Manage edge devices by integrating with Red Hat Edge Manager
Red Hat Edge Manager simplifies the management of edge devices and applications through a declarative approach. It automatically implements and maintains configurations across your entire fleet by defining a desired state for OS versions, host configurations, and application deployments.
The Red Hat Edge Manager documentation has moved to a standalone location. For the most current documentation, see Red Hat Edge Manager 1.0. The content in this guide is deprecated.
The Red Hat Edge Manager on Ansible Automation Platform offers elevated integration with your automations. You can then focus more on orchestrating the environment without worrying about updating the operating system.
- Architecture
You can manage individual devices or an entire fleet by using the Red Hat Edge Manager. The Red Hat Edge Manager uses an agent-based architecture that allows for a scalable and robust device management, even with limited network conditions. - Enroll devices
To manage your devices with the Red Hat Edge Manager, you must enroll the devices to the Red Hat Edge Manager service. - Install Red Hat Edge Manager
Install the Red Hat Edge Manager to manage edge devices and applications at scale. This guide focuses on a standalone deployment of the Red Hat Edge Manager on Red Hat Enterprise Linux alongside Ansible Automation Platform. - Set up the OAuth application for Ansible Automation Platform
You have two options for setting up the OAuth application in Ansible Automation Platform, either manually or automatically in the Ansible Automation Platform UI. - Understand bootable container images
Image-based operating systems allow the operating system and its configuration and applications to be versioned, deployed, and updated as a single unit. Using an image-based operating system reduces operational risks by doing the following: - Build a bootc operating system image for Red Hat Edge Manager
Withbootc, your operating system becomes a container image that lets your device be managed by the Red Hat Edge Manager. - Build the operating system image with bootc
Build the operating system image with thebootcthat contains the Red Hat Edge Manager agent. You can optionally include the following items in your operating system image: - Requirements for specific target platforms
Review the specific requirements and procedures necessary to prepare operating system images for deployment onto target platforms such as Red Hat OpenShift Virtualization and VMware vSphere. - Provision edge devices
You can provision devices with the Red Hat Edge Manager in different environments. Use the operating system image or disk image that you built for use with the Red Hat Edge Manager. Depending on your target environment, provision a physical or virtual device. - Enroll and view devices
The Red Hat Edge Manager manages the device lifecycle from enrollment to decommissioning of a device. The device lifecycle also includes device management, such as organizing, monitoring, and updating your devices with the Red Hat Edge Manager. - Filter a list with field selectors
Field selectors filter a list of Red Hat Edge Manager resources based on specific resource field values. They follow the same syntax, principles, and operators as Kubernetes Field and Label selectors, with additional operators available for more advanced search use cases. - Update the operating system
Update a device's operating system by changing the target operating system image name or version in the device specification. The agent detects the requested update upon communicating with the server and automatically begins downloading and verifying the new operating system in the background. - Operating system configuration for edge devices
You can include an operating system-level host configuration in the image to give maximum consistency and repeatability. To update the configuration, create a new operating system image and update devices with the new image. - Run user-defined commands with device lifecycle hooks
The Red Hat Edge Manager agent uses lifecycle hooks to run user-defined commands at specific stages. For example, you can add a backup script to back up application data that must be completed before an operating system update can begin. - Monitor device resources
You can set up monitors for device resources and define alerts when the use of these resources crosses a defined threshold. When the agent alerts the Red Hat Edge Manager service, the service sets the device status to "degraded" or "error" (depending on the severity level). - Manage applications on an edge device
Modify the application list in the device specification to deploy, update, or remove applications. The Red Hat Edge Manager agent detects changes upon check-in, downloads new or updated Open Container Initiative (OCI) packages and images, and manages their deployment or removal at runtime. - Manage a large number of devices with device fleets
The Red Hat Edge Manager simplifies the management of a large number of devices and workloads through device fleets. A fleet is a resource that defines a group of devices governed by a common device template and management policies. - Define a rollout disruption budget
A rollout disruption budget defines the acceptable level of service impact during a rollout. This ensures that a deployment does not take down too many devices at once, maintaining overall system stability.