Deploy an MC instance in GCP for Eon Mode

To deploy an Eon Mode database to GCP using Google Cloud Platform Launcher, you must deploy a Management Console (MC) instance. You then use the MC instance to provision and deploy an Eon Mode database.

Once you have taken the steps listed in Eon Mode on GCP prerequisites, you are ready to deploy an Eon Mode database in GCP. To deploy an MC instance that is able to deploy Eon Mode databases to GCP:

1. Log into your GCP account, if you are not currently logged in.

2. Verify that your user account has the Editor role and the runtimeconfig.waiters.getIamPolicy permission.

3. Verify that the name of the GCP project you want to use for the deployment appears in the top banner. If it does not, click the down arrow next to the project name and select the correct project.

4. Click the navigation menu icon in the top left of the page and select Marketplace.

5. In the Search for solutions box, type Vertica Eon Mode and press enter.

6. Click the search result for Vertica Data Warehouse, Eon Mode. There are two license options: by the hour (BTH) and bring your own license (BYOL). See Deploy Vertica from the Google cloud marketplace for more information on this license choice.

7. Click Launch on the license option you prefer.

8. On the following page, fill in the fields to configure your MC instance:

   • Deployment name identifies your MC deployment in the GCP Deployments page.

   • Zone is the location where the virtual machine running your MC instance will be deployed. Make this the same location where your communal storage bucket is located.

   • Service Account: Service accounts allow automated processes to authenticate with GCP. Select the default service account, identified by project_number-compute@developer.gserviceaccount.com.

   • Machine Type is the virtual hardware configuration of the instance that will run the MC. The default values here are "middle of the road" settings which are sufficient for most use cases. If you are doing a small proof-of-concept deployment, you can choose a less powerful instance to save some money. If you are planning on deploying multiple large databases, consider increasing the count of virtual CPUs and RAM.
     For details about Vertica's default volume configurations, see Eon Mode volume configuration defaults for GCP.

   • User Name for Access to MC is the administrator username for the MC. You can customize this if you want.

   • Network and Subnetwork are the virtual private cloud (VPC) network and subnet within that network you want your MC instance and your Vertica nodes to use. This setting does not affect your MC's external network address. If you want to isolate your Vertica cluster from other GCP instances in your project, create a custom VPC network and optionally a subnet in your GCP project and select them in these fields. See the Google Cloud documentation's VPC network overview page for more information.

   • Firewall enables access to the MC from the internet by opening port 5450 in the firewall. You can choose to not open this port by clearing the I accept opening a port in the firewall (5450) for Vertica box. However, if you do not open the port in the firewall, your MC instance will only be accessible from within the VPC network. Not opening the port will make accessing your MC instance much harder.

   • Source IP ranges for MC traffic: If you choose to open the MC for external access, add one or more or more CIDR address ranges to this box for network addresses that you want to be able to access to the MC.

     Caution

     Make the address ranges as limited as possible to reduce the chances of unauthorized access to your MC instance.

9. Click the Deploy button to start the deployment of your MC instance.

The deployment process will take several minutes.

Using a custom service account

In general, you should use the default service account created by the GCP deployment (project_number-compute@developer.gserviceaccount.com), but if you want to use a custom service account:

• The custom service account must have the Editor role.

• Individual user accounts must have the Service Account User role on the custom service account.

Connect and log into the MC instance

After the deployment process is finished, the Deployment Manager page for your MC instance contains links to connect to the MC via your browser or ssh.

To connect to the MC instance:

1. The MC administrator user has a randomly-generated password that you need to log into the MC. Copy the password in the MC Admin Password field to the clipboard.

2. Click Access Management Console.

3. A new browser tab or window opens, showing you a page titled Redirection Notice. Click the link for the MC URL to continue to the MC login page.

4. Your browser will likely show you a security warning. The MC instance uses a self-signed security certificate. Most browsers treat these certificates as a security hazard because they cannot verify their origin. You can safely ignore this warning and continue. In most browsers, click the Advanced button on the warning page, and select the option to proceed. In Chrome, this is a link titled Proceed to xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (unsafe). In Firefox, it is a button labeled Accept the Risk and Continue.

5. At the login screen, enter the MC administrator user name into the Username box. This user name is mcadmin, unless you changed the user name in the MC deployment form.

6. Paste the automatically-generated password you copied from the MC Admin Password field earlier into the Password box.

7. Click Log In.

Once you have logged into the MC, change the MC administrator account's password.

To change the password:

1. On the home page of the MC, under the MC Tools section, click MC Settings.

2. In the left-hand menu, click User Management.

3. Select the entry for the MC administrator account and click Edit.

4. Click either the Generate new or Edit password button to change the password. If you click the Generate new button, be sure to save the automatically-generated password in a safe location. If you click Edit password, you are prompted to enter a new password twice.

5. Click Save to update the password.

Now that you have created your MC instance, you are ready to deploy a Vertica Eon Mode cluster. See Provision an Eon Mode cluster and database on GCP in MC.