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Shuttle Management

As mentioned in Technology, a Shuttle is required to enable ADCs to communicate with the ADC Portal. A shuttle is a sidecar agent that creates a communication channel between the Portal and the ADCs available on your network.

Shuttles can be provisioned as a standalone Linux instance running the Shuttle service or as a Loadbalancer.org appliance running its Shuttle service.

As explained in High Availability Shuttles, multiple shuttles can be deployed within each namespace to provide HA and resilience. ADCs can use any accessible Shuttle to communicate with the ADC Portal.

At least one Shuttle must be adopted by the ADC Portal before any ADCs can be added.

Adopting a Shuttle

Standalone Shuttle

A standalone Shuttle is a dedicated Linux instance that runs the Shuttle service. The instance requires sudo, curl and gpg to be installed to allow the required installation files to be downloaded and installed.

Step 1 - Initiate the Shuttle Adoption Process

  1. Click LOADBALANCER | PORTAL in the Portal’s main menu bar to view the dashboard.

  2. In the ADCs panel:

    • If there are currently no ADCs, click Connect an ADC.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

    • If ADCs have already been added, click View my ADCs.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

      • Click the Add Shuttle button.

  3. Click the Add button for the Standalone Shuttle.

    add standalone shuttle

  4. Copy the installation command/token as directed using the copy link provided.

  5. The Standalone Shuttle form will now display Waiting for adoption…​

Step 2 - Prepare the Linux Instance & Install the Shuttle

  1. Deploy a new Linux instance that will be used as the standalone Shuttle.

  2. Ensure that sudo, curl and gpg are installed.

  3. Run the copied command/token on the Linux instance at the console or via an SSH session.

  4. When the command completes successfully, the following message will be displayed:

    > Installation complete

Successfully initiated adoption process. Please visit the Portal to complete the adoption process.

Step 3 - Complete the Shuttle Adoption Process

  1. Return to the ADC Portal.

  2. Click the Adopt button for the Shuttle being added.

    Multiple Shuttles may be displayed if others have been configured but not yet adopted.

  3. Once adopted, the Shuttle name and other attributes can be changed if required. For more information, see Shuttle Actions Menu.

To continue and add an ADC to the Portal, see ADC Management.

Network Topology

If the Shuttle does not have network access to all ADCs, a subnet for each remote ADC must be defined. This configures a static route on the Shuttle to enable access to the remote subnet.

You’ll also need to ensure that routing for the remote subnet(s) allows traffic to return to the Shuttle.

To add a new subnet:

  1. Click LOADBALANCER | PORTAL in the Portal’s main menu bar to view the Dashboard.

  2. In the ADCs panel:

    • If there are currently no ADCs, click Connect an ADC.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

    • If ADCs have already been added, click View my ADCs.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

  3. Click the three dots menu to the right of the relevant standalone shuttle and select Edit Shuttle.

  4. Select the Subnets tab then click the Add Subnet button.

    add shuttle subnet

  5. Specify a suitable label (name) for the subnet, e.g. Subnet-192.168.100.0.

  6. Enter the subnet address, e.g. 192.168.100.0/24.

  7. To use an alternative gateway, select Create new Gateway and specify the Gateway IP address.

  8. Click Submit.

  9. Once created, a graphical representation of the subnet and associated gateway will be displayed:

    show shuttle subnets

    Repeat these steps to add additional subnets if required.

To delete a subnet:

  1. Click the three dots menu next to the subnet to be deleted.

  2. Click Delete, then click Confirm to delete the subnet.

Loadbalancer Enterprise

A Loadbalancer.org Enterprise ADC can also be used as a Shuttle.

The appliance to be used as a shuttle should be v8.13.8 or later.

When adding a Shuttle, the connection method can either be set to use portal credentials or a token.

Using Portal Credentials

Step 1 - Initiate the Shuttle Adoption Process

  1. Using the Enterprise appliance’s WebUI, navigate to Local Configuration > Portal Management.

    adopt email password

  2. Set the Adoption Method to Portal Credentials.

  3. Enter the Portal Email and Portal Password for the Portal account.

  4. Click Adopt, then click Start Adoption.

  5. As mentioned in the message in the appliance WebUI, a Portal admin now needs to approve this appliance to complete the process.

Step 2- Complete the Shuttle Adoption Process

  1. Click LOADBALANCER | PORTAL in the Portal’s main menu bar to view the Dashboard.

  2. In the ADCs panel:

    • If there are currently no ADCs, click Connect an ADC.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

    • If ADCs have already been added, click View my ADCs.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

  3. Click the Adopt button for the Shuttle being added.

    Multiple Shuttles may be displayed if others have been configured but not yet adopted.

  4. Once adopted, the Shuttle name and other attributes can be changed if required. For more information, see Shuttle Actions Menu.

To continue and add an ADC to the Portal, see ADC Management.

Using a Token

Step 1 - Initiate the Shuttle Adoption Process

  1. Click LOADBALANCER | PORTAL in the Portal’s main menu bar to view the Dashboard.

  2. In the ADCs panel:

    • If there are currently no ADCs, click Connect an ADC.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

    • If ADCs have already been added, click View my ADCs.

      • Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

  3. Click the Add Shuttle button.

  4. Click the Add button for the Loadbalancer Enterprise.

  5. Set the Connection Method to Token.

    add enterprise shuttle token

  6. Copy the token - this will be used in the next step.

  7. Click Next.

  8. The Loadbalancer Enterprise form will now display Waiting for adoption…​

Step 2 - Enter the Adoption Token in the Appliance

  1. Using the Enterprise appliance’s WebUI, navigate to Local Configuration > Portal Management.

    adopt email token

  2. Set the Adoption Method to Token.

  3. Paste to token copied in the previous step into the Adoption Token field.

  4. If required, change the Namespace.

  5. Click Adopt, then click Start Adoption.

  6. As mentioned in the message in the appliance WebUI, a Portal admin now needs to approve this appliance to complete the process.

Step 3- Complete the Shuttle Adoption Process

  1. Return to the ADC Portal.

  2. Click the Adopt button for the Shuttle being added.

    Multiple Shuttles may be displayed if others have been configured but not yet adopted.

  3. Once adopted, the Shuttle name and other attributes can be changed if required. For more information, see Shuttle Actions Menu.

To continue and add an ADC to the Portal, see ADC Management.

Loadbalancer Endurance

The ability to use a Loadbalancer.org Endurance appliance as a Shuttle is coming soon.

Viewing & Managing Shuttles

To view all shuttles:

  1. Click LOADBALANCER | PORTAL in the main menu bar to view the Dashboard.

  2. In the ADCs panel, click View my ADCs.

  3. Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

  4. All existing Shuttles will be listed.

To view/manage a particular shuttle:

  1. Click LOADBALANCER | PORTAL in the main menu bar to view the Dashboard.

  2. In the ADCs panel, click View my ADCs.

  3. Using the menu to the left, select Shuttle Management.

  4. Click the Label (name) of the Shuttle to be viewed, a new information panel will be displayed to the right.

    view shuttle

    • The Overview tab provides a summary of the Shuttle.

    • The Subnets tab lists the subnets that the Shuttle is associated with.

      For more information on subnets, see Standalone Shuttle.

    • The ADCs tab lists the ADCs that are associated with the Shuttle.

Shuttle Actions Menu

  1. Click the three dots menu for the Shuttle, the actions menu will be displayed.

    view shuttle actions menu

  2. Select the required action:

    • Update Shuttle

      • Update the Shuttle service to the latest version.

        This option will be greyed out if there are no updates available.

    • View Logs

      • View the Shuttle logs.

    • Edit Shuttle

      • The Edit Shuttle screen will be displayed. Update the settings as required and click Submit to save.

    • Remove Shuttle

      • Remove the Shuttle from the Portal. You’ll be prompted to confirm that you want to proceed, click Confirm to delete the Shuttle.

        This option will be greyed out if any ADCs are using the Shuttle to communicate with the ADC Portal.