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This guide covers both initial installation and upgrading of SambaRack Manager software. SambaRack Manager requires installation, setup, population with installed systems, and device credentials configuration prior to use. The complete setup process is:
  1. Install SambaRack Manager software (this page)
  2. Initial setup and verification
  3. Add SambaRack to the SambaRack Manager inventory
  4. Configure device credentials in SambaRack Manager

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Prerequisites

Before installing SambaRack Manager, ensure your system meets the following requirements.

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Operating system and libraries

  • Linux host running Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 or later
Other Linux distributions with glibc 2.28+ may work but are not officially supported.

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Network access

The installation host requires the following network connectivity:
  • Management network: To communicate with device management interfaces (BMCs, XRDU management ports).
  • Front-end network: To communicate with SambaRack host modules and Control Plane nodes.
  • Public internet: For downloading releases from Google Cloud Storage (GCS).

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GCS access

SambaRack Manager binaries are distributed through Google Cloud Storage. You need:
  • Access to the Google Cloud Storage bucket: gs://<SAMBASTACK_ARTIFACTS_BUCKET>
  • gsutil CLI tool installed and configured with appropriate credentials, or use gcloud CLI with gcloud auth login

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System tools

snctl shells out to standard system tools for device communication. Key dependencies include ipmitool, gbtipmitool-linux, ssh, sshpass, curl, in.tftpd, jq, and screen.

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Installation / Upgrade

Follow these steps to install SambaRack Manager.

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Step 1. Activate service account credentials

Run the following command using the service account credentials JSON file received from SambaNova:
Post successful run you should see:

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Step 2. Check available versions

List the available versions in the GCS bucket:

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Step 3. Download desired version

Download the binary for your desired version:
Its recommended to always install the “latest” version. To upgrade to a different version, replace “VERSION” with the desired version number.

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Step 4. Make it executable

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Step 5. Copy binary to a location in your PATH

Choose one of the following options: Option 1 – Accessible for all users: Copy the binary to /usr/local/bin/. This makes snctl available globally in your $PATH.
Option 2 – Accessible only to the current user: Copy the binary to ~/.local/bin/. You may need to add ~/.local/bin to your PATH environment variable in ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.

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Step 6. Verify the installation

Confirm that SambaRack Manager is installed correctly:
Expected output of snctl version:

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Next step

After completing the installation, continue with Initial setup.