Tutorial: Prepare to deploy Azure Stack Edge Mini R

Azure Edge Hardware Center (Preview) lets you explore and order a variety of hardware from the Azure hybrid portfolio including Azure Stack Edge Pro devices.

When you place an order through the Azure Edge Hardware Center, you can order multiple devices, to be shipped to more than one address, and you can reuse ship to addresses from other orders.

Ordering through Azure Edge Hardware Center will create an Azure resource that will contain all your order-related information. One resource each will be created for each of the units ordered. You will have to create an Azure Stack Edge resource after you receive the device to activate and manage it.

To place an order through the Azure Edge Hardware Center, do these steps:

1. Use your Microsoft Azure credentials to sign in to the Azure portal at this URL: https://portal.azure.com.

2. Select + Create a resource. Search for and select Azure Edge Hardware Center. In the Azure Edge Hardware Center, select Create.

   

3. Select a subscription, and then select Next.

   

4. To start your order, select Order beside the product family that you want to order - for example, Azure Stack Edge. If you don't see the product family, you may need to use a different subscription; select Try selecting a different subscription.

   

5. Select the shipping destination for your order.

   

6. On the Select Hardware page, use the Select button to select the hardware product to order. For example, here Azure Stack Edge Pro - GPU was selected.

   

   After you select a hardware product, you'll select the device configuration to order. For example, if you chose Azure Stack Edge Pro - GPU, you can choose from Azure Stack Edge Pro - 1 GPU and Azure Stack Edge Pro - 2 GPU models.

   If you are placing a first-time order for Azure Stack Edge, select Sign-up and fill out the web form as part of the Azure Edge Hardware Center ordering experience.

   The web form collects the following details about your deployment:

   • Total deployment scale
   • Cluster size
   • Hardware requirements
   • Geographic presence

   Microsoft will evaluate the deployment details you provide and may contact you by email for more information. We have certain requirements in place for new customers to ensure that Azure Stack Edge is the right fit for the use case; not all requests will be fulfilled. If you have questions, you can send email to AzureStack1Pinquiry@microsoft.com.

   

7. Select the device configuration, and then choose Select. The available configurations depend on the hardware you selected. The screen below shows available configurations for Azure Stack Edge Pro - GPU devices.

   If you're ordering Azure Stack Edge Mini R devices, which all have the same configuration, you won't see this screen.

   

   The Create order wizard opens.

8. On the Basics tab, provide an Order name, Resource group, and Region. Then select Next: Shipping + quantity >.

   

   Next, you'll add each ship to address you want to send devices to and then specify how many devices to send to each address. You can order up to 20 units (devices) per order.

9. On the Shipping + quantity tab, add each ship to address to send devices to:

   • To add a new ship to address, select Add a new address.

     A required Address alias field on the New address screen identifies the address for later use. Select Add when you finish filling in the address fields. Then use Select address(es) to add the address to your order.

     

   • To use a ship to address from a previous order, or to use an address that you just added, choose Select address(es). Then, on the Select address(es) screen, select one or more addresses, and choose Select.

     

   The Shipping + quantity tab now has a separate item for each ship to address.

   Each order item name includes a name prefix (the order name followed by the address alias), with an item number for each device that is shipped to that address.

   

10. For each address, enter the Quantity of devices to ship on the Shipping + quantity tab.

    When you enter a quantity of more than one, a +n more label appears after the order item name.

    

11. If you want to change the names of order items, select and click the order item name to open the Rename order item pane. If you're shipping more than one item to an address, select +n more.

    You can make two types of name change:

    • To use a different name prefix for all of the order items, edit the Name prefix and then select Apply, as shown on the following screen.

    • You can also edit the name of each order item individually.

    When you finish, select Done.

    

    Select Next: Notifications > to continue.

12. If you want to receive status notifications as your order progresses, enter the email address for each recipient on the Notifications tab.

    To add an email address, enter the address, and select Add. You can add up to 20 email addresses.

    

    When you finish, select Review + create to continue.

13. On the Review + create tab:

    1. Review your order. The order is automatically validated when you open this screen. If you see a Validation failed banner, you'll have to fix the issues before you create the order.

    2. Review the Privacy terms, and select the check box to agree to them.

    3. Select Create.

    

    During deployment, the order opens in the portal, with the status of each order item displayed. After deployment completes, you may need to click the Down arrow by Deployment details to see the status of individual items.

    

14. To view details for an order item, shown below, select the item in the Resource column of the deployment details.

    

15. After a device ships (Shipped tag is green), a Configure hardware option is added to the item details. Select that option to create a management resource for the device in Azure Stack Edge.

    

    The subscription, resource group, and deployment area are filled in from the order, but you can change them.

    

    After you activate the device, you'll be able to open the management resource from the item, and open the order item from the management resource.

Create a management resource for each device

To manage devices that are ordered through the Azure Edge Hardware Center, you'll create a management resource for each device in Azure Stack Edge. When the device is activated, the management resource is associated with an order item. You'll be able to open the order item from the management resource and open the management resource from the order item.

After a device is delivered, a Configure hardware link is added to the order item detail, giving you a direct way to open a wizard for creating a management resource. You can also use the Create management resource option in Azure Stack Edge.

To create a management resource for a device ordered through the Azure Edge Hardware Center, do these steps:

1. Use your Microsoft Azure credentials to sign in to the Azure portal at this URL: https://portal.azure.com.

2. There are two ways to get started creating a new management resource:

   • Through the Azure Edge Hardware Center: Search for and select Azure Edge Hardware Center. In the Hardware Center, display All order items. Select the item Name. In the item Overview, select Configure hardware.

     The Configure hardware option appears after a device is shipped.

     

   • In Azure Stack Edge: Search for and select Azure Stack Edge. Select + Create. Then select Create management resource.

     

   The Create management resource wizard opens.

3. On the Basics tab, enter the following settings:

   Setting	Value
   Select a subscription1	Select the subscription to use for the management resource.
   Resource group1	Select the resource group to use for the management resource.
   Name	Provide a name for the management resource.
   Deploy Azure resource in	Select the country or region where the metadata for the management resource will reside. The metadata can be stored in a different location than the physical device.

   ¹ An organization may use different subscriptions and resource groups to order devices than they use to manage them.

   

   Select Review + create to continue.

4. On the Review + create tab, review basic settings for the management resource and the terms of use. Then select Create.

   If you started this procedure by clicking Configure hardware for a delivered item in an Azure Edge Hardware Center order, the device, order resource name, and order status are listed at the top of the screen.

   

   The Create button isn't available until all validation checks have passed.

5. When the process completes, the Overview pane for new resource opens.

   

If necessary, prepare your environment for Azure CLI.

• Use the Bash environment in Azure Cloud Shell. For more information, see Quickstart for Bash in Azure Cloud Shell.

  

• If you prefer to run CLI reference commands locally, install the Azure CLI. If you're running on Windows or macOS, consider running Azure CLI in a Docker container. For more information, see How to run the Azure CLI in a Docker container.

  • If you're using a local installation, sign in to the Azure CLI by using the az login command. To finish the authentication process, follow the steps displayed in your terminal. For other sign-in options, see Sign in with the Azure CLI.

  • When you're prompted, install the Azure CLI extension on first use. For more information about extensions, see Use extensions with the Azure CLI.

  • Run az version to find the version and dependent libraries that are installed. To upgrade to the latest version, run az upgrade.

To create an Azure Stack Edge resource, run the following commands in Azure CLI.

1. Create a resource group by using the az group create command, or use an existing resource group:

   az group create --name myasepgpu1 --location eastus
   

2. To create a device, use the az databoxedge device create command:

   az databoxedge device create --resource-group myasepgpu1 \
      --device-name myasegpu1 --location eastus --sku EdgeMR_Mini
   

   Choose a location closest to the geographical region where you want to deploy your device. The region stores only the metadata for device management. The actual data can be stored in any storage account.

   For a list of all the regions where the Azure Stack Edge resource is available, see Azure products available by region. If using Azure Government, all the government regions are available as shown in the Azure regions.

3. To create an order, run the az databoxedge order create command:

   az databoxedge order create --resource-group myasepgpu1 \
      --device-name myasegpu1 --company-name "Contoso" \
      --address-line1 "1020 Enterprise Way" --city "Sunnyvale" \
      --state "California" --country "United States" --postal-code 94089 \
      --contact-person "Gus Poland" --email-list gus@contoso.com --phone 4085555555
   

The resource creation takes a few minutes. Run the az databoxedge order show command to see the order:

az databoxedge order show --resource-group myasepgpu1 --device-name myasegpu1 

After you place an order, Microsoft reviews the order and contacts you by email with shipping details.