Prepare instances for cluster formation

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

After you create your instances, you need to prepare them for cluster formation. Prepare your instances by adding your AWS .pem key and your Vertica license.

By default, each AMI includes a Community Edition license. Once Vertica is installed, you can find the license at this location:

/opt/vertica/config/licensing/vertica_community_edition.license.key

As the dbadmin user, copy your *pem file (from where you saved it locally) onto your primary instance.

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:
```
FATAL (19): Failed Login Validation 10.0.3.158, cannot resolve or connect to host as root.
```
If you receive a failure message, enter the following command to correct permissions on your *pem file:
```
$ chmod 600 /<name-of-pem>.pem
```
Copy your Vertica license over to your primary instance, placing it in your home directory or other known location.