Deployment Guide Overview

This deployment guide contains all the information that is applicable to successfully deploy Beast Core to commercial platforms. Version 4.10 is a demonstration platform and serves as an introduction to Beast Core 6.X (X= the current revision) which includes customization and deployment onto the customer platform.

This guide facilitates the user to a successful deployment of this demonstration software onto their system.

1. Introduction

1.1. Software Use Cases

• GOAL - Help advance organizational initiatives using modern, open digital technologies.

• One stop shop for full lifecycle support; Break down silos.

  • Development and Source selection.

  • Operational situational awareness through live system data.

  • Maintenance & Logistics.

  • Training.

• Digital twin capability across Program Executive Offices/Special Projects Office, vendors, and classifications.

  • Transition support from Legacy to Modern Systems.

  • Systems of Systems - Single pane of glass view of family of twins in one environment.

• Help shape RFP development to empower improved source selection in a common environment; better compare apples to apples.

• Live sensor integration allows CBM+ capability of life cycle savings & real-time situational awareness.
  

1.2. Typical Customer Deployment

Beast Core utilizes a single platform deployment.

Resource List:

The Beast Core deployment package, provided by Beast Code

1.3. Deployment Options

Deployment option: Single Platform. This deployment targets one physical asset. When the app opens, the user will immediately see that asset.

1.4. Time Estimate to Deployment Completion

The expected time to deploy Beast Code within AWS is eight hours.

1.5. Supported Regions

Beast Code is supporting all 50 United States and no foreign countries.

The supported AWS Regions for Amazon RDS are:

• US East (Ohio) – us-east-2

• US East (N. Virginia) – us-east-1

• US West (N. California)– us-west-1

• US West (Oregon) – us-west-2

2. Prerequisites and Requirements

2.1. Technical Prerequisites and Requirements

To deploy Beast Core 4 on AWS you will need:

1. Proficiency with Docker, Docker Compose and AWS (EC2, Route 53).

2.2. Deployment Environment Configuration

The user will need an AWS account and set up DNS according to the instructions.

The minimum number of AWS accounts is one. One person can deploy beast core.

3. Security

3.1. Does Not Require the Use of AWS Account Root Privileges for Deployment or Operation

Beast Core does not recommend, nor does it require the use of AWS account root privileges for deployment or operation.

3.2. Provides Prescriptive Guidance on Following the Policy of Least Privilege for All Access Granted as Part of the Deployment

Strategy regarding permissions for access to Beast Core is the responsibility of the customer/license holder.

To access AWS Service Limits Documentation, use this link: AWS Service Limits Documentation

Beast Core does not recommend, nor does it require the use of AWS account root privileges for deployment or operation.

3.3. Public Resource Documentation

Beast Core makes use of and requires no public resources for successful deployment for any customer.

Security – Beast Code (beast-code.com)

3.4. AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) Role Purpose and IM Policy

This section is Not Applicable (N/A) for Beast Core 4.10.

3.5. Purpose and Location of User Created Keys

This task is Not Applicable to Beast Core as keys are not required for this deployment.

Security – Beast Code (beast-code.com)

3.6. Maintaining Stored Secret Instructions

This task is Not Applicable Es there are no secret instructions stored within Beast Core.

Purpose and location of each key:

Security – Beast Code (beast-code.com)

3.7. Customer Sensitive Data Storage

The entity purchasing Beast Core is providing the workspaces, which could make it sensitive to customer data. Potentially, the entity would also be providing the other classes of information that include classified and other classifications depending upon who their customers are.

Potentially sensitive data located in the Workspace path that is Not Applicable within the current constructs of Beast Core.

NOTE

Later versions with user login might have more potentially sensitive data such as user account information but that does not currently exist.

Maintaining any stored secrets:

Security – Beast Code (beast-code.com)

3.8. Data Encryption Configuration

This task is Not Applicable as Beast Core currently has no encryption requirements. Beast Core will link to the AWS encryption requirements.

NOTE

This deployment does not use EBS encryption.

4. Costs

4.1. List of Mandatory or Optional Billable Services

The initial pricing strategy is a flat rate of $150 per hour for any services provided. This may evolve as Beast Code engages with customers and negotiates future contracts.

The estimated cost using this link https://calculator.aws/#/ are in the table below.

For pricing customized for your specific configuration see the Support Contact Methods in the Different Support Tiers and Service Level Agreement (SLA) Section.

4.2. Cost Model and Licensing Costs

• The Beast Core software licenses are subscription based and each user must possess a license.

• The monthly subscription provides users with access to software updates.

• The annual subscription receives a 10% discount.

• Site and enterprise licenses are negotiated prior to purchase.

• Price is for 2024, subject to change for future years.

Commercial Plugin License Costs

• Purchasing Bundles for a subset of the user’s organization is available.

• An annual purchase of the bundle receives a 10% discount.

• Site and enterprise licenses are negotiated prior to purchase.

• Price is for 2024, subject to change for future years.

Service Level Agreement (SLA)

• Government and commercial licenses include Tier 1 support.

• Tier 1 support is basic troubleshooting via email during business hours (9AM - 5PM Central).

• Tier 1 inquiries receive a response within 24 hours.

• Tier 2, Tier 3, and After-Hours support are purchased separately.

  • Tier 2 includes remote login support by technical staff.

  • Tier 3 includes dedicated developers to support installation, data migration, and plugin development.

  • After-Hours support is any support outside of normal business hours.

• User Training are purchased separately.

5. Deployment Assets

5.1. Instructions for Deploying the Workload on AWS

How to deploy Beast Core 4 on AWS.

Prerequisites:

For the list of prerequisites, see the Prerequisites and Requirements section.

1. Launch an EC2 instance

   1. Beast Code's test verifies v4 working on t2.micro which is the default Instance type

   2. When launching the instance make sure to include a key pair so you can ssh into it.

   3. For networking settings allow for ssh, http, and https.
      

2. ssh into the new instance

   1. Find the Public IPv4 address of the new instance.

   2. Locate the key used in step one for ssh.

   3. An example command is: ssh -i ~/.ssh/for-beast-core-v4-docker-compose-instance.pem ubuntu@<your instance's IP>
      

3. Install docker and docker-compose on the new instance.

During testing the following commands ran on an Ubuntu instance.  Your specific commands may the different depending on which OS you selected:

• sudo apt update -y

• sudo apt install -y docker.io

• sudo apt install -y docker-compose

• sudo groupadd docker

• sudo gpasswd -a ${USER} docker

• sudo systemctl start docker

4. Copy the Beast Core v4 deployment package

  You should be given a zipped folder containing the docker-compose.yml, the workspaces folder and the image tar. Once you have that, use something like scp to transfer it. An example command is:

scp -i ~/.ssh/for-beast-core-v4-docker-compose-instance.pem bc-v4-aws-doc.zip ubuntu@<your instance's IP>:~/bc

5. The beast core deployment package includes a tar of the beast core image. To make it usable by docker run docker load -i  beast-core.tar
   

6. Add TLS and authentication to this deployment especially when hosting sensitive data.
   

7. Run docker-compose.yml on the new instance

  unzip the beast core v4 deployment package and cd to the directory containing the docker-compose.yml and run docker-compose up -d

8) Configure an A record

  If you want to use a URL besides the IP address, use Route 53 to create an A record. Now the site should be viewable in Chrome.

5.2. Prescriptive Guidance for Testing

Testing

Enter the URL you created into the browser and make sure the site comes up. Try loading the system to see if it works.

6. Backup and Recovery

6.1. Data Stores and Configuration Backup and Recovery

The data store for the workspaces is a file system. There are no configurations to back up, just the files themselves.

7. Routine Maintenance

7.1. Rotating Programmatic System Credentials and Cryptographic Keys

System credentials created in AWS do not interact with the Beast Core program itself. There is no need to rotate any credentials within Beast Core when AWS credentials change.

This page describes how to change the IAM password: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/id_credentials_passwords_user-change-own.html#ManagingUserPwdSelf-Console?icmpid=docs_iam_help_panel

7.2. Prescriptive Guidance on Managing Licenses

The number of allotted licenses v/s licenses used are managed by the license key creation and management module of Beast Core 6. There will be floating licenses which means the number of used licenses cannot exceed the number of allotted licenses. The license users can switch/change, but the number of users logged in using the license count as used license.

7.3. Prescriptive Guidance on Managing AWS Service Limits

AWS service limits management is In Accordance With (IAW) standard AWS documentation. Beast Core has no special requirements.

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/awssupport/latest/user/service-limits.html

8. Emergency Maintenance

8.1. Handling Fault Conditions

To monitor any problems that may occur while beast-core is running, use the “docker-compose logs” command.

This page talks about how to get support from AWS: https://repost.aws/knowledge-center/get-aws-technical-support

8.2. How to Recover the Software

If any files from the unzipped deployment package were removed or unwanted changes made to them, follow these steps to recover them:

1. Look for the zipped deployment package sent by Beast Code.

2. If you cannot find it, contact Beast Code to obtain another copy.

3. Once you have the zipped deployment package, use that to redeploy Beast Core according to the Deployment Assets section.

9. Support

9.1. How to Receive Support

There are three ways to contact Beast Code Support

1. Email: The user Point of Contact (POC) can send an email to support@beast-code.com with the issues and Beast Code will create a ticket and address it based on the agreed Service Level Agreement (SLA). This will be part of Standard Tier1 support.
   

2. Phone: The user POC can also contact support by calling the Beast Code Support line phone number during normal workday business hours (Mon to Fri 8AM-4PM Central). This will be part of Extended Support (Tier2 & Tier3) agreement.
   

3. Help Center: The user POC will also have access to Beast Code Help Center. The POC can open a new ticket as well as view and/or update an existing ticket. This will be part of Extended Support (Tier2 & Tier3) agreement.

For more information, see the How to Receive Support article.

9.2. Technical Support Tiers

Regardless of the channel used to report an issue to Beast Code, user, the POC will receive email updates on the progress of the ticket based on the SLA.

Beast Code will also provide an escalation path if the SLA is not followed, or the issue resolution is not satisfactory.

The Beast Code SLA support team will be available during regular business hours (Mon to Fri 8AM – 4PM Central) except Federal Holidays.

9.3. Different Support Tiers and Service Level Agreement (SLA)

The following content is the complete Beast Code Service LEVEL Agreement 1.0.

Application Owners

Beast Code will interface directly to the Customer administrator Point of Contact (POC) for all matters related to the Beast Code Application Support. All activities and requests must follow the Beast Code change control process and be approved by the Customer admin. Beast Code will NOT interface with Customer users without Customer admin approval.

Support Contact Methods

• Beast Code Help Desk: support.beast-code.com

• Email: support@beast-code.com

• Phone: 850-702-3600 Ext#5

Severity Levels

Beast Code Level 1 and 2 technical support operates standard “SLA Initial Response Time” hours from 8:00AM to 4:00PM Central Time, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, Federal Holidays, and Beast Code Holidays.

The customer may submit a ticket and access the online help desk twenty-four hours a day.

NOTE

Access to Technical Support is limited to designated administrator(s) for Customer.

Technical Support requests received by the Beast Code help desk will receive a Severity Category from 1 to 4 based on how important responding to the request is to the primary business of the Customer as a whole, as well as the availability of resources. Severity categories are as follows:

• Severity #1 – a problem has made a critical application function unusable or unavailable and no workaround exists.
  

• Severity #2 – a problem has made a critical application function unusable or unavailable, but a workaround exists; or a problem has made an important application function unusable or unavailable and no workaround exists.
  

• Severity #3 – a problem has diminished critical or important application functionality or performance, but the functionality still performs as designed.
  

• Severity #4 – a problem that has diminished application functionality or performance.

Severity codes are used to determine appropriate response and resolution times. Response and resolution times are measured from when the incident is opened by the help desk. If no resolution to the problem is discovered within the defined time, continuous effort will be applied until the problem is resolved.

Response Time Definitions

• Initial Response - when Beast Code replies to an open ticket. Circumstances may make it necessary for the Customer to notify Beast Code about a problem by email or phone, but for the purposes of establishing the correct response time, the clock starts request when the Customer, or by Beast Code on behalf of the Customer open a ticket.
  

• Subsequent Response - is the frequency the Customer receives updates on the resolution status.
  

• Resolution - when Beast Code resolves the support request.

The table below represents standard response times. Beast Code will work with the Customer to determine actual severity.

Enhancements

Enhancements are site features that are either missing or not operating as desired (though operating as they were designed). This includes the following types of activities:

• Application Changes: Modifications to any application hosted on the site. This includes adding features, capabilities, etc.

• Application Features: This entails adding features or capabilities to the application.

• Database Modifications: – Changes to the data or database.

Enhancements are defined, estimated, prioritized, and managed by Beast Code. Enhancements that require additional resources to complete due to Customer deadlines, schedule requirements, complexity, or scope are executed through a formal statement of work at Beast Code.

Beast Code works with the Customer to define the requirements and acceptance criteria.  

Beast Code will periodically enhance the Beast Code Application Suite at its own cost and extend new capabilities to our customers. There is no additional cost for access to these new capabilities, and Beast Code will define the release schedule for the internal enhancement efforts.

Approval and Acceptance

Acceptance of the Services and each Deliverable shall occur only when:

• Beast Code has corrected necessary defects identified during testing.

• Beast Code provides the Customer with all Services and Deliverables pursuant to the applicable SOW.

• Customer notifies Beast Code in writing that all testing for the Services and Deliverables, as applicable, has met the Customer’s satisfaction.

Nothing else, including the Customer’s use of the Services or a Deliverable, or any portion thereof, in a live, operational environment, shall constitute Acceptance.

Request Ticketing System

Beast Code will maintain a Ticketing System (TS) for all work, errors, bugs, and enhancements requested by Customer to be fulfilled by Beast Code.

The appropriate Customer personnel will make a request via a ticket to Beast Code. When Beast Code accepts the request and adds the ticket to Beast Code’s backlog. Beast Code will determine prioritization of the ticket. When work starts on the request, the activity status is in progress. Upon completion of the task, the activity stats are ready for review. Upon approval, the changes will be migrated to the UAT environment for testing and final approval. Last, the changes will be migrated to the production systems and the task status is complete. The originator of the request will receive an email indicating that the activity is complete.

If a problem arises after launching the change, submit a new ticket for that problem. Submitting a ticket is mandatory. The TS provides a reporting mechanism for all requests. Beast Code provides a detailed invoice to Customer for any activities requiring additional resources via a formal SOW.

Customer Response Expectations

At times, Beast Code will need feedback or decisions from the Customer to complete tasks. To assure effective use of resources, Customer Administrators will respond to normal requests via email or phone within two business days. Delays in or lack of response will impact deadlines and delivery schedules.

Reporting Requirements

Beast Code will maintain an activity tracking tool that will enable the customer to pull real-time and historical work reports.

Where needed, Beast Code and the customer may agree on an alternate reporting format on a case-by-case basis.