Prepare the virtual machines

After you create your VMs, you need to prepare them for cluster formation.

Add the Vertica license and private key

Prepare your nodes by adding your private key (if you are using one) to each node and to your Vertica license. These steps assume that the initial user you configured is the DBADMIN user.

As the dbadmin user, copy your private key file from where you saved it locally onto your primary node.

Depending upon the procedure you use to copy the file, the permissions on the file may change. If permissions change, the install_vertica script fails with a message similar to the following:
```
Failed Login Validation 10.0.2.158, cannot resolve or connect to host as root.
```
If you receive a failure message, enter the following command to correct permissions on your private key file:
```
$ chmod 600 /<name-of-key>.pem
```
Copy your Vertica license to your primary VM. Save it in your home directory or other known location.

Install software dependencies for Vertica on Azure

In addition to the Vertica standard Package dependencies, as the root user, you must install the following packages before you install Vertica on Azure:

pstack
mcelog
sysstat
dialog