: Enter the number of instances you plan to deploy.
   • Network: Choose an Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) from the drop-down list. If you do not already have a VPC, click Create new VPC, so you can select your own IP address range and subnets as well as configure route tables and network gateways. After you have created a VPC, choose it from the drop-down list.
   • Subnet: Choose a subnet for the selected network. If you do not already have one, click Create new subnet to create a range of IP addresses in your VPC that can be used to isolate different EC2 resources from each other or from the Internet. Each subnet resides in one Availability Zone.
   • Auto-assign Public IP: Choose User subnet setting (Enable). A public IP address is recommended to connect the instance to BloxOne Cloud. However, if your must run the EC2 instance in a private subnet, follow instructions described here to set up the connectivity. In this case, the NAT gateways must be configured appropriately from at least one network interface for external connectivity. 
   • Network Interfaces: If you want to use multiple network interfaces, you will need to associate a pre-allocated Elastic IP address with the interface because you cannot auto-assign a public IP. To add multiple network interfaces, click Add Device in the Network Interfaces section. Note that Elastic IP address is needed for the primary interface only, and is not required on each additional interface. For information about Elastic IP, see Associating Elastic IP Addresses
   • In the Advanced Details section, do the following:
     
     • Metadata accessible: Choose Enabled.
     • Metadata version: Choose V1 and V2 (token optional).
     • Metadata token response hop limit: Enter 1.
     • Allow tags in metadata: Choose Enabled.
     • User data: Choose As text and enter the following in the text box. For information on how to use the userdata file, see YML and JSON Templates.
             #cloud-config
   host_setup:
     jointoken: "your BloxOne join token"
7. Click Next: Add storage.
8. In Step 4: Add Storage, choose storage size 60 GB when deploying the standard package and 750 GB for high capacity package.
9. Click Next: Add tags.
10. In Step 5: Add Tags, add tags based on your company's defined policies. This step is optional.
11. Click Next: Configure Security Groups.
12. In Step 6: Configure Security Groups, do the following:
    • Assign a security group: Choose Create a new security group to add applicable firewall rules based on the BloxOne connectivity and service requirements. These rules control the traffic of your EC2 instance. Your must open applicable ports for the EC2 instance to connect properly. For details, see NIOS-X Server Connectivity and Service Requirements.
    • Security group name: Enter a name for this security group.
    • Description: Enter a description about this security group.
    • Click Add Rule to add firewall rules based on requirements listed in NIOS-X Server Connectivity and Service Requirements. 
13. Click Review and Launch.
14. In Step 7: Review Instance Launch, review all the warning messages, the AMI configuration, instance type, security groups, instance details, storage, tags, and rules.
    If necessary, click Edit to make changes to applicable sections before you deploy the instance.
15. Click Launch to deploy the EC2 instance.
16. In the Select an existing key pair or create a new key pair dialog, do the following:
    1. Choose Proceed without a key pair from the drop-down menu. Note that you will not be able to use a key pair to SSH to the EC2 instance.
    2. Read the acknowledgement and select the checkbox.
    3. Click Launch Instances. 
17. To check the current status of your EC2 instance, log in to the Infoblox Portal at https://csp.infoblox.com, and then go to Configure > Servers in the Infoblox Portal.