Provision the infrastructure

We will use terraform to create some devices in Equinix.

Configure

1. Create a new local directory and change into it:

   mkdir lm-equinix
   cd lm-equinix

2. Generate an API key for both Equinix and Tailscale.

3. Create a new SSH key pair:

   ssh-keygen -t ed25519 -f lm-key -N ""

4. Connect your local machine to Tailscale:

   For Linux users:

   sudo tailscale up --accept-routes

   For other OS users:

   sudo tailscale up

5. Install the Equinix CLI tool.

6. Find an Equinix metro with sufficient capacity.

   metal capacity get

   Make note of the FACILITY and PLAN which has a normal availabity level. In my case I will choose:

   | am6      | c3.small.x86   | normal     |

7. Write the following to a main.tf file:

   Contents

   cat << EOF >main.tf
   module "create_devices" {
     source = "weaveworks-liquidmetal/liquidmetal/equinix"
     version = "0.0.3"
   
     metal_auth_token = "my equinix auth token"
     org_id = "my org id"
     project_name = "my-lm-project"
     public_key = "my ssh public key"
     metro = "your chosen metro"
     server_type = "your chosen server type"
   }
   
   module "provision_hosts" {
     source = "weaveworks-liquidmetal/liquidmetal/equinix//modules/provision"
     version = "0.0.3"
   
     ts_auth_key = "my tailscale auth key"
     private_key_path = "/path/to/my/private/key"
   
     vlan_id = module.create_devices.vlan_id
     network_hub_address = module.create_devices.network_hub_ip
     microvm_host_addresses = module.create_devices.microvm_host_ips
     baremetal_host_addresses = module.create_devices.bare_metal_host_ips
   }
   
   output "network_hub_ip" {
     value = module.create_devices.network_hub_ip
     description = "The address of the device created to act as a networking configuration hub"
   }
   
   output "microvm_host_ips" {
     value = module.create_devices.microvm_host_ips
     description = "The addresses of the devices provisioned as flintlock microvm hosts"
   }
   EOF

8. Edit these fields in your main.tf:

   • metal_auth_token: your API token for Equinix Metal
   • org_id: Your Equinix org id.
   • project_name: The name of the project to create.
   • public_key: The contents of the .pub file you created earlier.
   • metro: The metro of the facility you chose from your capacity check earlier. In my case I chose facility am6, so my metro will be am.
   • server_type: The plan available in your chosen metro. In my case this is c3.small.x86.
   • ts_auth_key: Your Tailscale auth key.
   • private_key_path: The full path to the private key you generated earlier.

Apply

Once your variables are configured, apply the plan:

terraform init
terraform plan
terraform apply

This make take a few minutes.

Once the apply is complete, take a note of the following outputs:

• network_hub_ip
• microvm_host_ips

Approve the subnet routes

Once your network-hub host is provisioned, navigate to your Tailscale dash, and locate your network-hub machine which should have come online in your network. Select the machine.

On the machine page, click Review under the 'Subnets' section, and toggle your range to 'enabled'.

info

This bit is easy to overlook or forget, so I am highlighting here for extra clarity!

Test

To verify the flintlockd services are ready to accept requests, you can use either fl or hammertime to perform simple queries against the microvm_host_ips returned by the terraform:

hammertime list -a <address>:9090

fl microvm get --host <address>:9090