Add v2.14 preview docs (#2212)

2026-09-25 20:48:11 +00:00 · 2026-03-05 12:30:57 -08:00
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+---
+title: Setting up Amazon ELB Network Load Balancer
+---
+
+<head> 
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup/amazon-elb-load-balancer"/>
+</head>
+
+This how-to guide describes how to set up a Network Load Balancer (NLB) in Amazon's EC2 service that will direct traffic to multiple instances on EC2.
+
+These examples show the load balancer being configured to direct traffic to three Rancher server nodes. If Rancher is installed on an RKE Kubernetes cluster, three nodes are required. If Rancher is installed on a K3s Kubernetes cluster, only two nodes are required.
+
+This tutorial is about one possible way to set up your load balancer, not the only way. Other types of load balancers, such as a Classic Load Balancer or Application Load Balancer, could also direct traffic to the Rancher server nodes.
+
+Rancher only supports using the Amazon NLB when terminating traffic in `tcp` mode for port 443 rather than `tls` mode. This is due to the fact that the NLB does not inject the correct headers into requests when terminated at the NLB. This means that if you want to use certificates managed by the Amazon Certificate Manager (ACM), you should use an ALB.
+
+
+
+## Requirements
+
+These instructions assume you have already created Linux instances in EC2. The load balancer will direct traffic to these nodes.
+
+## 1. Create Target Groups
+
+Begin by creating two target groups for the **TCP** protocol, one with TCP port 443 and one regarding TCP port 80 (providing redirect to TCP port 443). You'll add your Linux nodes to these groups.
+
+Your first NLB configuration step is to create two target groups. Technically, only port 443 is needed to access Rancher, but it's convenient to add a listener for port 80, because traffic to port 80 will be automatically redirected to port 443.
+
+Regardless of whether an NGINX Ingress or Traefik Ingress controller is used, the Ingress should redirect traffic from port 80 to port 443.
+
+1. Log into the [Amazon AWS Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/) to get started. Make sure to select the **Region** where your EC2 instances (Linux nodes) are created.
+1. Select **Services** and choose **EC2**, find the section **Load Balancing** and open **Target Groups**.
+1. Click **Create target group** to create the first target group, regarding TCP port 443.
+
+:::note
+
+Health checks are handled differently based on the Ingress. For details, refer to [this section.](#health-check-paths-for-nginx-ingress-and-traefik-ingresses)
+
+:::
+
+#### Target Group (TCP port 443)
+
+Configure the first target group according to the table below.
+
+| Option            | Setting           |
+|-------------------|-------------------|
+| Target Group Name | `rancher-tcp-443` |
+| Target type       | `instance`        |
+| Protocol          | `TCP`             |
+| Port              | `443`             |
+| VPC               | Choose your VPC   |
+
+Health check settings:
+
+| Option              | Setting         |
+|---------------------|-----------------|
+| Protocol            | TCP             |
+| Port                | `override`,`80` |
+| Healthy threshold   | `3`             |
+| Unhealthy threshold | `3`             |
+| Timeout             | `6 seconds`     |
+| Interval            | `10 seconds`    |
+
+Click **Create target group** to create the second target group, regarding TCP port 80.
+
+#### Target Group (TCP port 80)
+
+Configure the second target group according to the table below.
+
+| Option            | Setting          |
+|-------------------|------------------|
+| Target Group Name | `rancher-tcp-80` |
+| Target type       | `instance`       |
+| Protocol          | `TCP`            |
+| Port              | `80`             |
+| VPC               | Choose your VPC  |
+
+
+Health check settings:
+
+| Option              |Setting         |
+|---------------------|----------------|
+| Protocol            | TCP            |
+| Port                | `traffic port` |
+| Healthy threshold   | `3`            |
+| Unhealthy threshold | `3`            |
+| Timeout             | `6 seconds`    |
+| Interval            | `10 seconds`   |
+
+## 2. Register Targets
+
+Next, add your Linux nodes to both target groups.
+
+Select the target group named **rancher-tcp-443**, click the tab **Targets** and choose **Edit**.
+
+![](/img/ha/nlb/edit-targetgroup-443.png)
+
+Select the instances (Linux nodes) you want to add, and click **Add to registered**.
+
+***
+**Screenshot Add targets to target group TCP port 443**<br/>
+
+![](/img/ha/nlb/add-targets-targetgroup-443.png)
+
+***
+**Screenshot Added targets to target group TCP port 443**<br/>
+
+![](/img/ha/nlb/added-targets-targetgroup-443.png)
+
+When the instances are added, click **Save** on the bottom right of the screen.
+
+Repeat those steps, replacing **rancher-tcp-443** with **rancher-tcp-80**. The same instances need to be added as targets to this target group.
+
+## 3. Create Your NLB
+
+Use Amazon's Wizard to create a Network Load Balancer. As part of this process, you'll add the target groups you created in [1. Create Target Groups](#1-create-target-groups).
+
+1.  From your web browser, navigate to the [Amazon EC2 Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/).
+
+2.  From the navigation pane, choose **LOAD BALANCING** > **Load Balancers**.
+
+3.  Click **Create Load Balancer**.
+
+4.  Choose **Network Load Balancer** and click **Create**. Then complete each form.
+
+- [Step 1: Configure Load Balancer](#step-1-configure-load-balancer)
+- [Step 2: Configure Routing](#step-2-configure-routing)
+- [Step 3: Register Targets](#step-3-register-targets)
+- [Step 4: Review](#step-4-review)
+
+### Step 1: Configure Load Balancer
+
+Set the following fields in the form:
+
+- **Name:** `rancher`
+- **Scheme:** `internal` or `internet-facing`. The scheme that you choose for your NLB is dependent on the configuration of your instances and VPC. If your instances do not have public IPs associated with them, or you will only be accessing Rancher internally, you should set your NLB Scheme to `internal` rather than `internet-facing`.
+- **Listeners:** The Load Balancer Protocol should be `TCP` and the corresponding Load Balancer Port should be set to `443`.
+- **Availability Zones:** Select Your **VPC** and **Availability Zones**.
+
+### Step 2: Configure Routing
+
+1. From the **Target Group** drop-down, choose **Existing target group**.
+1. From the **Name** drop-down, choose `rancher-tcp-443`.
+1. Open **Advanced health check settings**, and configure **Interval** to `10 seconds`.
+
+### Step 3: Register Targets
+
+Since you registered your targets earlier, all you have to do is click **Next: Review**.
+
+### Step 4: Review
+
+Look over the load balancer details and click **Create** when you're satisfied.
+
+After AWS creates the NLB, click **Close**.
+
+## 4. Add listener to NLB for TCP port 80
+
+1. Select your newly created NLB and select the **Listeners** tab.
+
+2. Click **Add listener**.
+
+3. Use `TCP`:`80` as **Protocol** : **Port**
+
+4. Click **Add action** and choose **Forward to..**.
+
+5. From the **Forward to** drop-down, choose `rancher-tcp-80`.
+
+6. Click **Save** in the top right of the screen.
+
+## Health Check Paths for NGINX Ingress and Traefik Ingresses
+
+K3s and RKE Kubernetes clusters handle health checks differently because they use different Ingresses by default.
+
+For RKE Kubernetes clusters, NGINX Ingress is used by default, whereas for K3s Kubernetes clusters, Traefik is the default Ingress.
+
+- **Traefik:** The health check path is `/ping`. By default `/ping` is always matched (regardless of Host), and a response from [Traefik itself](https://docs.traefik.io/operations/ping/) is always served.
+- **NGINX Ingress:** The default backend of the NGINX Ingress controller has a `/healthz` endpoint. By default `/healthz` is always matched (regardless of Host), and a response from [`ingress-nginx` itself](https://github.com/kubernetes/ingress-nginx/blob/0cbe783f43a9313c9c26136e888324b1ee91a72f/charts/ingress-nginx/values.yaml#L212) is always served.
+
+To simulate an accurate health check, it is a best practice to use the Host header (Rancher hostname) combined with `/ping` or `/healthz` (for K3s or for RKE clusters, respectively) wherever possible, to get a response from the Rancher Pods, not the Ingress.
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+---
+title: Setting up Infrastructure for a High Availability K3s Kubernetes Cluster
+---
+
+<head> 
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup/ha-k3s-kubernetes-cluster"/>
+</head>
+
+This tutorial is intended to help you provision the underlying infrastructure for a Rancher management server.
+
+The recommended infrastructure for the Rancher-only Kubernetes cluster differs depending on whether Rancher will be installed on a K3s Kubernetes cluster, an RKE Kubernetes cluster, or a single Docker container.
+
+For more information about each installation option, refer to [this page.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-and-upgrade.md)
+
+:::note Important:
+
+These nodes must be in the same region. You may place these servers in separate availability zones (datacenter).
+
+:::
+
+To install the Rancher management server on a high-availability K3s cluster, we recommend setting up the following infrastructure:
+
+- **Two Linux nodes,** typically virtual machines, in the infrastructure provider of your choice.
+- **An external database** to store the cluster data. We recommend MySQL.
+- **A load balancer** to direct traffic to the two nodes.
+- **A DNS record** to map a URL to the load balancer. This will become the Rancher server URL, and downstream Kubernetes clusters will need to reach it.
+
+### 1. Set up Linux Nodes
+
+Make sure that your nodes fulfill the general installation requirements for [OS, container runtime, hardware, and networking.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-requirements/installation-requirements.md)
+
+For an example of one way to set up Linux nodes, refer to this [tutorial](nodes-in-amazon-ec2.md) for setting up nodes as instances in Amazon EC2.
+
+### 2. Set up External Datastore
+
+The ability to run Kubernetes using a datastore other than etcd sets K3s apart from other Kubernetes distributions. This feature provides flexibility to Kubernetes operators. The available options allow you to select a datastore that best fits your use case.
+
+For a high-availability K3s installation, you will need to set a [MySQL](https://www.mysql.com/) external database. Rancher has been tested on K3s Kubernetes clusters using MySQL version 5.7 as the datastore.
+
+When you install Kubernetes using the K3s installation script, you will pass in details for K3s to connect to the database.
+
+For an example of one way to set up the MySQL database, refer to this [tutorial](mysql-database-in-amazon-rds.md) for setting up MySQL on Amazon's RDS service.
+
+For the complete list of options that are available for configuring a K3s cluster datastore, refer to the [K3s documentation.](https://rancher.com/docs/k3s/latest/en/installation/datastore/)
+
+### 3. Set up the Load Balancer
+
+You will also need to set up a load balancer to direct traffic to the Rancher replica on both nodes. That will prevent an outage of any single node from taking down communications to the Rancher management server.
+
+When Kubernetes gets set up in a later step, the K3s tool will deploy a Traefik Ingress controller. This controller will listen on ports 80 and 443 of the worker nodes, answering traffic destined for specific hostnames.
+
+When Rancher is installed (also in a later step), the Rancher system creates an Ingress resource. That Ingress tells the Traefik Ingress controller to listen for traffic destined for the Rancher hostname. The Traefik Ingress controller, when receiving traffic destined for the Rancher hostname, will forward that traffic to the running Rancher pods in the cluster.
+
+For your implementation, consider if you want or need to use a Layer-4 or Layer-7 load balancer:
+
+- **A layer-4 load balancer** is the simpler of the two choices, in which you are forwarding TCP traffic to your nodes. We recommend configuring your load balancer as a Layer 4 balancer, forwarding traffic to ports TCP/80 and TCP/443 to the Rancher management cluster nodes. The Ingress controller on the cluster will redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS and terminate SSL/TLS on port TCP/443. The Ingress controller will forward traffic to port TCP/80 to the Ingress pod in the Rancher deployment.
+- **A layer-7 load balancer** is a bit more complicated but can offer features that you may want. For instance, a layer-7 load balancer is capable of handling TLS termination at the load balancer, as opposed to Rancher doing TLS termination itself. This can be beneficial if you want to centralize your TLS termination in your infrastructure. Layer-7 load balancing also offers the capability for your load balancer to make decisions based on HTTP attributes such as cookies, etc. that a layer-4 load balancer is not able to concern itself with. If you decide to terminate the SSL/TLS traffic on a layer-7 load balancer, you will need to use the `--set tls=external` option when installing Rancher in a later step. For more information, refer to the [Rancher Helm chart options.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-references/helm-chart-options.md#external-tls-termination)
+
+For an example showing how to set up an NGINX load balancer, refer to [this page.](nginx-load-balancer.md)
+
+For a how-to guide for setting up an Amazon ELB Network Load Balancer, refer to [this page.](amazon-elb-load-balancer.md)
+
+:::caution
+
+Do not use this load balancer (i.e, the `local` cluster Ingress) to load balance applications other than Rancher following installation. Sharing this Ingress with other applications may result in websocket errors to Rancher following Ingress configuration reloads for other apps. We recommend dedicating the `local` cluster to Rancher and no other applications.
+
+:::
+
+### 4. Set up the DNS Record
+
+Once you have set up your load balancer, you will need to create a DNS record to send traffic to this load balancer.
+
+Depending on your environment, this may be an A record pointing to the load balancer IP, or it may be a CNAME pointing to the load balancer hostname. In either case, make sure this record is the hostname that you intend Rancher to respond on.
+
+You will need to specify this hostname in a later step when you install Rancher, and it is not possible to change it later. Make sure that your decision is a final one.
+
+For a how-to guide for setting up a DNS record to route domain traffic to an Amazon ELB load balancer, refer to the [official AWS documentation.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/routing-to-elb-load-balancer)
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+---
+title: Setting up Infrastructure for a High Availability RKE Kubernetes Cluster
+---
+
+<head> 
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup/ha-rke1-kubernetes-cluster"/>
+</head>
+
+<EOLRKE1Warning />
+
+This tutorial is intended to help you create a high-availability RKE cluster that can be used to install a Rancher server.
+
+:::note Important:
+
+These nodes must be in the same region. You may place these servers in separate availability zones (datacenter).
+
+:::
+
+To install the Rancher management server on a high-availability RKE cluster, we recommend setting up the following infrastructure:
+
+- **Three Linux nodes,** typically virtual machines, in an infrastructure provider such as Amazon's EC2, Google Compute Engine, or vSphere.
+- **A load balancer** to direct front-end traffic to the three nodes.
+- **A DNS record** to map a URL to the load balancer. This will become the Rancher server URL, and downstream Kubernetes clusters will need to reach it.
+
+These nodes must be in the same region/data center. You may place these servers in separate availability zones.
+
+### Why three nodes?
+
+In an RKE cluster, Rancher server data is stored on etcd. This etcd database runs on all three nodes.
+
+The etcd database requires an odd number of nodes so that it can always elect a leader with a majority of the etcd cluster. If the etcd database cannot elect a leader, etcd can suffer from [split brain](https://www.quora.com/What-is-split-brain-in-distributed-systems), requiring the cluster to be restored from backup. If one of the three etcd nodes fails, the two remaining nodes can elect a leader because they have the majority of the total number of etcd nodes.
+
+### 1. Set up Linux Nodes
+
+Make sure that your nodes fulfill the general installation requirements for [OS, container runtime, hardware, and networking.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-requirements/installation-requirements.md)
+
+For an example of one way to set up Linux nodes, refer to this [tutorial](nodes-in-amazon-ec2.md) for setting up nodes as instances in Amazon EC2.
+
+### 2. Set up the Load Balancer
+
+You will also need to set up a load balancer to direct traffic to the Rancher replica on any of the three nodes. That will prevent an outage of any single node from taking down communications to the Rancher management server.
+
+When Kubernetes gets set up in a later step, the RKE tool will deploy an NGINX Ingress controller. This controller will listen on ports 80 and 443 of the worker nodes, answering traffic destined for specific hostnames.
+
+When Rancher is installed (also in a later step), the Rancher system creates an Ingress resource. That Ingress tells the NGINX Ingress controller to listen for traffic destined for the Rancher hostname. The NGINX Ingress controller, when receiving traffic destined for the Rancher hostname, will forward that traffic to the running Rancher pods in the cluster.
+
+For your implementation, consider if you want or need to use a Layer-4 or Layer-7 load balancer:
+
+- **A layer-4 load balancer** is the simpler of the two choices, in which you are forwarding TCP traffic to your nodes. We recommend configuring your load balancer as a Layer 4 balancer, forwarding traffic to ports TCP/80 and TCP/443 to the Rancher management cluster nodes. The Ingress controller on the cluster will redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS and terminate SSL/TLS on port TCP/443. The Ingress controller will forward traffic to port TCP/80 to the Ingress pod in the Rancher deployment.
+- **A layer-7 load balancer** is a bit more complicated but can offer features that you may want. For instance, a layer-7 load balancer is capable of handling TLS termination at the load balancer, as opposed to Rancher doing TLS termination itself. This can be beneficial if you want to centralize your TLS termination in your infrastructure. Layer-7 load balancing also offers the capability for your load balancer to make decisions based on HTTP attributes such as cookies, etc. that a layer-4 load balancer is not able to concern itself with. If you decide to terminate the SSL/TLS traffic on a layer-7 load balancer, you will need to use the `--set tls=external` option when installing Rancher in a later step. For more information, refer to the [Rancher Helm chart options.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-references/helm-chart-options.md#external-tls-termination)
+
+For an example showing how to set up an NGINX load balancer, refer to [this page.](nginx-load-balancer.md)
+
+For a how-to guide for setting up an Amazon ELB Network Load Balancer, refer to [this page.](amazon-elb-load-balancer.md)
+
+:::caution
+
+Do not use this load balancer (i.e, the `local` cluster Ingress) to load balance applications other than Rancher following installation. Sharing this Ingress with other applications may result in websocket errors to Rancher following Ingress configuration reloads for other apps. We recommend dedicating the `local` cluster to Rancher and no other applications.
+
+:::
+
+### 3. Set up the DNS Record
+
+Once you have set up your load balancer, you will need to create a DNS record to send traffic to this load balancer.
+
+Depending on your environment, this may be an A record pointing to the LB IP, or it may be a CNAME pointing to the load balancer hostname. In either case, make sure this record is the hostname that you intend Rancher to respond on.
+
+You will need to specify this hostname in a later step when you install Rancher, and it is not possible to change it later. Make sure that your decision is a final one.
+
+For a how-to guide for setting up a DNS record to route domain traffic to an Amazon ELB load balancer, refer to the [official AWS documentation.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/routing-to-elb-load-balancer)
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+---
+title: Setting up Infrastructure for a High Availability RKE2 Kubernetes Cluster
+---
+
+<head> 
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup/ha-rke2-kubernetes-cluster"/>
+</head>
+
+This tutorial is intended to help you provision the underlying infrastructure for a Rancher management server.
+
+The recommended infrastructure for the Rancher-only Kubernetes cluster differs depending on whether Rancher will be installed on a RKE2 Kubernetes cluster, an RKE Kubernetes cluster, or a single Docker container.
+
+:::note Important:
+
+These nodes must be in the same region. You may place these servers in separate availability zones (datacenter).
+
+:::
+
+To install the Rancher management server on a high-availability RKE2 cluster, we recommend setting up the following infrastructure:
+
+- **Three Linux nodes,** typically virtual machines, in the infrastructure provider of your choice.
+- **A load balancer** to direct traffic to the nodes.
+- **A DNS record** to map a URL to the load balancer. This will become the Rancher server URL, and downstream Kubernetes clusters will need to reach it.
+
+### 1. Set up Linux Nodes
+
+Make sure that your nodes fulfill the general installation requirements for [OS, container runtime, hardware, and networking.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-requirements/installation-requirements.md)
+
+For an example of one way to set up Linux nodes, refer to this [tutorial](nodes-in-amazon-ec2.md) for setting up nodes as instances in Amazon EC2.
+
+### 2. Set up the Load Balancer
+
+You will also need to set up a load balancer to direct traffic to the Rancher replica on all nodes. That will prevent an outage of any single node from taking down communications to the Rancher management server.
+
+When Kubernetes gets set up in a later step, the RKE2 tool will deploy an Nginx Ingress controller. This controller will listen on ports 80 and 443 of the worker nodes, answering traffic destined for specific hostnames.
+
+When Rancher is installed (also in a later step), the Rancher system creates an Ingress resource. That Ingress tells the Nginx Ingress controller to listen for traffic destined for the Rancher hostname. The Nginx Ingress controller, when receiving traffic destined for the Rancher hostname, will forward that traffic to the running Rancher pods in the cluster.
+
+For your implementation, consider if you want or need to use a Layer-4 or Layer-7 load balancer:
+
+- **A layer-4 load balancer** is the simpler of the two choices, in which you are forwarding TCP traffic to your nodes. We recommend configuring your load balancer as a Layer 4 balancer, forwarding traffic to ports TCP/80 and TCP/443 to the Rancher management cluster nodes. The Ingress controller on the cluster will redirect HTTP traffic to HTTPS and terminate SSL/TLS on port TCP/443. The Ingress controller will forward traffic to port TCP/80 to the Ingress pod in the Rancher deployment.
+- **A layer-7 load balancer** is a bit more complicated but can offer features that you may want. For instance, a layer-7 load balancer is capable of handling TLS termination at the load balancer, as opposed to Rancher doing TLS termination itself. This can be beneficial if you want to centralize your TLS termination in your infrastructure. Layer-7 load balancing also offers the capability for your load balancer to make decisions based on HTTP attributes such as cookies, etc. that a layer-4 load balancer is not able to concern itself with. If you decide to terminate the SSL/TLS traffic on a layer-7 load balancer, you will need to use the `--set tls=external` option when installing Rancher in a later step. For more information, refer to the [Rancher Helm chart options.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-references/helm-chart-options.md#external-tls-termination)
+
+For an example showing how to set up an NGINX load balancer, refer to [this page.](nginx-load-balancer.md)
+
+For a how-to guide for setting up an Amazon ELB Network Load Balancer, refer to [this page.](amazon-elb-load-balancer.md)
+
+:::caution
+
+Do not use this load balancer (i.e, the `local` cluster Ingress) to load balance applications other than Rancher following installation. Sharing this Ingress with other applications may result in websocket errors to Rancher following Ingress configuration reloads for other apps. We recommend dedicating the `local` cluster to Rancher and no other applications.
+
+:::
+
+### 3. Set up the DNS Record
+
+Once you have set up your load balancer, you will need to create a DNS record to send traffic to this load balancer.
+
+Depending on your environment, this may be an A record pointing to the load balancer IP, or it may be a CNAME pointing to the load balancer hostname. In either case, make sure this record is the hostname that you intend Rancher to respond on.
+
+You will need to specify this hostname in a later step when you install Rancher, and it is not possible to change it later. Make sure that your decision is a final one.
+
+For a how-to guide for setting up a DNS record to route domain traffic to an Amazon ELB load balancer, refer to the [official AWS documentation.](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/routing-to-elb-load-balancer)
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+---
+title: Infrastructure Setup
+---
+
+<head>
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup"/>
+</head>
+
+Don't have infrastructure for your Kubernetes cluster? Try one of these tutorials.
+
+To set up infrastructure for a high-availability K3s Kubernetes cluster with an external database, refer to [this page.](ha-k3s-kubernetes-cluster.md)
+
+To set up infrastructure for a high-availability RKE Kubernetes cluster, refer to [this page.](ha-rke1-kubernetes-cluster.md)
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+---
+title: Setting up a MySQL Database in Amazon RDS
+---
+
+<head> 
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup/mysql-database-in-amazon-rds"/>
+</head>
+
+This tutorial describes how to set up a MySQL database in Amazon's Relational Database Service (RDS).
+
+This database can later be used as an external datastore for a high-availability K3s Kubernetes cluster.
+
+1. Log into the [Amazon AWS RDS Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/) to get started. Make sure to select the **Region** where your EC2 instances (Linux nodes) are created.
+1. In the left panel, click **Databases**.
+1. Click **Create database**.
+1. In the **Engine type** section, click **MySQL**.
+1. In the **Version** section, choose **MySQL 5.7.22**.
+1. In **Settings** section, under **Credentials Settings,** enter a master password for the **admin** master username. Confirm the password.
+1. Expand the **Additional configuration** section. In the **Initial database name** field, enter a name. The name can have only letters, numbers, and underscores. This name will be used to connect to the database.
+1. Click **Create database**.
+
+You'll need to capture the following information about the new database so that the K3s Kubernetes cluster can connect to it.
+
+To see this information in the Amazon RDS console, click **Databases,** and click the name of the database that you created.
+
+- **Username:** Use the admin username.
+- **Password:** Use the admin password.
+- **Hostname:** Use the **Endpoint** as the hostname. The endpoint is available in the **Connectivity & security** section.
+- **Port:** The port should be 3306 by default. You can confirm it in the **Connectivity & security** section.
+- **Database name:** Confirm the name by going to the **Configuration** tab. The name is listed under **DB name**.
+
+This information will be used to connect to the database in the following format:
+
+```
+mysql://username:password@tcp(hostname:3306)/database-name
+```
+
+For more information on configuring the datastore for K3s, refer to the [K3s documentation.](https://rancher.com/docs/k3s/latest/en/installation/datastore/)
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+---
+title: Setting up an NGINX Load Balancer
+---
+
+<head> 
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup/nginx-load-balancer"/>
+</head>
+
+NGINX will be configured as Layer 4 load balancer (TCP) that forwards connections to one of your Rancher nodes.
+
+In this configuration, the load balancer is positioned in front of your nodes. The load balancer can be any host capable of running NGINX.
+
+:::note
+
+Do not use one of your Rancher nodes as the load balancer.
+
+:::
+
+> These examples show the load balancer being configured to direct traffic to three Rancher server nodes. If Rancher is installed on an RKE Kubernetes cluster, three nodes are required. If Rancher is installed on a K3s Kubernetes cluster, only two nodes are required.
+
+## Install NGINX
+
+Start by installing NGINX on the node you want to use as a load balancer. NGINX has packages available for all known operating systems. The versions tested are `1.14` and `1.15`. For help installing NGINX, refer to their [install documentation](https://www.nginx.com/resources/wiki/start/topics/tutorials/install/).
+
+The `stream` module is required, which is present when using the official NGINX packages. Please refer to your OS documentation on how to install and enable the NGINX `stream` module on your operating system.
+
+## Create NGINX Configuration
+
+After installing NGINX, you need to update the NGINX configuration file, `nginx.conf`, with the IP addresses for your nodes.
+
+1.  Copy and paste the code sample below into your favorite text editor. Save it as `nginx.conf`.
+
+2.  From `nginx.conf`, replace both occurrences (port 80 and port 443) of `<IP_NODE_1>`, `<IP_NODE_2>`, and `<IP_NODE_3>` with the IPs of your nodes.
+
+    :::note
+
+    See [NGINX Documentation: TCP and UDP Load Balancing](https://docs.nginx.com/nginx/admin-guide/load-balancer/tcp-udp-load-balancer/) for all configuration options.
+
+    :::
+
+    <figcaption>Example NGINX config</figcaption>
+
+    ```
+    worker_processes 4;
+    worker_rlimit_nofile 40000;
+
+    events {
+        worker_connections 8192;
+    }
+
+    stream {
+        upstream rancher_servers_http {
+            least_conn;
+            server <IP_NODE_1>:80 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=5s;
+            server <IP_NODE_2>:80 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=5s;
+            server <IP_NODE_3>:80 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=5s;
+        }
+        server {
+            listen 80;
+            proxy_pass rancher_servers_http;
+        }
+
+    }
+
+    http {
+
+        upstream rancher_servers_https {
+            least_conn;
+            server <IP_NODE_1>:443 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=5s;
+            server <IP_NODE_2>:443 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=5s;
+            server <IP_NODE_3>:443 max_fails=3 fail_timeout=5s;
+        }
+        server {
+            listen 443 ssl;
+            ssl_certificate /path/to/tls.crt;
+            ssl_certificate_key /path/to/key.key;
+            location / {
+                proxy_pass https://rancher_servers_https;
+                proxy_set_header Host <rancher UI URL>;
+                proxy_ssl_server_name on;
+                proxy_ssl_name <rancher UI URL>
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    ```
+
+
+3.  Save `nginx.conf` to your load balancer at the following path: `/etc/nginx/nginx.conf`.
+
+4.  Load the updates to your NGINX configuration by running the following command:
+
+    ```
+    # nginx -s reload
+    ```
+
+## Option - Run NGINX as Docker container
+
+Instead of installing NGINX as a package on the operating system, you can rather run it as a Docker container. Save the edited **Example NGINX config** as `/etc/nginx.conf` and run the following command to launch the NGINX container:
+
+```
+docker run -d --restart=unless-stopped \
+  -p 80:80 -p 443:443 \
+  -v /etc/nginx.conf:/etc/nginx/nginx.conf \
+  nginx:1.14
+```
@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+---
+title: Setting up Nodes in Amazon EC2
+---
+
+<head> 
+  <link rel="canonical" href="https://ranchermanager.docs.rancher.com/how-to-guides/new-user-guides/infrastructure-setup/nodes-in-amazon-ec2"/>
+</head>
+
+In this tutorial, you will learn one way to set up Linux nodes for the Rancher management server. These nodes will fulfill the node requirements for [OS, Docker, hardware, and networking.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-requirements/installation-requirements.md)
+
+If the Rancher server will be installed on an RKE Kubernetes cluster, you should provision three instances.
+
+If the Rancher server will be installed on a K3s Kubernetes cluster, you only need to provision two instances.
+
+If the Rancher server is installed in a single Docker container, you only need one instance.
+
+### 1. Optional Preparation
+
+- **Create IAM role:** To allow Rancher to manipulate AWS resources, such as provisioning new storage or new nodes, you will need to configure Amazon as a cloud provider. There are several things you'll need to do to set up the cloud provider on EC2, but part of this process is setting up an IAM role for the Rancher server nodes. For the full details on setting up the cloud provider, refer to this [page.](../kubernetes-clusters-in-rancher-setup/set-up-cloud-providers/set-up-cloud-providers.md)
+- **Create security group:** We also recommend setting up a security group for the Rancher nodes that complies with the [port requirements for Rancher nodes.](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-requirements/installation-requirements.md#port-requirements)
+
+### 2. Provision Instances
+
+1. Log into the [Amazon AWS EC2 Console](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/) to get started. Make sure to take note of the **Region** where your EC2 instances (Linux nodes) are created, because all of the infrastructure for the Rancher management server should be in the same region.
+1. In the left panel, click **Instances**.
+1. Click **Launch Instance**.
+1. In the section called **Step 1: Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI),** we will use Ubuntu 18.04 as the Linux OS, using `ami-0d1cd67c26f5fca19 (64-bit x86)`. Go to the Ubuntu AMI and click **Select**.
+1. In the **Step 2: Choose an Instance Type** section, select the `t2.medium` type.
+1. Click **Next: Configure Instance Details**.
+1. In the **Number of instances** field, enter the number of instances. A high-availability K3s cluster requires only two instances, while a high-availability RKE cluster requires three instances.
+1. Optional: If you created an IAM role for Rancher to manipulate AWS resources, select the new IAM role in the **IAM role** field.
+1. Click **Next: Add Storage,** **Next: Add Tags,** and **Next: Configure Security Group**.
+1. In **Step 6: Configure Security Group,** select a security group that complies with the [port requirements](../../../getting-started/installation-and-upgrade/installation-requirements/installation-requirements.md#port-requirements) for Rancher nodes.
+1. Click **Review and Launch**.
+1. Click **Launch**.
+1. Choose a new or existing key pair that you will use to connect to your instance later. If you are using an existing key pair, make sure you already have access to the private key.
+1. Click **Launch Instances**.
+
+
+**Result:** You have created Rancher nodes that satisfy the requirements for OS, hardware, and networking.
+
+:::note
+
+If the nodes are being used for an RKE Kubernetes cluster, install Docker on each node in the next step. For a K3s Kubernetes cluster, the nodes are now ready to install K3s.
+
+:::
+
+### 3. Install Docker and Create User for RKE Kubernetes Cluster Nodes
+
+1. From the [AWS EC2 console,](https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/) click **Instances** in the left panel.
+1. Go to the instance that you want to install Docker on. Select the instance and click **Actions > Connect**.
+1. Connect to the instance by following the instructions on the screen that appears. Copy the Public DNS of the instance. An example command to SSH into the instance is as follows:
+```
+sudo ssh -i [path-to-private-key] ubuntu@[public-DNS-of-instance]
+```
+1. Run the following command on the instance to install Docker with one of Rancher's installation scripts:
+```
+curl https://releases.rancher.com/install-docker/18.09.sh | sh
+```
+1. When you are connected to the instance, run the following command on the instance to create a user:
+```
+sudo usermod -aG docker ubuntu
+```
+1. Repeat these steps so that Docker is installed on each node that will eventually run the Rancher management server.
+
+:::tip
+
+To find out whether a script is available for installing a certain Docker version, refer to this [GitHub repository,](https://github.com/rancher/install-docker) which contains all of Rancher’s Docker installation scripts.
+
+:::
+
+**Result:** You have set up Rancher server nodes that fulfill all the node requirements for OS, Docker, hardware and networking.
+
+### Next Steps for RKE Kubernetes Cluster Nodes
+
+If you are going to install an RKE cluster on the new nodes, take note of the **IPv4 Public IP** and **Private IP** of each node. This information can be found on the **Description** tab for each node after it is created. The public and private IP will be used to populate the `address` and `internal_address` of each node in the RKE cluster configuration file, `rancher-cluster.yml`.
+
+RKE will also need access to the private key to connect to each node. Therefore, you might want to take note of the path to your private keys to connect to the nodes, which can also be included in the `rancher-cluster.yml` under the `ssh_key_path` directive for each node.