Installation

Amazon Web Services

REQUIREMENTS

To use CloudDat, you will need the following:

  • An Amazon Web Services account
  • An S3 bucket
  • EC2 SSH Keys for the bucket's region
  • A high-speed Internet path to Amazon Web Services
  • A Secure Shell (SSH) client

DISTRIBUTION METHODS

CloudDat for AWS may be obtained through AWS marketplace as a subscription, or directly from DEI as a perpetual, term, or trial license.

For AWS Marketplace, follow either the CloudFormation or Single AMI instructions.  If you are not proficient with AWS EC2 or Linux, CloudFormation is recommended.  For licenses obtained directly from DEI, follow the Stand Alone instructions.  For use with on non-AWS, S3 compatible environments, see S3 Compatible.

CloudFormation Single AMI Stand Alone S3 Compatible

The AWS Marketplace "CloudDat" delivery method uses AWS Cloud Formation to perform the initial setup on AWS' website and automatically create an IAM Role and security group.  This is the best choice for most Marketplace users.

  1. Verify that you have all of the requirements listed above.
  2. Choose an S3 account and bucket to access.
    Note which region hosts the bucket.  Buckets in the "Standard" region are "US East (N. Virginia)".
  3. Go to the AWS Marketplace page and choose the Hourly, Monthly, or Monthly High Capacity product.  Choose the Hourly product for the 7-day free trial.  CloudFormation may not be available on the subscription management page: start from the Product Page instead.
  4. Click the "Continue to Subscribe" button at the top of the page, even if you are already subscribed. Continue Button
  5. If this is your first time subscribing to this product, or if you have previously cancelled your subscription, click the "Accept Software Terms" button.  If you are already subscribed, you will skip to the next step. Accept Button
  6. The next screen will show your subscription terms and may display other offers, terms, and details.  Click "Continue to Configuration". Continue to Configuration
  7. Select a "Fulfillment option" by clicking on the dropdown menu and choosing "CloudFormation Template".  You will have an opportunity to choose the instance size after the "Launch" step.  If drop-down menus interfere with your ability to make a selection, try making your browser window wider.  If the "CloudFormation Template" option is not available, start over from the AWS Marketplace page. Delivery Method CloudFormation
  8. Verify that the latest "Software version" is selected.  Older versions, if available, may not be fully supported.
  9. In the "Region" box, select the AWS region where your S3 bucket is located.  Selecting a different region may cause the launch process to fail, or result in very poor performance. Region
  10. Click "Continue to Launch" at the top of the page. Continue to Launch
  11. In the "Choose Action" box, select "Launch CloudFormation". Launch Cloudformation
  12. Click the "Launch" button.  This does not actually launch the software, it just starts the configuration process. Launch
  13. You will now be taken to the start of the launch workflow.  Verify that the default Amazon S3 URL is selected as the Template source, then click "Next" to continue. Template source Next Button
  14. Click to Zoom

    Now you can configure your CloudDat instance.  Most settings may be left with their default values or the first option in the drop-down menu.  Click the screenshot on the right to see an example.
    • Stack name: Optionally name this collection of CloudDat resources.
    • Instance Type:   Select an instance type based on your desired performancec5n types give the best performance, but a few newer AWS regions do not support c5n.  Choosing an unsupported type will cause the launch process to fail later during stack creation.
    • VpcId: If you do not already have a VPC, choose any of the default values.
    • Subnet: If you do not already have a VPC, choose any of the default values.
    • Key Pair: Choose the SSH key which you will use to access the CloudDat instance for administration and advanced configuration.
    • Restrict Client Access: Set a subnet mask to limit file transfers, or enter "0.0.0.0/0" to allow file transfers from anywhere.
    • Restrict Admin Access: Set a subnet mask to limit SSH access, or enter "0.0.0.0/0" to allow admin access from anywhere.
    • Existing S3 Bucket: Type the name of your S3 bucket.  Do not enter an endpoint URL, just the bucket name.
    • ExpeDat Username: Choose a name for your initial file transfer user account.
    • ExpeDat Password: Select a password for your initial file transfer user account.
    Click "Next" once you have completed the configuration form.  If you receive errors, check that you have completed all form elements according to the instructions above and try again.  Remember that you can always contact us for help. Next Button
  15. There are no changes required on the "Configure stack options" page, click "Next" again.  Do not enter an IAM Role here: one will be created for you, which you can modify later.  If you need to apply a pre-existing IAM role, go back and follow the Single AMI instructions instead.  The default IAM policy for S3 access is:  "s3:AbortMultipartUpload", "s3:DeleteObject", "s3:GetBucketLocation", "s3:GetObject", "s3:ListBucket", "s3:ListBucketMultipartUploads", "s3:ListMultipartUploadParts", "s3:PutObject" Next Button
  16. On the Review page, scroll to the bottom and click the checkbox to allow the creation of an IAM role which will allow the CloudDat instance to access the bucket you named.  Then click "Create stack". Acknowledge IAM Create Button
  17. You will now be taken to the Cloud Formation page.  This page sometimes loads before the CloudDat stack has started and may say "Showing 0 stacks".  If that hapens, click the Reload button at the top right to find the new CloudDat stack. Create In Progress
  18. It may take several minutes for AWS to deploy the CloudDat resources.  Once the Status shows "CREATE_COMPLETE", select the CloudDat stack and open the "Resources" section.  Look for the the instance id in the "Physical ID" column and click on it. Resources
  19. You should now see the CloudDat instance in the EC2 console.  Once the Instance State reaches "running", copy the Public IP address to a web browser. Reload
  20. Zoom for Screenshot

    Your web browser should now show the CloudDat instance landing page.  If the page does not load, check that the instance is running and that its security group allows TCP port 80.  If the page displays yellow warnings, or the left-side "Server Status" is red, contact us for help.  Click the screenshot on the right for an example of what the page should look like.
  21. Download a client.
    Choose Windows or Mac for the graphical client ExpeDat Desktop and extract the contents of the ZIP package after download.  Links for the "Full Client Package" are near the bottom of the page and provide access to the command-line client movedat as well as DropDat for creating self-contained drag-and-drop uploaders.
  22. Zoom for Screenshot

    Run the client.
    No installation is required.  You may move the client executable to any location on your system before running it.
  23. Back in the web browser, click "Access your S3 Bucket".
    Your browser may ask you to confirm launching ExpeDat Desktop.  The ExpeDat Desktop client will prompt you to enter the password you created earlier.  For command line clients, see the Client Use page.

After clicking the Access link, the client will list the contents of your S3 bucket (if any) and you can begin transferring files.  You may wish to bookmark the link for easy access later.  The next page describes more about using clients.  See the Support page if the client has trouble reaching the CloudDat instance.

Next: Client Use >

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