Install Dash Enterprise on a Bare Metal Server - Airgapped

This guide can help you if you are a new Dash Enterprise customer looking to start with a Dash Enterprise 5 installation, or if you are upgrading from Dash Enterprise 4.X.

About Dash Enterprise: Use Cases

Dash Enterprise puts data and AI into action with the creation of production-grade data apps for your business. Python is the premier language of AI and data and Dash Enterprise is the leading vehicle for delivering Python-based, interactive insights and analytics to business users.

Dynamic: Build sophisticated interactivity into your data apps, write back data, and create beautiful, shareable insights.
Flexible: Customize every pixel of your data app easily, without a line of front end code. Focus on Python analytics without compromising app look-and-feel or branding.
Production-grade: Enjoy advanced security features for data insights at scale. Reduce IT dependence with one-click deployment, automated CI/CD, embeddable data apps, and more.

Cost Model and Billable Services

Dash Enterprise pricing is based on the number of instances and license seats that your organization requires.
Exact pricing is established via private offer. There are no optional features.

Plotly also offers paid Professional Services hours where app developers can
receive direct assistance to develop data apps that meet their users’ needs.
These hours are negotiated and billed separately from Dash Enterprise.

About the Installation

Installing Dash Enterprise is an automated process: You’ll run a script on your bare metal server that creates a Kubernetes cluster using kURL and installs Dash Enterprise on it. No internet connection is required.

You’ll be installing Dash Enterprise as the single tenant on the cluster—that is, no other software is installed on the cluster (except mandatory supporting software). Single-tenancy is well-suited for Dash Enterprise because it is a complex platform, organizing resources on the fly when developers perform tasks like deploying Dash apps and creating databases. Multi-tenancy is not currently supported.

Plotly uses Replicated to package and deliver Dash Enterprise. You’ll be interacting with the KOTS Admin Console, part of the Replicated toolset, in the configuration step of this installation. After the installation, you’ll continue to use the KOTS Admin Console for system administration such as performing Dash Enterprise upgrades.

Before You Install

Here are some important notices and details about supported configurations before you get started.

Fetching Python package dependencies: In order for Dash app developers to use an airgapped Dash Enterprise instance, their apps need to fetch Python package dependencies from an internal index. (If there is no internal index available, developers need to place Python packages individually in their app’s files, which is not recommended for apps that require many packages because it involves additionally managing those packages’ dependencies).

Before committing to an airgapped Dash Enterprise installation, make sure your organization can provide an internal index. Dash Enterprise requires that the index have a TLS/SSL certificate from a globally trusted certificate authority (CA). A common strategy is to create a mirror of pypi.org.

Important: Apps deployed to Dash Enterprise use Python 3.10.11 by default, though developers can change the Python version. For a full list of supported Python versions for pip-based apps, see Supported Python Versions.

Similarly, if Dash app developers plan to deploy apps that depend on APT packages, you’ll need to prepare a custom APT repository with a TLS/SSL certificate from a globally trusted certificate authority (CA).

Changing the server IP: Changing the internal and/or public IP of the server after installation is not supported.
Load balancing: Dash Enterprise on a single server does not come with a load balancer. If you need to place a load balancer in front of the server, make sure that it supports websocket connections.

Prerequisites

Minimum specifications for the bare metal server change depending on which offering of Dash Enterprise your organization has purchased.

A workstation with a web browser and 30 GB of free disk space.
A way to move the files that are required for the installation onto your bare metal server.
(RHEL 9 only) Access to a yum proxy or other method of installing system packages on the server.
A wildcard or multi-domain TLS/SSL full certificate chain and unencrypted, 2048-bit private key. The full certificate chain must be a .pem file in the following format:
txt -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- <Your> -----END CERTIFICATE----- -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- <Your> -----END CERTIFICATE----- -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- <Your> -----END CERTIFICATE-----

The root certificate can be issued by an external/globally-trusted CA or by a CA that is internal to your organization.

If you obtained your certificate chain as multiple files, you need to combine them into a single .pem file. You can do this with cat server.pem intermediate.pem trustedroot.pem > fullchain.pem on Linux or copy server.pem+intermediate.pem+trustedroot.pem fullchain.pem on Windows, replacing the file names if yours are different. Using multiple certificates or self-signed certificates are not supported.

You’ll upload the full certificate chain and unencrypted private key during the configuration, and they will be used to terminate TLS/SSL.

The following DNS entries:

Name	Type	Value
`<base-domain>`	A record	`<server-ip>`
api-`<base-domain>`	CNAME	`<base-domain>`
ws-`<base-domain>`	CNAME	`<base-domain>`
git-`<base-domain>`	CNAME	`<base-domain>`
registry-`<base-domain>`	CNAME	`<base-domain>`
auth-`<base-domain>`	CNAME	`<base-domain>`
admin-`<base-domain>`	CNAME	`<base-domain>`

where <base-domain> is a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that you want to use as the base domain for your Dash Enterprise instance and <server-ip> is the IP address of your bare metal server.

Preparing Your Installation

Contact our Customer Success team to get started. We’ll ask you:

The base domain you want for your Dash Enterprise instance. It must be a fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
Whether your environment has any requirements (if your environment requires advanced configuration, an additional Support and Services Engagement may be required).
Whether you want to retrieve the Dash Enterprise images (and third-party images) in your private container registry before the installation (for instance, to perform a security scan).

Obtaining Your Installation Plan

When we have this information, we’ll send you a tailor-made installation script as well as a link and password to a download portal from which you’ll need to download an airgap bundle. Your Installation Plan is tailor-made based on your conversation with Customer Success and contains everything you need to install Dash Enterprise for your organization.

Your Installation Plan contains:

Your installation script, install_de_ss_airgap.sh, which creates the Kubernetes cluster and installs Dash Enterprise as well as supporting software.
Your config file, config.local.sh, which contains variables used by the installation script. You’ll define some of these variables as part of the install preparation.
A package of preinstalled tools, setup-tools.tar.gz, which contains kURL as well as other tools required for the installation.
Your Dash Enterprise license file.
A script for entering the bootstrap pod, enter_bootstrap_pod.sh, which is intended for post-install operations. The bootstrap pod is where key tools will be located after the installation.
A checksum file, sha256sums.txt, provided for support purposes.

Defining Variables in the Scripts

Unzip your Installation Plan and open the config file. Edit the following variable values:

ADMIN_PASSWORD: The password you want to set for the KOTS Admin Console.

About storing and resetting this password: We recommend storing this password in your organization’s password manager, and giving access to any other members of your team who will be managing the Dash Enterprise system (notably performing upgrades and obtaining support bundles). This password is not retrievable with a kubectl command. It can be changed in the Admin Console UI by anyone who is able to log in with the current password. If lost, reset it by running enter_bootstrap_pod.sh on your server and then kubectl kots reset-password -n plotly-system.

HOST_INTERNAL_REGISTRY: The hostname of the private container registry you are using for Dash Enterprise images, including the desired namespace. Must not include a trailing slash.
HOST_INTERNAL_REGISTRY_USER: The username for the account you’ll use to pull and push images to your private container registry.
HOST_INTERNAL_REGISTRY_PASSWORD: The password for the account you’ll use to pull and push images to your private container registry.
AUTH_REGISTRY_PULLS: Leave false if the private container registry does not require authentication to pull images. If authentication is required to pull images, change to true.
HOST_INTERNAL_REGISTRY_BASE: If AUTH_REGISTRY_PULLS is set to true, provide the hostname of the private container registry without namespaces. Otherwise, leave empty.
SKIP_PUSH_IMAGES: Set to true if you have retrieved the Dash Enterprise images into your private container registry before the installation. Otherwise, leave false.
SKIP_REGISTRY_CHECK: Set to true if you have retrieved the Dash Enterprise images into your private container registry before the installation. Otherwise, leave false.
INSTALL_ISTIO: Leave false unless instructed to modify this (and allowing access to istio.io over 443 on your bootstrap node) by our Customer Success team.
KURL_PRIVATE_IP: If your bare metal server has more than one network interface, specify the IP address for kURL to use when creating the Kubernetes cluster. If your server has a single network interface, leave this blank.

If your organization uses its own custom CA (with the internal root CA certificate installed on users’ systems), you can add the internal root CA certificate to Dash Enterprise with INTERNAL_CA_CERTIFICATE. It must be a .crt file and contain the root certificate only—not the full chain. Provide it as follows:

INTERNAL_CA_CERTIFICATE (optional): The name of your internal root CA certificate file, including its .crt extension.

Downloading Your Airgap Bundle

In this step, you’ll download the airgap bundle required to install Dash Enterprise. Note that the Dash Enterprise airgap bundle is approximately 21 GB.

To download the airgap bundle:

On your workstation, use the link and password provided by our Customer Success team to go to the download portal.
In the left sidebar, make sure Bring my own cluster is selected.
Under Dash Enterprise App Bundle, select Download airgap bundle.

Moving Files to Your Server

Move the following files to the home directory of your bare metal server:

Your installation script, install_de_ss_airgap.sh
Your config file, config.local.sh
The package of preinstalled tools, setup-tools.tar.gz
The script for entering the bootstrap pod, enter_bootstrap_pod.sh
Your internal root CA certificate, if using

One way to do this is to use secure copy protocol (SCP).

To transfer the files to your server’s home directory using SCP:

sh scp -i path/to/private/key path/to/installation/script path/to/config/file path/to/tools/package path/to/bootstrap/pod/script path/to/root/ca <username>@<server-ip>:.
where:
* path/to/private/key is the path to the SSH private key corresponding to the public key you added to your bare metal server
* path/to/installation/script is the path to your installation script
* path/to/config/file is the path to your config file
* path/to/tools/package is the path to the package of setup tools
* path/to/bootstrap/pod/script is the path to enter_bootstrap_pod.sh in your Installation Plan
* path/to/root/ca is the path to your internal root CA certificate, if using
* <username> is the username of your bare metal server
* <server-ip> is the IP address of your bare metal server

Configuring the SSH Port

By default, Dash Enterprise expects app deployments over SSH to use port 22. In this step, you’ll map the Linux OpenSSH daemon (sshd) to a different port to free up port 22 for Dash Enterprise.

If you plan to customize the Git SSH port when configuring Dash Enterprise, then you can skip this step.

This procedure differs based on the operating system of your VM.

You can now change port 22 to add only the IP addresses of users who will be deploying Dash apps to Dash Enterprise. Alternatively, if you plan to customize the Git SSH port, then you can close or restrict port 22.

If SSHing into the server in the future, you’ll need to append the new SSH port to the ssh command (for example, -p 2222).

Installation and Configuration

Creating the Cluster and Port-Forwarding the KOTS Admin Console

In this step, you’ll run the installation script from your server. This script does the following:

Extracts the setup tools package.
Installs Kubernetes via kURL.
Creates the plotly-system namespace.
Creates a bootstrap pod, de5-bootstrap, inside the plotly-system namespace.
Authenticates your user to your private container registry for image pulls and pushes.
Uses the tools in the bootstrap pod as well as the images in the private container registry to install Dash Enterprise.
Generates a kubeconfig file (~/.kube/config) to run kubectl commands against the Kubernetes cluster.
Port-forwards the Admin Console so that you can use it to install Dash Enterprise.

To create the cluster and port-forward the KOTS Admin Console:

(RHEL 9 only) Make sure the following packages are installed on the server:
* conntrack-tools
* container-selinux
* ethtool
* fio
* git
* glibc
* iproute
* iptables-nft
* policycoreutils-python-utils
* socat
* util-linux

If they aren’t, install them.

In the home directory of your server, run the installation script:

sudo bash install_de_ss_airgap.sh

When you are prompted for the kots install location by Enter installation path (leave blank for /usr/local/bin), press Enter to accept the default.
When you are prompted to grant write permissions to /usr/local/bin, press y (you will not be prompted for a password).

The script takes several minutes to complete. Continue when you see the message Forwarding from 127.0.0.1:8800 -> 3000 (do not exit yet).

If you exit by mistake, restart the port-forward with kubectl port-forward -n plotly-system svc/kotsadm 8800:3000.

Uploading the License and Airgap Bundle

Now that your cluster is created, you’re ready to install Dash Enterprise on it. The KOTS Admin Console will take you through uploading your Dash Enterprise license and airgap bundle.

Note: If using a bastion node with a web browser for this step and the following step, you’ll need to move your Dash Enterprise license file, Dash Enterprise airgap bundle, and TLS/SSL certificate and key to your bastion node.

To access the KOTS Admin Console and install Dash Enterprise:

On a machine with a web browser, open an SSH tunnel:
sh ssh -i /path/to/private/key <username>@<server-ip> -p 2222 -L 8800:localhost:8800
where /path/to/private/key is the path to the private key, <username> is the username of your bare metal server, and <server-ip> is the IP address of your bare metal server. Omit -p 2222 if you did not remap the SSH port, or change 2222 if you chose a different port.
On the same machine, go to http://localhost:8800.
Enter the password that you set for ADMIN_PASSWORD in Defining Variables in the Scripts; then select Log in. You are prompted to upload your license.
Drag or browse to the license file in your Installation Plan; then select Upload license. The Admin Console opens to the Install in airgapped environment page, where your private container registry information is automatically entered.
In the area labelled “Drag your airgap bundle here or choose a bundle to upload,” drag or browse to the Dash Enterprise .airgap file you downloaded earlier.
In the Registry settings, verify that your registry Hostname, Username, Password, and Registry Namespace are entered. If they aren’t, enter them.
If you have not retrieved the Dash Enterprise images into your private container registry before the installation (SKIP_PUSH_IMAGES and SKIP_REGISTRY_CHECK are false in your config file), clear the Disable Pushing Images to Registry checkbox. (Note that this setting will be saved and applied when you upgrade Dash Enterprise. Change it in the Admin Console registry settings if you don’t want to keep this workflow for Dash Enterprise upgrades).
Select Upload airgap bundle. The upload can take several minutes.

When the upload is complete, the KOTS Admin Console opens to the Configure Dash Enterprise page.

Uploading the Certificate and Running Preflight Checks

Now that Dash Enterprise is installed, you’re ready for configuration. The KOTS Admin Console will take you through uploading your TLS/SSL certificate and running preflight checks.

On the Configure Dash Enterprise page, do the following:

In Hostname Settings, make sure your Dash Enterprise hostname is entered. If it isn’t, enter it, making sure it corresponds to the value for DE_HOSTNAME in your config file.
In TLS Settings, make sure that Upload TLS Certificate and Key is selected, and then upload your TLS/SSL certificate and key.
In Git Settings, review the Git SSH Port. The Git SSH port is set to 22 by default. If you change this port, consider the following carefully:
* App developers will need to modify their SSH config in order to deploy over SSH from their workstations.
* You don’t need to open your chosen port to any IPs; it just needs to be available (not bound to any other service).
* You cannot use ports 80 or 443 for the Git SSH port.
* After changing the default Git SSH port, you can close or restrict port 22.
If you plan to set up Dash Enterprise authentication with an external SAML, OIDC, or LDAP server, and this server uses a self-signed certificate, configure Dash Enterprise to trust the server:
Under Auth Settings, select Upload Self-signed / Internal Public CA Certificate. A file upload field appears.
Drag or browse to the certificate that will establish trust. This certificate has the following requirements:
- It must be a DER or base64-encoded file.
- The Common Name (Server Name) in the certificate must be set to the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) that Dash Enterprise will use to reach your server.
Depending on how the IdP certificate is signed, and whether there are intermediate certificate authorities (CAs), you may need to use the full certificate chain.

You can upload this certificate later, but Dash Enterprise will be unable to communicate with the server until it can establish trust.

Learn more about which authentication methods are supported.
5. In PIP_EXTRA_INDEX_URL, enter the URL of your organization’s private Python package index (you can also configure it later). This will cause all apps and workspaces on Dash Enterprise to be able to fetch dependencies from this index.
6. Select Continue. The Admin Console runs preflight checks, which can take up to a few minutes.
7. Wait for the preflight checks to complete. If the results are all successful, select Deploy. If you encounter an error, contact Customer Success.
The Admin Console opens to the dashboard, where the status of the system is displayed.
8. Wait for the status to change to Ready. This can take up to a few minutes.

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Press Ctrl+C to disconnect from the Admin Console.

You can now access the Admin Console using its sub-domain: https://admin-<your-dash-enterprise-server>.

Accessing Dash Enterprise

Before you can log in to Dash Enterprise at https://<your-dash-enterprise-server>, you’ll need to create a Dash Enterprise user in Keycloak. Keycloak is the identity and access management solution for Dash Enterprise.

Obtaining and Storing the Keycloak Password

In this step, you’ll retrieve the Keycloak password that is stored as a secret in your cluster and save it according to your organization’s best practices.

To obtain and store the Keycloak password:

On your server, retrieve the password to Keycloak (this displays the password in plain text):

sh kubectl get secret keycloak-secrets -n plotly-system -o jsonpath='{.data.KEYCLOAK_PASSWORD}' | base64 -d && echo

Important: Changing this password requires Plotly support. Do not rotate it without contacting us.

Copy the password.
Add the password to your organization’s password manager or other secure storage, along with the username admin. You can share these credentials with other members in your organization who need to access Keycloak.

Creating Your Dash Enterprise Admin User

In this step, you’ll log in to Keycloak using the stored credentials and create a new user with the admin role. The admin role grants access to the Admin section of the Dash Enterprise App Manager, which you’ll use to configure system limits
in a later step. Learn more about the admin role.

To access Keycloak and create your admin user:

Go to https://auth-<your-dash-enterprise-server>
Select Administration Console.
Enter the Keycloak credentials that you obtained and stored.

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Select Sign In.
Make sure dash is selected in the realm list in the top left corner.
Select Users > Add User.
In Username, enter the username you want to use.
Select Create. Additional settings become available.
Go to Credentials.
In Password and Password Confirmation, enter the password you want to use.
Select Set Password; then set password again to confirm.
Assign the admin role:
1. Go to Role mapping.
2. Select Assign role.
3. Change the filter to Filter by clients.
4. Find and select the role called “dash admin”. Note that if you intend on deploying apps, you’ll also need the “dash licensed_user” role, and assigning this role consumes a license seat.
5. Select Assign.

To log into Dash Enterprise with this user, go to https://<your-dash-enterprise-server> and enter the credentials that you saved in Keycloak. Dash Enterprise opens to the Portal. Go to the App Manager by selecting Apps > App Manager.

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Setting System Limits

In this step, you’ll safeguard Dash Enterprise against usage that would cause the Kubernetes cluster to exceed the resources it can support. Specifically, you’ll add limits to the amount of pods and volumes (PVC) that can exist, temporarily preventing app developers from performing actions that would create more pods and volumes on the cluster when the limit is reached. To do so, you’ll use the System Limits setting in the Admin section of the App Manager. To learn how to calculate and set limits that are appropriate for your cluster, go to Pod and Volume Limits.

Post-Install Bastion Considerations

In order to upgrade Dash Enterprise, you’ll need a laptop or VM from which to run Plotly-provided, kubectl-based scripts. The bastion that you may have used as part of the installation already meets these requirements, so while it is safe to delete or decommission it, your organization may want to reuse it for upgrades. If reusing the bastion, be sure to leave your config file on it (upgrade scripts will source it) and, if applicable, keep the outbound rule for dl.plotly.com.

If you’re deleting or decommissioning the bastion, keep a copy of your config file that you can move to a new bastion when performing upgrades, and remember to allow communication to dl.plotly.com on it.