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Add and Update Edge Nodes

Learn how to add and update Edge Nodes in Cribl Edge

Cribl Edge provides you with the ability to add and update Edge Nodes from the UI. To access this function, select Edge Nodes in the sidebar. On the Edge Nodes page, select Add/Update Edge Node.

Options to add or update an Edge Node
Options to add or update an Edge Node

Here, you can update an existing Node with new configurations or add a new Node using the bootstrap script.

You can generate a bootstrap script for Edge Nodes deployed in the following environments:

The Update option in the UI adjusts the Leader connection details for the currently installed software. To upgrade the Edge Node – that is, install a newer version of the software – see Upgrading.

Add a New Edge Node with a Bootstrap Script
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Using the Cribl Edge UI, you can add Edge Nodes to your existing deployment. Simply change the environment-specific fields, then copy and paste the resulting bootstrap script into a CLI. The script updates in real-time as you change the fields. The result is a new Edge Node configured with the options you chose.

Host Communication Prerequisites
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To enable the Leader to manage the Edge Nodes, you must enable ongoing outbound communication to the Leader’s port 4200 on all Edge Nodes hosts.

While the bootstrap script runs, firewalls on each Nodes’s host must also allow outbound communication on the following ports:

  • Port 443 to https://cdn.cribl.io.
  • Port 443 to a Cribl.Cloud Leader.
  • Port 9000 to an on-prem Leader.

How To Add an Edge Node
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The details below differ slightly depending on which deployment option you select. This tutorial assumes a Linux deployment.

  1. From the Cribl Edge sidebar, select Edge Nodes.

  2. On the Edge Nodes page, select Add/Update Edge Node.

  3. Fill and modify the deployment option fields:

    • The Install package location defaults to Cribl CDN. If desired, change this to Download URL.
    • As needed, correct the target Fleet, as well as the Leader hostname/IP (URI).
    • As needed, correct the User and User Group to run Cribl as. Defaults to cribl.
    • As needed, correct the Installation directory. Defaults to /opt/cribl.

  4. Optionally, add Tags that you can use for filtering and grouping in Cribl Edge. Use a tab or hard return between (arbitrary) tag names.

  5. Copy the resulting script to your clipboard.

  6. Click either Done or X to close the modal.

  7. To add the Edge Node, paste the script onto the command line of your Edge Node and execute it.

If your script successfully added the Edge Node, you will see it in the Edge Nodes list.

Select the Update Script Type for Linux Nodes
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When you update a Linux Node, you must select a Script type from the drop-down. Choose between environment variable or CLI to add/update an Edge Node.

With Environment variable selected:

  1. Hover over the Script field and select the copy icon.
  2. To allow Edge to update or add Edge Nodes, configure the environment variable with a restart command.

  • You can add the restart command to the environment variable in the Linux systemd service unit file, so you don’t have to insert the environment variable each time you restart the server:

    1. In the CLI, enter systemctl edit cribl-edge on the Edge Node.
    2. Add ENVIRONMENT="CRIBL_DIST_LEADER_URL=tcp://criblmaster@masterHostname:4200" to the opened file and save it.
    3. Reload the service with sudo systemctl restart cribl-edge.

  • Or, you can use use ./cribl restart, but you will have to insert the environment variable each time you restart the server:

    CRIBL_DIST_LEADER_URL=tcp://criblmaster@masterHostname:4200 ./cribl restart

With CLI selected:

  1. Hover over the Script field and select the copy icon.
  2. Paste the copied script into a CLI and run it.

Concatenate the Bootstrap Script
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Cribl Edge admins can use the UI to concatenate and copy/paste the bootstrap script, combining several of the steps above. Instead of manually editing the fields in the UI, you can change them in the script. You can use an adjacent option to grab a script that updates an Edge Node’s Fleet assignment.

Edge Node Updates Using Fleet Version Settings
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The script you generate using the Add/Update Edge Node window ensures accurate updates by using the specified Target Software Version for your Fleet, enhancing the reliability and consistency of updates across all supported environments: Docker, Kubernetes, Linux, and Windows.

For Docker and Kubernetes:

  • If you don’t specify a target version, the command uses the Leader version’s image and version flag respectively, by default.

  • If you specify a target version, the command parses the Fleet version and maps it to the appropriate CDN URL or version flag.

For Linux environments:

  • The existing script behavior from the Leader manages the updates unless you specify a target version, in which case the script uses that version.

For Windows:

  • The default behavior uses the Leader Version from the CDN, while specifying a target version directs the command to parse the Fleet version and map it for MSI download via the CDN.

This mechanism ensures a more consistent and reliable deployment process, maintaining version control and improving update accuracy across all environments.

Troubleshooting the Display
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If you see unexpected results in the Edge Nodes list, keep in mind that:

  • Edge Nodes that don’t maintain their connection to the Leader will eventually disappear from the Edge Nodes page.
  • For a newly created Fleet, the Config Version column can show an indefinitely spinning progress spinner for that Fleet. This happens because the Edge Nodes are polling for a config bundle that hasn’t been deployed. To resolve this, click the Deploy option to force a deploy.
  • For details on collocating multiple Cribl products, see Cribl Edge and Cribl Stream on the Same Host.
  • For details on overriding default ports, see Overriding Default Ports.