Deploying a Conferencing Node in AWS

After deploying the Management Node and completing the initial platform configuration you can deploy one or more Conferencing Nodes in AWS to provide conferencing capacity.

Task summary

Deploying a Conferencing Node in AWS consists of the following steps:

  1. Deploying a new VM instance in AWS:

    1. In the AWS management console, select the same AWS region in which the Management Node is deployed and use the launch wizard to create an instance of a Conferencing Node.
    2. Search the Community AMIs section for the relevant Pexip Infinity Conferencing Node AMI.
    3. Ensure that the instance is run as a dedicated instance (tenancy), is associated with a suitable security group, and that an SSH key pair has been associated with the instance.
  2. Configuring the VM with the details of the specific Conferencing Node being deployed, using a file generated from the Pexip Infinity Management Node.

    1. After the instance has booted, perform a configuration-only deployment on the Management Node to inform it of the new Conferencing Node.
    2. Upload the resulting XML document to the new Conferencing Node.
    3. Configure the Conferencing Node's static NAT address, if you have a assigned a public IP address to the instance.

These steps are described below in more detail.

Deploying the VM instance in AWS

  1. In the AWS management console, ensure that you have selected the same AWS region in which the Management Node is deployed.
  2. From the EC2 dashboard, select Images > AMIs.
  3. Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI):

    1. Select Public images.
    2. Filter on "Owner : 686087431763" to see all of the Pexip images.
    3. Select the row for Pexip Infinity Conferencing Node <version> build <build_number> where <version> is the software version you want to install. (You may also want to filter on the version number to refine the list of images.)
    4. Select Launch.

      This launches a wizard in which you will select and configure your image.

  4. Complete Step 2: Choose an Instance Type:

    1. We recommend using a c5.2xlarge instance type for a Transcoding Conferencing Node.

      See Recommended instance types and call capacity guidelines for more information.

    2. Select Next: Configure Instance Details.
  5. Complete Step 3: Configure Instance Details:

    1. Complete the following fields (leave all other settings as default):

      Number of instances 1
      Subnet Use default subnet.
      Auto-assign Public IP

      Enable or disable this option according to whether you want the node to be reachable from a public IP address.

      You must assign a static public/external IP address to the Conferencing Node if you want that node to be able to host conferences that are accessible from devices in the public internet.

      Your subnet may be configured so that instances in that subnet are assigned a public IP address by default.

      If you want to assign a persistent public IP address (an Elastic IP Address) you can do this after the instance has been launched.

      Primary IP

      Either leave as Auto-assign or, if required, specify your desired IP address.

      (AWS reserves the first four IP addresses and the last one IP address of every subnet for IP networking purposes.)

      Tenancy Select Dedicated.
    2. Select Next: Add Storage.
  6. Complete Step 4: Add Storage:
    1. Accept the default settings (the Pexip AMI sets these defaults appropriately for a Conferencing Node).
    2. Select Next: Add Tags.
  7. Complete Step 5: Add Tags:
    1. You can optionally add tags to your instance, if you want to categorize your AWS resources.
    2. Select Next: Configure Security Group.
  8. Complete Step 6: Configure Security Group:
    1. Select and assign your security group to your Conferencing Node instance.
    2. Select Review and Launch.
  9. Complete Step 7: Review Instance Launch:
    1. This step summarizes the configuration details for your instance.

      You may receive a warning that your security group is open to the world. This is to be expected if you are deploying a public or hybrid Conferencing Node that is intended to be accessible to publicly-located clients.

    2. Select Launch.
  10. You are now asked to select an existing key pair or create a new key pair:

    1. Select the key pair that you want to associate with this instance, and acknowledge that you have the private key file.

      (Note that you will not be required to SSH into Conferencing Node instances.)

    2. Select Launch instances.

      The Launch Status screen is displayed.

  11. Select View Instances to see all of your configured instances and ensure that your Instance State is running.

    The status screen also indicates the private IP address, and public IP address if appropriate, of the instance.

  12. Make a note of the Private IP address that has been assigned to the new Conferencing Node.
  13. Perform a configuration-only deployment of the new Conferencing Node as described below.

Generating, downloading and deploying the configuration file

  1. From the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface, go to Platform > Conferencing Nodes and select Add Conferencing Node.
  2. You are now asked to provide the network configuration to be applied to the Conferencing Node, by completing the following fields:

    Option Description
    Name Enter the name to use when referring to this Conferencing Node in the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface.
    Description An optional field where you can provide more information about the Conferencing Node.
    Role

    This determines the Conferencing Node's role:

    • Proxying Edge Node: a Proxying Edge Node handles all media and signaling connections with an endpoint or external device, but does not host any conferences — instead it forwards the media on to a Transcoding Conferencing Node for processing.
    • Transcoding Conferencing Node: a Transcoding Conferencing Node handles all the media processing, protocol interworking, mixing and so on that is required in hosting Pexip Infinity calls and conferences. When combined with Proxying Edge Nodes, a transcoding node typically only processes the media forwarded on to it by those proxying nodes and has no direct connection with endpoints or external devices. However, a transcoding node can still receive and process the signaling and media directly from an endpoint or external device if required.

    See Distributed Proxying Edge Nodes for more information.

    Hostname

    Domain

    Enter the hostname and domain to assign to this Conferencing Node. Each Conferencing Node and Management Node must have a unique hostname.

    The Hostname and Domain together make up the Conferencing Node's DNS name or FQDN. We recommend that you assign valid DNS names to all your Conferencing Nodes. For more information, see Assigning hostnames and FQDNs.

    IPv4 address

    Enter the IP address to assign to this Conferencing Node when it is created.

    This should be the Private IP address that AWS has assigned to the new Conferencing Node.

    Network mask

    Enter the IP network mask to assign to this Conferencing Node.

    The netmask depends upon the subnet selected for the instance. The default AWS subnet has a /20 prefix size which is a network mask of 255.255.240.0.

    Note that IPv4 address and Network mask apply to the eth0 interface.

    Gateway IPv4 address

    Enter the IP address of the default gateway to assign to this Conferencing Node.

    This is the first usable address in the subnet selected for the instance (e.g. 172.31.0.1 for a 172.31.0.0/20 subnet).

    Note that the Gateway IPv4 address is not directly associated with a network interface, except that the address entered here lies in the subnet in which either eth0 or eth1 is configured to use. Thus, if the gateway address lies in the subnet in which eth0 lives, then the gateway will be assigned to eth0, and likewise for eth1.

    Secondary interface IPv4 address

    Leave this option blank as dual network interfaces are not supported on Conferencing Nodes deployed in public cloud services.

    Secondary interface network mask

    Leave this option blank as dual network interfaces are not supported on Conferencing Nodes deployed in public cloud services.

    Note that Secondary interface IPv4 address and Secondary interface network mask apply to the eth1 interface.

    System location

    Select the physical location of this Conferencing Node. A system location should not contain a mixture of proxying nodes and transcoding nodes.

    If the system location does not already exist, you can create a new one here by clicking to the right of the field. This will open up a new window showing the Add system location page. For further information see About system locations.

    Configured FQDN A unique identity for this Conferencing Node, used in signaling SIP TLS Contact addresses. For more information, see Assigning a Configured FQDN.
    TLS certificate The TLS certificate to use on this node. This must be a certificate that contains the above Configured FQDN. Each certificate is shown in the format <subject name> (<issuer>).
    IPv6 address

    The IPv6 address for this Conferencing Node. Each Conferencing Node must have a unique IPv6 address.

    Gateway IPv6 address

    The IPv6 address of the default gateway.

    If this is left blank, the Conferencing Node listens for IPv6 Router Advertisements to obtain a gateway address.

    IPv4 static NAT address

    Configure the Conferencing Node's static NAT address, if you have a assigned a public/external IP address to the instance.

    Enter the public IP address allocated by AWS. See Assigning a persistent public IP address below if you want the node to have a persistent public IP address (an Elastic IP address).

    For more information, see Configuring Pexip Infinity nodes to work behind a static NAT device.

    Static routes From the list of Available Static routes, select the routes to assign to the node, and then use the right arrow to move the selected routes into the Chosen Static routes list. For more information, see Managing static routes.
    Enable distributed database

    This should usually be enabled (checked) for all Conferencing Nodes that are expected to be "always on", and disabled (unchecked) for nodes that are expected to only be powered on some of the time (e.g. cloud bursting nodes that are likely to only be operational during peak times).

    Enable SSH

    Determines whether this node can be accessed over SSH.

    Use Global SSH setting: SSH access to this node is determined by the global Enable SSH setting (Platform > Global settings > Connectivity > Enable SSH).

    Off: this node cannot be accessed over SSH, regardless of the global Enable SSH setting.

    On: this node can be accessed over SSH, regardless of the global Enable SSH setting.

    Default: Use Global SSH setting.

    SSH authorized keys

    You can optionally assign one or more SSH authorized keys to use for SSH access.

    From the list of Available SSH authorized keys, select the keys to assign to the node, and then use the right arrow to move the selected keys into the Chosen SSH authorized keys list.

    Note that in cloud environments, this list does not include any of the SSH keys configured within that cloud service.

    For more information, see Configuring SSH authorized keys.

    Use SSH authorized keys from cloud service

    When a node is deployed in a cloud environment, you can continue to use the SSH keys configured within the cloud service where available, in addition to any of your own assigned keys (as configured in the field above). If you disable this option you can only use your own assigned keys.

    Default: enabled.

  3. Select Save.
  4. You are now asked to complete the following fields:

    Option Description
    Deployment type

    Select Generic (configuration-only).

    SSH password

    Enter the password to use when logging in to this Conferencing Node's Linux operating system over SSH. The username is always admin.

    Logging in to the operating system is required when changing passwords or for diagnostic purposes only, and should generally be done under the guidance of your Pexip authorized support representative. In particular, do not change any configuration using SSH — all changes should be made using the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface.

  5. Select Download.

    A message appears at the top of the page: "The Conferencing Node image will download shortly or click on the following link".

    After a short while, a file with the name pexip-<hostname>.<domain>.xml is generated and downloaded.

    Note that the generated file is only available for your current session so you should download it immediately.

  6. Browse to https://<conferencing-node-ip>:8443/ and use the form provided to upload the configuration file to the Conferencing Node VM.

    If you cannot access the Conferencing Node, check that you have allowed the appropriate source addresses in your security group inbound rules for management traffic. In public deployments and where there is no virtual private network, you need to use the public address of the node.

    The Conferencing Node will apply the configuration and reboot. After rebooting, it will connect to the Management Node in the usual way.

    You can close the browser window used to upload the file.

After deploying a new Conferencing Node, it takes approximately 5 minutes before the node is available for conference hosting and for its status to be updated on the Management Node. Until it becomes available, the Management Node reports the status of the Conferencing Node as having a last contacted and last updated date of "Never". "Connectivity lost between nodes" alarms relating to that node may also appear temporarily.

Assigning a persistent public IP address

If you want the node to have a persistent public IP address you can assign an Elastic IP address to the Conferencing Node.

Note that the public IP address assigned when the instance was launched (if Auto-assign Public IP was selected), will always be available and will not change while the instance remains running. A new (different) public IP address is only assigned if the instance is stopped and restarted.

  1. Assign an Elastic IP address to the instance via the Elastic IPs option in the Amazon VPC console.
  2. Update the Conferencing Node's static NAT address:

    1. Log in to the Pexip Infinity Administrator interface on the Management Node.
    2. Go to Platform > Conferencing Nodes and select the Conferencing Node.
    3. Configure the Static NAT address as the instance's Elastic IP address as appropriate.