Connect the laptop to the switch

This document is intended for administrators setting up the Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) air-gapped appliance. Since this appliance is built for securely isolated environments, it doesn't have external network access by default. To fully provision the appliance and deploy your software stack, you'll first need to establish a direct, local management connection. By connecting a laptop directly to the top-of-rack (TOR) switch, you'll gain the secure administrative access required to authenticate the hardware, configure your initial network settings, and prepare the device for production.

Before you begin

Before you power on the device and configure your network, ensure you've completed this crucial step:

  • Insert the YubiKeys: You must insert the provided YubiKeys into the designated servers before starting the boot sequence. These hardware security keys serve as a strict cryptographic requirement—they unlock the encrypted storage volumes and authenticate the hardware while the system starts up. If the YubiKeys aren't inserted properly, the servers won't boot securely. Consequently, you'll be unable to establish an SSH connection or proceed with configuring the device.

Power on the device

Follow these instructions to connect the laptop to the switch using an adapter and log into the terminal:

  1. Use the included power cables to supply power to the device, and power on all three servers and the TOR switch.

  2. Connect a laptop to the uplink management port (port 10) on the switch.

    Switch

  3. Set the networking configuration of the laptop:

    1. Set the Internet protocol (IP) address of the link on the laptop to 198.18.0.30.
    2. The subnet mask is 255.255.255.224.
    3. The default gateway is 198.18.0.1.
    4. DNS fields can be left blank, as you must connect to 198.18.0.6 by using the IP address and not a hostname.

  4. Verify that you can access the device by establishing a Secure Shell (SSH) connection to the server assigned the IP 198.18.0.6 using the username applianceusr and default password Bosco08!.

       ssh applianceusr@198.18.0.6

  5. Review the required IP addresses for network endpoints on the appliance:

    Management plane (198.18.0.0/24, VLAN 501)

    IP Address Description
    198.18.0.1 Switch IP
    198.18.0.2 Chassis IP
    198.18.0.4 bm01 IP
    198.18.0.5 bm02 IP
    198.18.0.6 bm03 IP
    198.18.0.7 iLO for bm01
    198.18.0.8 iLO for bm02
    198.18.0.9 iLO for bm03 (GPU blade)

    Data plane (198.18.2.0/24, VLAN 100)

    IP Address Description
    198.18.2.1 Switch IP
    198.18.2.2 bm01 IP
    198.18.2.3 bm02 IP
    198.18.2.4 bm03 IP

What's next

Create an input configuration file