Creating a Private Network
Many cloud providers provide a web interface for creating a VPC and servers inside it.
Create the VPC First
Each region or data center selected for rented servers usually has a default VPC. However, we recommend creating a VPC explicitly in advance, and only then creating servers.
To create a VPC, use the command in the "Network" section of the web interface. For example, see Creating a private network in DigitalOcean. In the same section, you can find the CIDR of the created VPC, which should then be entered in the VPC creation form in SHIPOPS. In DigitalOcean, this parameter is called IP Range. If the provider does not use the term CIDR, you can recognize it by the format: an IPv4 address with a two-digit mask after the / character.
If you want to use existing servers and did not create a VPC, see this subsection for how to determine the CIDR.
Servers must be created in the same data center as the VPC you created in advance. If the data center is selected correctly, the required network will appear in the VPC list; select that exact network. The details of this VPC, including its CIDR, must then be specified in the VPC creation form in SHIPOPS.
Each rented server in a VPC has a private IP address, which is displayed in the server list. This is the address that should be specified in SHIPOPS forms when VPC IP is required. For example, in DigitalOcean, it might be 10.110.0.4.
A user familiar with Terraform can prepare a manifest for creating a VPC and servers of the required types without much difficulty. We recommend planning in advance which SHIPOPS roles, how many clusters, and what kinds of clusters will be used in the infrastructure, then determining how many servers of each type will be required. After that, you can create and run the corresponding Terraform manifest, then move to SHIPOPS when the VPC and servers are ready.
How to Find Your VPC CIDR if It Is Not in the Provider Web Interface
Even if you did not explicitly create a VPC and used servers in the default VPC, its CIDR can usually be found in the web interface. For example, in DigitalOcean, this is the Networking/VPC section. If you cannot find the CIDR, use the following method.
Step 1
Select one of the running servers in your VPC. Use the provider's web interface to find its private IP address, then open that server's management console.
Step 2
Run the command from the example below in the console, but replace the example value 10.110.0.4 with your private IP address.
PRIVATE_IPv4=10.110.0.4; ip route show | grep $(ip -4 -o addr show to $PRIVATE_IPv4/32 | awk '{print $2}') | awk '{print $1}'
This command returns the CIDR of your VPC, which should then be entered in the VPC creation form in SHIPOPS.