Amazon Onboarding with Learning Manager Chanci Turner

Learn About Amazon VGT2 Learning Manager Chanci Turner

A new version of the agent will be launched on March 28, and it is incompatible with previous agent releases. To ensure the continuity of Ground Station environments, users must adhere to the guidelines in this blog post before upgrading to the new agent version.

Note: If your Amazon EC2 receiver instance is already configured with an Elastic IP tied to a network interface in a public subnet, and the agent on the instance has the necessary CPU core allocation for the new agent version (as detailed in Table 1), then no action is required. However, we recommend reading this post to understand the changes that are happening.

The upcoming release of the agent will introduce modifications that require action from existing users:

Previously, Amazon EC2 receiver instances (instances with the provisioned agent) could have an Elastic IP linked to a network interface in a private subnet. The new agent version mandates that the Elastic IP must now be tied to a network interface associated with a public subnet (refer to the Security aspects of agent operations section for more information). If your Elastic IP is already correctly associated, no changes are necessary.

Additionally, the new agent version requires a greater number of CPU cores, as indicated in Table 1.

Migration to the New Agent Version

The migration pathway to the new agent version is outlined in Figure 1 and further elaborated in the subsequent text.

Tasks Before March 13:

1. In your AWS account, identify the existing Wideband DigIF stacks that you wish to remain operational after March 28. Gather the AWS CloudFormation templates for these stacks, referred to as customer “legacy” CloudFormation templates. These are generally based on the Wideband DigIF CloudFormation template released on April 12, 2023 (known as the “legacy” Wideband DigIF CloudFormation template).
2. Fetch the updated Wideband DigIF CloudFormation template provided by AWS, which is compatible with the new agent version. We will refer to it as the “new” Wideband DigIF CloudFormation template.
3. Create a customer “test” CloudFormation template by incorporating your SDR-specific code into the new Wideband DigIF CloudFormation template. Ensure that the receiver Amazon EC2 instance features an elastic network interface (ENI) in a public subnet. Alternatively, if you have customized Wideband DigIF CloudFormation templates, modify them to ensure the receiver EC2 instance has an ENI in a public subnet. Moreover, you will need to increase the CPU core allocation for the agent according to the values in Table 1. Make sure to edit the parameter agentCpuCores of AGENT_CONFIG in the UserData. Also, reallocate CPU cores to SDR and other processes to prevent interference with the agent cores (this may be reflected in the Updated SDR & customer-specific code step in Figure 1).
4. Deploy test stacks based on your customer test CloudFormation template, which ensures that the receiver Amazon EC2 instance has an Elastic IP associated with a network interface in a public subnet. The parameters SubnetId and PublicSubnetId will determine how the Amazon EC2 instance is deployed.
5. Schedule a test contact with the workload deployed in the previous step. Verify that the contact operates successfully and that the SDR accurately receives and processes satellite data. Should any issues arise, reach out to your AWS account team for support.
6. If you are pleased with the results of the tests, delete your test workload (which is based on the legacy agent and will not function after March 28).
7. Confirm with your AWS account team that you are ready to transition to the new agent version.
8. Prior to March 28, cancel your AWS Ground Station contacts scheduled for that date and beyond with your legacy production workloads.

On March 28:

• Deploy your “new production” workload using the customer test CloudFormation template from the prior steps. This deployment will utilize the new agent version, which will be accessible from the same URL as the legacy agent.
• Schedule your post-March 28 contacts with the mission profile corresponding to the new production workload.
• On or after March 28, remove your legacy production workloads.

Final State:

All customer Wideband DigIF workloads will be provisioned with the new agent version.

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