Setting up AWS IoT Greengrass core devices - AWS IoT Greengrass
Supported platformsRequirementsSet up an AWS account

Setting up AWS IoT Greengrass core devices

Complete the tasks in this section to install, configure, and run the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software V2.

Note

This section describes advanced configuration of the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software. If you're a first-time user of AWS IoT Greengrass V2, we recommend that you complete the getting started tutorial to set up a core device and explore the features of AWS IoT Greengrass.

Topics

Supported platforms

AWS IoT Greengrass supports devices running the following platforms:

  • Architecture: Armv7l

    • OS: Linux

  • Architecture: Armv8 (AArch64)

    • OS: Linux

  • Architecture: x86_64

    • OS: Linux

Linux platforms can also run AWS IoT Greengrass V2 in a Docker container. For more information, see Run AWS IoT Greengrass Core software in a Docker container.

To build a custom Linux-based operating system, you can use the BitBake recipe for AWS IoT Greengrass V2 in the meta-aws project. The Yocto Project is an open source collaboration project that helps you build custom Linux-based systems for embedded applications regardless of hardware architecture. The meta-aws project provides recipes that you can use to build AWS edge software capabilities in embedded Linux systems that are built with OpenEmbedded and Yocto Project build frameworks. The BitBake recipe for AWS IoT Greengrass V2 installs, configures, and automatically runs the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software on your device.

Requirements

Devices must meet the following requirements to install and run the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software v2.x.

Note

You can use AWS IoT Device Tester for AWS IoT Greengrass to verify that your device can run the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software and communicate with the AWS Cloud. For more information, see Using AWS IoT Device Tester for AWS IoT Greengrass V2.

  • Minimum 256 MB disk space available for the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software. This requirement doesn't include components deployed to the core device.

  • Minimum 96 MB RAM allocated to the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software. This requirement doesn't include components that run on the core device. For more information, see Control memory allocation with JVM options.

  • Java version 8 or greater. We recommend Amazon Corretto 11 or OpenJDK 11.

  • GNU C Library (glibc) version 2.25 or greater.

  • The user that runs the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software (typically root), must have permission to run sudo with any user and any group. The /etc/sudoers file must give this user permission to run sudo as other groups. The permission for the user in /etc/sudoers should look like the following example. 

    root    ALL=(ALL:ALL) ALL

  • The /tmp directory must be mounted with exec permissions.

  • All of the following shell commands:

    • ps -ax -o pid,ppid

    • sudo

    • sh

    • kill

    • cp

    • chmod

    • rm

    • ln

    • echo

    • exit

    • id

    • uname

    • grep

  • Your device may also require the following optional shell commands:

    • (Optional) systemctl (to set up the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software as a system service)

    • (Optional) useradd, groupadd, and usermod (to set up the ggc_user system user and ggc_group system group)

    • (Optional) mkfifo (to run Lambda functions as components)

  • To configure system resource limits for component processes, your device must run Linux kernel version 2.6.24 or later.

  • To run Lambda functions, your device must meet additional requirements. For more information, see Requirements to run Lambda functions.

Requirements to run Lambda functions

Your device must meet the following requirements to run Lambda functions:

  • You must run the AWS IoT Greengrass Core software as a root user. Use sudo, for example.

  • Your device must have the mkfifo shell command.

  • Your device must run the programming language libraries that a Lambda function requires. You must install the required libraries on the device and add them to the PATH environment variable.

    • Python version 3.8 for functions that use the Python 3.8 runtime.

    • Python version 3.7 for functions that use the Python 3.7 runtime.

    • Python version 2.7 for functions that use the Python 2.7 runtime.

    • Node.js version 12.x for functions that use the Node.js 12.x runtime.

    • Node.js version 10.x for functions that use the Node.js 10.x runtime.

    • Java version 8 or later for functions that use the Java 8 runtime.

    For more information about AWS IoT Greengrass support for Lambda runtimes, see Run AWS Lambda functions.

  • To run containerized Lambda functions, your device must meet the following requirements:

    • Linux kernel version 4.4 or later.

    • The kernel must support cgroups, and you must enable and mount the following cgroups:

      • The memory cgroup for AWS IoT Greengrass to set the memory limit for containerized Lambda functions.

      • The devices cgroup for containerized Lambda functions to access system devices or volumes.

    • You must enable the following Linux kernel configurations on the device:

      • Namespace:

        • CONFIG_IPC_NS

        • CONFIG_UTS_NS

        • CONFIG_USER_NS

        • CONFIG_PID_NS

      • Cgroups:

        • CONFIG_CGROUP_DEVICE

        • CONFIG_CGROUPS

        • CONFIG_MEMCG

      • Others:

        • CONFIG_POSIX_MQUEUE

        • CONFIG_OVERLAY_FS

        • CONFIG_HAVE_ARCH_SECCOMP_FILTER

        • CONFIG_SECCOMP_FILTER

        • CONFIG_KEYS

        • CONFIG_SECCOMP

        • CONFIG_SHMEM

Set up an AWS account

If you do not have an AWS account, complete the following steps to create one.

To sign up for an AWS account

  1. Open https://portal.aws.amazon.com/billing/signup.

  2. Follow the online instructions.

    Part of the sign-up procedure involves receiving a phone call and entering a verification code on the phone keypad.

To create an administrator user for yourself and add the user to an administrators group (console)

  1. Sign in to the IAM console as the account owner by choosing Root user and entering your AWS account email address. On the next page, enter your password.

    Note

    We strongly recommend that you adhere to the best practice of using the Administrator IAM user that follows and securely lock away the root user credentials. Sign in as the root user only to perform a few account and service management tasks.

  2. In the navigation pane, choose Users and then choose Add user.

  3. For User name, enter Administrator.

  4. Select the check box next to AWS Management Console access. Then select Custom password, and then enter your new password in the text box.

  5. (Optional) By default, AWS requires the new user to create a new password when first signing in. You can clear the check box next to User must create a new password at next sign-in to allow the new user to reset their password after they sign in.

  6. Choose Next: Permissions.

  7. Under Set permissions, choose Add user to group.

  8. Choose Create group.

  9. In the Create group dialog box, for Group name enter Administrators.

  10. Choose Filter policies, and then select AWS managed - job function to filter the table contents.

  11. In the policy list, select the check box for AdministratorAccess. Then choose Create group.

    Note

    You must activate IAM user and role access to Billing before you can use the AdministratorAccess permissions to access the AWS Billing and Cost Management console. To do this, follow the instructions in step 1 of the tutorial about delegating access to the billing console.

  12. Back in the list of groups, select the check box for your new group. Choose Refresh if necessary to see the group in the list.

  13. Choose Next: Tags.

  14. (Optional) Add metadata to the user by attaching tags as key-value pairs. For more information about using tags in IAM, see Tagging IAM entities in the IAM User Guide.

  15. Choose Next: Review to see the list of group memberships to be added to the new user. When you are ready to proceed, choose Create user.

You can use this same process to create more groups and users and to give your users access to your AWS account resources. To learn about using policies that restrict user permissions to specific AWS resources, see Access management and Example policies.