Unlocking the Snow Family device - Amazon Snowball Edge Developer Guide
Troubleshooting unlocking a Snow Family device
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Unlocking the Snow Family device

This section describes unlocking the Snow Family device using the Snowball Edge CLI. To unlock the device using Amazon OpsHub, a graphical user interface (GUI) tool for Snow Family devices, see Unlock a device.

Before using a Snow Family device device to transfer data or perform edge compute tasks, you need to unlock the device. When unlocking the device, you authenticate your ability to access it by providing two forms of credentials: a 29-digit unlock code and a manifest file. After you unlock the device, you can further configure the device, move data to or from it, set up and use Amazon EC2-compatible instances, and more.

Before unlocking a device, the device must be plugged in to power and network, turned on, and an IP address assigned. See Connecting to Your Local Network. You will need the following information about the Snow Family device:

  • Download and install the Snowball Edge client. For more information, see Using the Snowball Edge Client.

  • Get the credentials from the Amazon Snow Family Management Console. For one or more standalone devices, the unlock codes and manifest file for each Snow Family device. For a cluster of Snowball Edge devices, the one unlock code and one manifest file for the cluster. For more information on downloading credentials, see Getting credentials to access a Snow Family device.

  • Power on each device and connect it to your network. For more information, see Connecting to Your Local Network.

To unlock a standalone device with the Snowball Edge client

  1. Find the IP address for the Amazon Snowball Edge device on the LCD display of the Amazon Snowball Edge device, under the Connections tab. Make a note of that IP address.

  2. Use the unlock-device command to authenticate your access to the Snow Family device with the IP address of the Snow Family device and your credentials, as follows.

    
  snowballEdge unlock-device --endpoint https://ip-address-of-device --manifest-file /Path/to/manifest/file.bin --unlock-code 29-character-unlock-code

    The device indicates it was unlocked successfully with the following message.

    
Your Snowball Edge device is unlocking. You may determine the unlock state of your device using the describe-device command. Your Snowball Edge device will be available for use when it is in the UNLOCKED state.

    If the command returns connection refused, see Troubleshooting unlocking a Snow Family device.

    Example of unlock-device command

    In this example, the IP address for the device is 192.0.2.0, the manifest file name is JID2EXAMPLE-0c40-49a7-9f53-916aEXAMPLE81-manifest.bin, and the 29-character unlock code is 12345-abcde-12345-ABCDE-12345.

    
  snowballEdge unlock-device --endpoint https://192.0.2.0 --manifest-file /Downloads/JID2EXAMPLE-0c40-49a7-9f53-916aEXAMPLE81-manifest.bin /
    --unlock-code 12345-abcde-12345-ABCDE-12345
To unlock a cluster of Snowball Edge devices with the Snowball Edge client

  1. Find the IP address of each of the devices in the cluster on the LCD display of each Amazon Snowball Edge device, under the Connections tab. Make a note of the IP addresses.

  2. Use the snowballEdge unlock-cluster command to authenticate your access to the cluster of Amazon Snowball Edge device devices with the IP address of one of the devices in the cluster, your credentials, and the IP addresses of all devices in the cluster as follows.

    

snowballEdge unlock-cluster --endpoint https://ip-address-of-device --manifest-file Path/to/manifest/file.bin --unlock-code 29-character-unlock-code --device-ip-addresses ip-address-of-cluster-device-1 ip-address-of-cluster-device-2 ip-address-of-cluster-device-3

    The cluster of devices indicates it was unlocked successfully with the following message.

    

Your Snowball Edge Cluster is unlocking. You may determine the unlock state of your cluster using the describe-cluster command. Your Snowball Edge Cluster will be available for use when your Snowball Edge devices are in the UNLOCKED state.

    If the command returns connection refused, see Troubleshooting unlocking a Snow Family device.

    Example of unlock-cluster command

    In this example for a cluster of five devices, the IP address for one of the devices in the cluster is 192.0.2.0, the manifest file name is JID2EXAMPLE-0c40-49a7-9f53-916aEXAMPLE81-manifest.bin, and the 29-character unlock code is 12345-abcde-12345-ABCDE-12345.

    

snowballEdge unlock-cluster --endpoint https://192.0.2.0 --manifest-file /Downloads/JID2EXAMPLE-0c40-49a7-9f53-916aEXAMPLE81-manifest.bin /

  --unlock-code 12345-abcde-12345-ABCDE-12345 --device-ip-addresses 192.0.2.0 192.0.2.1 192.0.2.2 192.0.2.3 192.0.2.4

Troubleshooting unlocking a Snow Family device

If the unlock-device command returns connection refused, you may have mistyped the command syntax or the configuration of your computer or network may be preventing the command from reaching the Snow device. Take these actions to resolve the situation:

  1. Ensure the command was entered correctly.

    1. Use the LCD screen on the device to verify the IP addressed used in the command is correct.

    2. Ensure that the path to the manifest file used in the command is correct, including the file name.

    3. Use the Amazon Snow Family Management Console to verify the unlock code used in the command is correct.

  2. Ensure the computer you are using is on the same network and subnet as the Snow device.

  3. Ensure the computer you are using and the network are configured to allow access to the Snow device. Use the ping command for your operating system to determine if the computer can reach the Snow device over the network. Check the configurations of antivirus software, firewall configuration, virtual private network (VPN), or other configurations of your computer and network.

Now you can begin using the Snow Family device.

Next: Setting Up Local Users