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Prerequisites Checklist

Prepare and configure the following external components before installing Vantage:
  • A machine with Docker and internet access (from which Vantage is being installed)
  • Virtual machines (with internet access during installation) to be used as Kubernetes nodes
  • A container registry to store Docker images
  • Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) for Vantage operation
  • An SMTP server to send email messages to Vantage users
  • A TLS certificate to establish encrypted communications
  • 2 static IP addresses - one for Kubernetes configuration/management, one for Vantage access
  • A DNS record for Vantage access
  • External storage (optional for Without high availability configuration)

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Installation Machine Requirements

The machine from which Vantage is being installed requires:
  • Linux OS or Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
  • Docker version 19.03 or later
  • Network access to abyvtgonprm27.azurecr.io
  • Local files containing a private SSH key (without a passphrase) for the ansible user account
All virtual machines must have the same SSH key.

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Virtual Machine Requirements

All virtual machines can run in VMware or Hyper-V and must have:
  • A static IP address
  • A user account named ansible with:
    • Shared SSH key access
    • sudo access with NOPASSWD option
  • A dedicated expandable disk/lvm_volume mounted to /opt/local-path-provisioner on each worker node
  • Internet access during installation to the container registry and package repositories:
    • Container registry with the synchronized images prepared as a prerequisite for Vantage installation. For more information, see Downloading Container Images.
    • Package repository: Ubuntu (archive.ubuntu.com), RHEL (cdn.redhat.com). Instead of access to the package repositories, you can also configure access to your own repository, which should contain all the required packages listed below.
Common (all distributions): 
curl, socat, unzip, e2fsprogs, xfsprogs, ebtables, tar
OS-specific: 
python3-apt, apt-transport-https, software-properties-common,
conntrack, libseccomp2

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Post-Installation Network Access

After cluster installation, virtual machines need access to:
  • https://licensing-us.abbyy.com
  • The mail server, for which the SMTP settings are specified in the env_specific.ymlfile (for sending email invitations, recovering passwords, etc.).
  • All mail servers from which you are going to import your emails in Vantage Process skills. These must be the mail servers on which the email addresses for import are registered, respectively.

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Highly Available Configuration

The minimum required number of virtual machines is specified. Different performances may require a different number of virtual machines.
Kubernetes Node TypeMaster NodesWorker Nodes (Services)Worker Nodes (Workers)
Operating SystemUbuntu 20.04 or RHEL 8Ubuntu 20.04 or RHEL 8Ubuntu 20.04 or RHEL 8
Number of VMs341
CPU cores (for each VM)21212
RAM, GB (for each VM)44848
Disk Storage for Kubernetes, GB (for each VM)508080
Disk/volume for /opt/local-path-provisioner mount point, GBNot requiredMinimum 40Minimum 40
Network bandwidth, Gbps (for each VM)111

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Without High Availability Configuration

Kubernetes Node TypeMaster NodesWorker Nodes (Services)Worker Nodes (Workers)
Operating SystemUbuntu 20.04 or RHEL 8Ubuntu 20.04 or RHEL 8Ubuntu 20.04 or RHEL 8
Number of VMs111
CPU cores (for each VM)21212
RAM, GB (for each VM)44848
Disk Storage for Kubernetes, GB (for each VM)508080
Disk/volume for /opt/local-path-provisioner mount point, GBNot requiredMinimum 40Minimum 40
Network bandwidth, Gbps (for each VM)111
Kubernetes version 1.28.4 will be installed during the Vantage installation.

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Container Registry

You can use any container registry.

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Database Requirements

A Microsoft SQL Server database with the following configuration is required:
VersionOSCPU coresRAM, GBDisk Storage, GBFull-Text Search
Enterprise 2022Linux44Recommended: 400, Min: 200Enabled
An external SQL database server must be set up and you must have the appropriate credentials to create and manage the new database. The installer requires the IP address of the SQL Server, as well as a username and password to connect to the database.

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SMTP Server

The server should operate via the SMTP protocol. The installer requires the IP address/DNS name, port of the SMTP server, a password to connect to the server (if the server requires authentication). The SMTP server must be allowed to send emails to Vantage users. Configure SMTP with or without authentication in env_specific.yml.
We recommend using the option with authentication (with login and password).
With authentication (recommended) With login and password. In this case, the smtp section in the env_specific.yml file should be defined as follows: 
smtp:
  host: X.X.X.X
  login: email
  password: password
  port: 587
  useSSL: false
  secureSocketOptions: null
Without authentication Without login and password. In this case, the smtp section in the env_specific.yml file should be defined as follows: 
mailFrom: email
smtp:
  host: X.X.X.X
  login: null
  password: null
  port: 25
  useSSL: false
  secureSocketOptions: None
Do not forget to add the mailFrom parameter to the root.
We recommend using the option with authentication (with login and password).

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TLS Certificate

You will need either a wildcard or domain-specific certificate. If your Vantage installation will connect external services using the Custom activity or export to external systems, the certificate should be issued by a public certification authority, for example https://letsencrypt.org/.

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Static IP Addresses

1. Kubernetes API Access. A static IP address that will be used as a virtual IP address to access the Kubernetes API server endpoint for configuring and managing the cluster. The IP address should be defined in the env_specific.yml file as follows. For more information, see Setting up configuration files: 
k8s:
  api:
    ip: X.X.X.X
2. Vantage Services Access. A static IP address that will be used to access Vantage services over HTTPS. An appropriate DNS A record must be created beforehand. The IP address should be defined in the env_specific.yml file as follows. For more information, see Installation: 
loadbalancer:
  external_ip: X.X.X.X

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DNS record for further access to Vantage

No specific requirements. The installer requires a primary domain and a DNS name that will be used to access Vantage. The DNS record must point to the IP address dedicated for access to Vantage.

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External Storage

External storage is an optional requirement for Without high availability configuration only. The disk size requirements for Highly available configuration are described in the Performance Guide. ABBYY Vantage deploys local storage on hard disks of the provided virtual machines, which speeds up the installation of the product. However, this option may still be affected by unexpected reboots and virtual machine crashes. Since this may result in the loss of the data being stored, using an external storage is recommended when installing. ABBYY Vantage lets you define the usage of specific storage types in the ways listed below.

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Using the local storage on hard disks of the provided virtual machines

In this case, volumes with ReadWriteOnce POSIX-compatible access will be provisioned locally tothe /opt/local_path_provisioner directory on each Kubernetes node. For ReadWriteMany volume types, Vantage will deploy an in-cluster nfs-kernel-server on the first abbyy_services node (the IP of this node is the first in the corresponding block in the inventory file). The data of the NFS server will be stored in the /opt/local_path_provisioner directory, so make sure you have a dedicated volume/disk for this pathon the first abbyy_services node (the first node of this group is defined in the inventory file) of at least 500 GB in size. For Highly available configuration, the first abbyy_services node will also host local persistent volume storage. It will require additional hard drive capacity depending on the processing load. For details on required amounts, see the Performance Guide.
If local persistent volume storage runs out of space, Vantage may stop working with loss of some data. We recommend that you monitor the free space on your side and set up alerts for space running low, so that you can add more storage in time and prevent data loss.

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Using External NFS Storage

Vantage installer allows you to automatically configure an NFS storage to be used as Vantage storage for specific services, such as import and export to a shared folder, and storing the data collected by monitoring. The section in the env_specific.yml file will look like the following: 
k8s:
  storage:
    rwx:
      external:
        enabled: true
        type: "nfs"
        nfs:
          address: <your nfs server IP address>
          path: <your nfs server exported share>
For Vantage to work correctly, we recommend the root directory of the NFS server (for example, /opt/nfs) to have the following permissions and owner: 
drwxr-xr-x 4 65532 65532 4096 Dec 12 09:25 /opt/nfs/
Below is a sample directory setting in the /etc/exports file for when a Linux machine is used as an NFS server: 
/opt/nfs *(rw,sync,all_squash,insecure,no_subtree_check,anonuid=65532,anongid=65532)
In case another storage type is required to be connected, please refer to the Defining your own storage classes section below.

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Defining Your Own Storage Classes

If you want to use non-NFS external storage, follow the steps below:
  1. During the installation process, after creating the Kubernetes cluster (step 4 in Running the installation scripts), deploy the appropriate CSI (container storage interface) drivers and create storage classes for them.
  2. Fill in the k8s section in the env_specific.yml file using the following code:
k8s:
  storage:
    rwo:
      class_name: "<rwo posix compatible storage class>"
    rwx:
      class_name: "<read_write_many_storage_class>"
  1. Continue with the installation.
For NFS storage, configure in env_specific.yml: 
k8s:
  storage:
    rwx:
      external:
        enabled: true
        type: "nfs"
        nfs:
          address: <your nfs server IP address>
          path: <your nfs server exported share>
If local persistent volume storage runs out of space, Vantage may stop working with data loss. Monitor free space and set up alerts.