Share

Autodesk Flame Configuration (Networked)

This topic covers the requirements for creating an Autodesk Flame instance on AWS, networked with other Flame instances, with or without a Project server.

For a standalone Flame instance, see Autodesk Flame Configuration (Standalone).


Requirements for an Autodesk Flame Instance on AWS

From the Autodesk Flame AMI you created, deploy the Flame instance. You must set its instance type, storage, EFA (if using AWS CDI), and security groups:

  • Instance type: At least G4dn.8xlarge (other recommended options: G5.8xlarge, G6.8xlarge, G6e.8xlarge, Gr6.8xlarge).

  • Storage:

    • If the projects are hosted on a project server, set the system disk to 50 GB.
    • If the projects are hosted by the Flame instance, set the system disk to 500 GB.
    • In either case, media is stored on an attached disk array or cloud NAS.
  • If you plan on using AWS CDI: You must configure the Flame instance to use the EFA (Elastic Fabric Adapter) network device. You cannot add an EFA network device after the instance creation.

    1. Check with AWS that EFA is available in the region where you will launch the instance.
    2. In the Launch an instance panel, under Network settings, click Edit.
    3. Select a subnet other than "No preference" and click Advanced network configuration at the bottom of the section.
    4. Click Enable under Elastic Fabric Adapter.
  • Security Groups:

Other settings should be adjusted according to your requirements, but do configure the following:

  • Network
  • Subnet
  • Domain join directory
  • IAM role
Note:

When you create the instance, the option Instance volume deletion on termination controls what happens to the storage when you terminate the instance. If the volume is not deleted on instance termination, while you are no longer paying for the terminated instance, you are still paying for the storage.

To avoid paying for storage you no longer need, the instance volume can be deleted automatically when the instance is terminated.

  1. When you launch an instance, open the storage tab.
  2. Select Delete on termination.

Before selecting Delete on termination, understand that data stored on the instance volume is permanently deleted when the instance is terminated.


Configure the Autodesk Flame Instance

After launching your Flame instance for the first time, you must configure it to your storage and network requirements.

Note:

Once all of this is done, you connect to Flame with the user you created, using Amazon DCV or HP Anyware.

  1. Connect to the Flame instance

From your local machine, connect to the instance through ssh. Use the flameadmin account and the keypair of the instance.

ssh -i <keypair> flameadmin@<INSTANCE PUBLIC IP>
  1. Assign a new machine ID

In a shell, run the command to assign a new machine ID to your instance:

dbus-uuidgen | sudo tee /etc/machine-id
  1. Stop Autodesk Backburner and Autodesk Stone & Wire services

To stop Autodesk Backburner and Autodesk Stone & Wire Services.

sudo systemctl stop adsk_backburner
sudo systemctl stop adsk_sw
  1. Set the hostname of the project server
  1. Connect to the instance.
  2. Set the hostname of the instance.
    sudo hostnamectl set-hostname --static <Your-host-name>
  1. Add the instance to the identity management system, if you have one.

Follow the instructions for your identity management system.

  1. Configure Backburner

In a shell, enter the following:

sudo /opt/Autodesk/backburner/backburnerConfig

At the prompts, provide the following answers:

  • Do you want to run the Backburner Manager on this machine? ([y]es/[n]o/[s]kip/[q]uit): n
  • Do you want to run the Backburner Server(s) on this machine? ([y]es/[n]o/[s]kip): y
  • Enter the hostname (or IP address) of the Manager for this Server, or localhost to use default. (leave empty to keep 'localhost'): <Your-ProjectServer-hostname>
  • Enter the hostname (or IP address) that the Manager should use to communicate to this Server, or localhost to use default. (leave empty to keep 'localhost'): <Your-Flame-name>
  1. Restart Autodesk Backburner and Autodesk Stone & Wire services

To restart Autodesk Backburner and Autodesk Stone & Wire Services.

sudo systemctl start adsk_backburner
sudo systemctl start adsk_sw
  1. Set up a swap partition

By default, the Flame instance doesn't have a swap partition. It is missing from the instance because the large number of possible use cases makes it impossible to predict and set the size of the swap partition.

You create the swap partition and size it according to your needs. To help you out, here is an example of a configuration that uses the ephemeral instance storage available to G4dn and G5 instances to set up a swap partition. You want to use the ephemeral storage for the swap partition because A. The swap partition doesn't need saving between restarts and B. Ephemeral storage costs are included in your instance costs.

Note:

This method is not optimal as it uses all the available space on the device, making the swap partition needlessly large. Consult AWS documentation for other swap partition creation methods.

  1. Find the instance storage by listing the disks attached to the instance with lsblk:

    [flameadmin@vxfhost ~]$ lsblk
    NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
    nvme0n1     259:1    0    50G  0 disk
    └─nvme0n1p1 259:2    0    50G  0 part /
    nvme1n1     259:0    0 838.2G  0 disk

    In this example, nvme1n1 is not mounted, indicating that this is our ephemeral instance storage device (data on this device is not kept when the instance is stopped). This is a good candidate for use as a swap file.

    Warning

    Do not select your media storage!

  2. Verify that the swap partition is always created on the ephemeral storage when the instance starts, add the following to /etc/rc.local

    # Create swap partition
    mkswap /dev/nvme1n1
    swapon /dev/nvme1n1

    Verify that the device name matches the ephemeral device name found earlier with lsblk!

  3. Restart the instance with

    sudo reboot

Once the instance is restarted, verify that the swap space is now available with lsblk:

[flameadmin@vxfhost ~]$ lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
nvme0n1     259:1    0    50G  0 disk
└─nvme0n1p1 259:2    0    50G  0 part /
nvme1n1     259:0    0 838.2G  0 disk [SWAP]

The swap partition is identified by the [SWAP] tag. In the previous example, nvme1n1 is now identified as the swap partition.

  1. Attach the NAS mount point

In a workgroup configuration, your media is stored on a network attached storage (NAS). You've configured the NAS previously, and now you mount it on the instance to use it as your media storage.

In a shell, run the following commands.

  1. Install autofs.

    sudo dnf install autofs
  2. Create the directory where the media is stored.

    sudo mkdir /mnt/StorageMedia
  3. Redirect to the NAS. Use the command sudo vi /etc/auto.direct and add the following line to the file

    /mnt/StorageMedia   -rw,noatime,nodiratime,bg   nas:/mnt/nas/StorageMedia
    Note: The above is an example of an NFS exported file system from server nas. Different shared storage solutions will use slightly different syntax. You must adapt this line to your setup.
  4. Set up the automount. Use the command sudo vi /etc/auto.master and add the following line at the end of the file.

    /-  auto.direct
  5. Enable and restart autofs.

    sudo systemctl enable autofs
    sudo systemctl start autofs
  1. Configure accounts to connect to the instance using Amazon DCV or HP Anyware

What you do here depends on whether or not you are using an identity management system.

You have an identity management system

If you are using an identity management system, now is the time to add the instance to the system. The procedure to do so is outside the scope of this document, but here are links to the documentation of some common identity management systems.

From now on, connect to the instance with an identity managed user instead of flameadmin.

You don't have an identity management system

If you are not using an identity management system, you must create a new user account. Use this account to connect to the instance with Amazon DCV or HP Anyware because flameadmin cannot be used with Amazon DCV or HP Anyware.

This user account must match in user name, user ID, and user group one of the user accounts defined on the Burn instances for Burn jobs to be successful.

  1. From the root account, open a shell.

  2. Create the user account. Enter:

    sudo useradd <username>
  3. Create the user account, making sure to correctly enter their user's <user id>, <user group>, and <username>.

    sudo useradd -u <user id> -g <user group> <username>
  4. Follow the onscreen instructions.

  5. Once passwd is done, give the user administrative privileges:

    sudo usermod -aG wheel <username>
Note: With administrative privileges, the user can use the sudo command to run commands usually reserved to the root account.

Was this information helpful?