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Configuration

When installing the NuvlaEdge, there are a number of environment variables which can be set in order to customise the NuvlaEdge software. Once installed, the NE’s configuration can only be changed through an update on full re-installation of the NE. This can be done locally, or via Nuvla (by re-installing and calling docker compose up again).

Environment Variables

When installing the NE, you can customize it via environment variables.

NOTE: that NuvlaEdge used to be called NuvlaBox. The name change was needed to avoid confusion since NuvlaEdge is only software, agnostic of the hardware it is running on. The name NuvlaBox was giving the impression that it was also a hardware solution, which is not. For backward compatible reasons, the environments variables below kept their old name.

Base components

Agent

  • NUVLABOX_UUID: the unique Nuvla ID given to your NuvlaEdge. Nuvla will provide this UUID. Also, if you’ve downloaded the compose files from Nuvla, this environment variable will already be set for you, otherwise, you must set it via export NUVLABOX_UUID=<your_nuvlabox_uuid>. Please note that the value of the variable can be given both in the form of nuvlabox/<uuid> or simply <uuid>;
  • NUVLABOX_API_KEY: when the NuvlaEdge is successfully installed, Nuvla will issue a unique API Key/Secret credential for that NuvlaEdge to be able to securely communicate with Nuvla. This credential’s key and secret are stored locally within the NuvlaEdge’s data volume, which means that if for some reason, the volume is lost, so is the NuvlaEdge, and you’ll have to create a new one. With this variable, if your NuvlaEdge local data is completely lost, but you know what its API Key and Secret were, you can recover it by running export NUVLABOX_API_KEY=credential/<api-key-uuid> and rerunning the NuvlaEdge installation steps. NOTE: this variable also needs NUVLABOX_API_SECRET to be set;
  • NUVLABOX_API_SECRET: the secret corresponding to the NUVLABOX_API_KEY mentioned above. Please note that API secrets are not stored in Nuvla, so you can only get this value from your NuvlaEdge’s local data volume;
  • NUVLA_ENDPOINT: endpoint for a Nuvla instance. By default, it points to https://nuvla.io. But if you have your own Nuvla instance, you can point your NuvlaEdge to it by running export NUVLA_ENDPOINT=<your_nuvla_endpoint> before launching it;
  • NUVLA_ENDPOINT_INSECURE: indicates whether to allow insecure (ignore TLS verification) communication between the NuvlaEdge and Nuvla. By default, it is set to false. In cases where you might have your own Nuvla instance, running on self-signed certificates, make sure you run export NUVLA_ENDPOINT_INSECURE=True before launching the NuvlaEdge;
  • NUVLABOX_SSH_PUB_KEY: it adds the provided string as a public SSH key into the host’s ${HOME}/.ssh/authorized_keys file. Please note that once set, this variable is no longer taken into consideration (e.g. during NuvlaEdge updates). This SSH key is immutable;
  • NUVLABOX_LOG_LEVEL: (since v2.2.0) allows selecting the log verbosity level of the Agent service in the NuvlaEdge. The value can be an integer or a string contained in the following table. If not specified, the Agent service would set INFO as default value.
  • HOME: defaults to your system user’s HOME path. It is used for SSH key management. You should not edit this variable;
  • VPN_INTERFACE_NAME: the NuvlaEdge will have its own VPN client. By default, it will create a new network interface called vpn. If this conflicts with your existing network configuration, then please run export VPN_INTERFACE_NAME=<your_new_vpn_interface_name> before launching the NuvlaEdge;
  • EXCLUDED_MONITORS: starting on NuvlaEdge version 2.4.0 it is possible to suppress some telemetry monitors from running. Monitors must be specified as a comma separated list, e.g: export EXCLUDED_MONITORS=geolocation,power. NOTE: be aware that removing monitors will limit Nuvla’s ability to display data and configure notifications.
    • “container_stats”
    • “geolocation”
    • “power”
    • “resources”
    • “temperature”
    • “vulnerabilities”

System Manager

  • NUVLABOX_DATA_GATEWAY_IMAGE: name of the container image to be used for the MQTT Broker behind the NuvlaEdge Data Gateway. You should only change this variable if you are sure the resulting Data Gateway functionality is not affected. To define a new MQTT broker image, simply run export NUVLABOX_DATA_GATEWAY_IMAGE=<container_image> before the installation;
  • SKIP_MINIMUM_REQUIREMENTS: when set to “True”, it forces the installation of the NuvlaEdge without checking the system and software requirements. Note: this is not recommended, as the NuvlaEdge might not behave as expected if the system requirements do not fulfil the minimum expectations;

Compute-Api

  • HOSTNAME: used to generate the Compute-API credentials used by Nuvla to manage applications on the NuvlaEdge. You should not edit this variable;

VPN-Client

  • NUVLABOX_UUID: the unique Nuvla ID given to your NuvlaEdge. Nuvla will provide this UUID. Also, if you’ve downloaded the compose files from Nuvla, this environment variable will already be set for you, otherwise, you must set it via export NUVLABOX_UUID=<your_nuvlabox_uuid>. Please note that the value of the variable can be given both in the form of nuvlabox/<uuid> or simply <uuid>;

Extra tools configuration

Security

  • EXTERNAL_CVE_VULNERABILITY_DB: it consists of a link to an external CVE database, in CSV format and compressed, to be used as the reference database for the vulnerability scans. By default, it points to an aggregated CVE databased compiled by SixSq, from multiple trusted sources. If you want to use your own CVE database, then simply export EXTERNAL_CSV_VULNERABILITY_DB=<your_csv_cve_compressed_db_url>;
  • EXTERNAL_CVE_VULNERABILITY_DB_UPDATE_INTERVAL: the NuvlaEdge Security component will periodically check for updates on the external CVE database defined in EXTERNAL_CVE_VULNERABILITY_DB. You can control how frequently these check for updates and synchronizations are performed. By default this interval is set to 86400 seconds (1 day). If you’d like to change it (please consider the consequences on the network load caused by such an update, in case your DB is large), please run export EXTERNAL_CVE_VULNERABILITY_DB_UPDATE_INTERVAL=<time_in_seconds>. Please also note that this check for updates also relies on Nuvla, meaning that whatever EXTERNAL_CVE_VULNERABILITY_DB is chosen, it shall also be recognized by Nuvla. If it is not, please contact us;
  • SECURITY_SCAN_INTERVAL: defines how regular the security scans are. By default, the scans are performed every 1800 seconds (30 min). If you’d like to change this, simply export SECURITY_SCAN_INTERVAL=<time_in_seconds>. Bare in mind that depending on the EXTERNAL_CSV_VULNERABILITY_DB’s size, a security scan can take some time (order of minutes) and consume quite a bit of CPU, so take caution when increasing the frequency of the scans;

NOTE: you can set these environment variables by either replacing them directly in the NuvlaEdge’s Compose Files, or by running export <var_name>=<value> directly on your terminal prior to the installation