Prisma Cloud Compute Edition Administrator’s Guide
    : Amazon ECS
    Focus
    Download PDF
    Focus
    1. Home
    2. Prisma
    3. Prisma Cloud
    4. Prisma Cloud Compute Edition Administrator’s Guide
    5. Install
    6. Amazon ECS
    Download PDF

    Prisma Cloud Compute Edition Administrator’s Guide

    Amazon ECS

    Table of Contents
    End-of-Life (EoL)

    Amazon ECS

    This guide shows you how to deploy Prisma Cloud in an ECS cluster with a single infrastructure node and two worker nodes. Console runs on the infrastructure node. An instance of Defender runs on each node in the cluster.
    Console is the Prisma Cloud management interface It runs as a service in your ECS cluster. The parameters of the service are described in a task definition, and the task definition is written in JSON format.
    Defender protects your containerized environment according to the policies you set in Prisma Cloud Console It also runs a service in your ECS cluster. To automatically deploy an instance of Defender on each node in your cluster, you’ll run the Defender task as a daemon service.
    The installation described in this article is meant to be highly available. Data is persisted across nodes. If an infrastructure node were to go down, ECS can reschedule the Console service on any healthy node, and Console will continue to have access to its state. To enable this capability, you’ll attach storage that’s accessible from each of your infrastructure nodes, and Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is an excellent option.
    When you have multiple infrastructure nodes, ECS can schedule Console on any of them. Defenders need a reliable way to connect to Console. A load balancer automatically directs traffic to the node where Console runs, and offers a stable interface that Defenders can use to connect to Console and that operators can use to access its web interface.
    We assume you are deploying Prisma Cloud to the default VPC. If you are not using the default VPC, adjust your settings accordingly.
    This guide assumes you know very little about AWS ECS. As such, it is extremely prescriptive, and includes step for building your cluster. If you are already familiar with AWS ECS and do not need assistance navigating the interface, simply read the section synopsis, which summarizes all key configurations. To better understand clusters, read our cluster context topic.

    Download the Prisma Cloud software

    The Prisma Cloud release tarball contains all the release artifacts.
    1. Download the latest recommended release.
    2. Retrieve the release tarball.
      $ wget <LINK_TO_CURRENT_RECOMMENDED_RELEASE_LINK>
    3. Unpack the Prisma Cloud release tarball.
      $ mkdir twistlock
$ tar xvzf prisma_cloud_compute_edition_<VERSION>.tar.gz  -C twistlock/

    Create a cluster

    Create an empty cluster named pc-ecs-cluster. Later, you will create launch configurations and auto-scaling groups to start EC2 instances in the cluster.
    1. Log into the AWS Management Console.
    2. Go to
      Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
      .
    3. Click
      Create Cluster
      .
    4. Select
      Networking only
      , then click
      Next Step
      .
    5. Enter a cluster name, such as
      pc-ecs-cluster
      .
    6. Click
      Create
      .

    Create a security group

    Create a new security group named pc-security-group that opens the following ports. This security group will be associated with resources in your cluster.
    Port
    Description
    8083
    Prisma Cloud Console’s UI and API.
    8084
    Prisma Cloud secure websocket for Console-Defender communication.
    2049
    NFS for Prisma Cloud Console to access its state.
    22
    SSH for managing nodes.
    You can harden this configuration as required. For example, you might want to limit access to port 22 to specific source IPs.
    1. Go to
      Services > Compute > EC2
      .
    2. In the left menu, click
      NETWORK & SECURITY > Security Groups
      .
    3. Click
      Create Security Group
      .
    4. In
      Security group name
      , enter a name, such as
      pc-security-group
      .
    5. In
      Description
      , enter
      Prisma Cloud ports
      .
    6. In
      VPC
      , select your default VPC.
    7. Under the
      Inbound rules
       section, click
      Add Rule
      .
      1. Under
        Type
        , select
        Custom TCP
        .
      2. Under
        Port Range
        , enter
        8083-8084
        .
      3. Under
        Source
        , select
        Anywhere
        .
    8. Click
      Add Rule
      .
      1. Under
        Type
        , select
        NFS
        .
      2. Under
        Source
        , select
        Anywhere
        .
    9. Click
      Add Rule
      .
      1. Under
        Type
        , select
        SSH
        .
      2. Under
        Source
        , select
        Anywhere
        .
    10. Click
      Create security group
      .

    Create an EFS file system for Console

    Create the Console EFS file system, and then get the command that will be used to mount the file system on every infrastructure node.
    The EFS file system and ECS cluster must be in the same VPC and security group.
    Prerequisites:
     Prisma Cloud Console depends on an EFS file system with the following performance characteristics:
    • Performance mode:
       General purpose.
    • Throughput mode:
       Provisioned. Provision 0.1 MiB/s per deployed Defender. For example, if you plan to deploy 10 Defenders, provision 1 MiB/s of throughput.
    1. Log into the AWS Management Console.
    2. Go to
      Services > Storage > EFS
      .
    3. Click
      Create File System
      .
    4. Enter a value for
      Name
      , such as
      pc-efs-console
    5. Select a VPC.
    6. Click
      Customize
      .
    7. Set throughput mode to
      Provisioned
      , and set
      Throughput
       to 0.1 MiB/s per Defender to be deployed.
      For example, if you plan to deploy ten Defenders, set throughput to 1 MiB/s (10 Defenders * 0.1 MiB/s = 1 MiB/s).
    8. Click
      Next
      .
    9. For each mount target, select the
      pc-security-group
      .
    10. Click
      Next
      .
    11. In
      File System Policy
      , click
      Next
      .
    12. Review your settings and click
      Create
      .
    13. Click
      View file system
      .
    14. Click
      Attach
      , copy the NFS client mount command, and set it aside for later.
      You will use the mount command when setting up Console’s launch configuration.

    Set up a load balancer

    Set up an AWS Classic Load Balancer, and capture the Load Balancer DNS name.
    You’ll create two load balancer listeners. One is used for Console’s UI and API, which are served on port 8083. Another is used for the websocket connection between Defender and Console, which is established on port 8084.
    For detailed instructions on how to create a load balancer for Console, see Configure an AWS Load Balancer for ECS.

    Deploy Console

    Launch an infrastructure node that runs in the cluster, then start Prisma Cloud Console as a service on that node.

    Create a launch configuration for the infrastructure node

    Launch configurations are templates that are used by an auto-scaling group to start EC2 instances in your cluster.
    Create a launch configuration named pc-infra-node that:
    • Creates an instance type of t2.xlarge, or higher. For more information about Console’s minimum requirements, see the system requirements.
    • Runs Amazon ECS-Optimized Amazon Linux 2 AMI.
    • Uses the ecsInstanceRole IAM role.
    • Runs a user data script that joins the pc-ecs-cluster and defines a custom attribute named purpose with a value of infra. Console tasks will be placed to this instance.
    1. Go to
      Services > Compute > EC2
      .
    2. In the left menu, click
      Auto Scaling > Launch Configurations
      .
    3. Click
      Create launch configuration
      .
    4. In
      Name
      , enter a name for your launch configuration, such as
      pc-infra-node
      .
    5. In Amazon machine image, select
      Amazon ECS-Optimized Amazon Linux 2 AMI
      .
      You can get a complete list of per-region Amazon ECS-optimized AMIs from here.
    6. Under instance type, select
      t2.xlarge
      .
    7. Under
      Additional Configuration
      :
      1. In
        IAM instance profile
        , select
        ecsInstanceRole
        .
        If this role doesn’t exist, create it. For complete details, see Amazon ECS Container Instance IAM Role.
      2. Under
        User data
        , select
        Text
        , and paste the following code snippet, which installs the NFS utilities and mounts the EFS file system:
        #!/bin/bash
cat <<'EOF' >> /etc/ecs/ecs.config
ECS_CLUSTER=pc-ecs-cluster
ECS_INSTANCE_ATTRIBUTES={"purpose": "infra"}
EOF

yum install -y nfs-utils
mkdir /twistlock_console
<CONSOLE_MOUNT_COMMAND> /twistlock_console

mkdir -p /twistlock_console/var/lib/twistlock
mkdir -p /twistlock_console/var/lib/twistlock-backup
mkdir -p /twistlock_console/var/lib/twistlock-config
        ECS_CLUSTER
         must match your cluster name. If you’ve named your cluster something other than
        pc-ecs-cluster
        , then update the user data script accordingly.
        <CONSOLE_MOUNT_COMMAND>
         is the Console mount command you copied from the AWS Management Console after creating your console EFS file system. The mount target must be /twistlock_console, not the efs mount target provided in the sample command.
      3. (Optional) In
        IP Address Type
        , select
        Assign a public IP address to every instance
        .
        With this option, you can easily SSH to this instance to troubleshoot issues.
    8. Under
      Security groups
      :
      1. Select
        Select an existing security group
        .
      2. Select
        pc-security-group
        .
    9. Under
      Key pair (login)
      , select an existing key pair, or create a new key pair so that you can access your instances.
    10. Click
      Create launch configuration
      .

    Create an auto scaling group for the infrastructure node

    Launch a single instance of the infrastructure node into your cluster.
    1. Go to
      Services > Compute > EC2
      .
    2. In the left menu, click
      Auto Scaling > Auto Scaling Groups
      .
    3. Click
      Create an Auto Scaling group
      .
    4. In
      Choose launch template or configuration
      :
      1. In
        Auto Scaling group Name
        , enter
        pc-infra-autoscaling
        .
      2. In
        Launch template
        , click
        Switch to launch configuration
        .
      3. Select
        pc-infra-node
        .
      4. Click
        Next
        .
    5. Under
      Configure settings
      :
      1. In
        VPC
        , select your default VPC.
      2. In
        Subnet
        , select a public subnet, such as 172.31.0.0/20.
      3. Click
        Skip to review
        .
    6. Review the configuration and click
      Create Auto Scaling Group
      .
      After the auto scaling group spins up (it will take some time), validate that your cluster has one container instance, where a container instance is the ECS vernacular for an EC2 instance that has joined the cluster and is ready to accept container workloads:
      • Go to
        Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
        . The count for
        Container instances
         should be 1.
      • Click on the cluster, then click on the
        ECS Instances
         tab. In the status table, there should be a single entry. Click on the link under the
        EC2 Instance
         column. In the details page for the EC2 instance, record the
        Public DNS
        .

    Copy the Prisma Cloud config file into place

    The Prisma Cloud API serves the version of the configuration file used to instantiate Console. Use scp to copy twistlock.cfg from the Prisma Cloud release tarball to /twistlock_console/var/lib/twistlock-config on the infrastructure node.
    1. Upload twistlock.cfg to the infrastructure node.
      1. Go to the directory where you unpacked the Prisma Cloud release tarball.
      2. Copy twistlock.cfg to the infrastructure node.
        $ scp -i <PATH-TO-KEY-FILE> twistlock.cfg ec2-user@<ECS_INFRA_NODE_DNS_NAME>:~
    2. SSH to the infrastructure node.
      $ ssh -i <PATH-TO-KEY-FILE> ec2-user@<ECS_INFRA_NODE_DNS_NAME>
    3. Copy the twistlock.cfg file into place.
      $ sudo cp twistlock.cfg /twistlock_console/var/lib/twistlock-config
    4. Close your SSH session.
      $ exit

    Create a Prisma Cloud Console task definition

    Prisma Cloud provides a task definition template for Console. Download the template, then update the variables specific to your environment. Finally, load the task definition in ECS.
    Prerequisites:
    • The task definition provisions sufficient resources for Console to operate. The template specifies reasonable defaults. For more information, see the system requirements.
    1. Download the Prisma Cloud Compute Console task definition, and open it for editing.
    2. Update the value for image.
      Replace the following placeholder strings with the appropriate values:
    3. Update the value for`<ECS_INFRA_NODE_IPADDR>` to the Load Balancer’s DNS name.
    4. Go to
      Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
      .
    5. In the left menu, click
      Task Definitions
      .
    6. Click
      Create new Task Definition
      .
    7. Select
      EC2
      , and then click
      Next step
      .
    8. In
      Step 2: Configure task and container definitions
      , scroll to the bottom of the page and click
      Configure via JSON
      .
    9. Delete the default task definition, and replace it with the Prisma Cloud Compute Console task definition.
    10. Click
      Save
      .
    11. (Optional) Change the name of the task definition. By default, its name is
      pc-console
      .
    12. Click
      Create
      .

    Start the Prisma Cloud Console service

    Create the Console service using the previously defined task definition. A single instance of Console will run on the infrastructure node.
    1. Go to
      Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
      .
    2. In the left menu, click
      Clusters
      .
    3. Click on your cluster.
    4. In the
      Services
       tab, then click
      Create
      .
    5. In
      Step 1: Configure service
      :
      1. For
        Launch type
        , select
        EC2
        .
      2. For
        Task Definition
        , select
        pc-console
        .
      3. In
        Service Name
        , enter
        pc-console
        .
      4. In
        Number of tasks
        , enter
        1
        .
      5. Click
        Next Step
        .
    6. In
      Step 2: Configure network
      :
      1. For
        Load Balancer type
        , select
        Classic Load Balancer
        .
      2. For
        Service IAM role
        , leave the default
        ecsServiceRole
        .
      3. For
        Load Balancer Name
        , select previously created load balancer.
      4. Unselect
        Enable Service discovery integration
      5. click
        Next Step
        .
    7. In
      Step 3: Set Auto Scaling
      , accept the defaults, and click
      Next
      .
    8. In
      Step 4: Review
      , click
      Create Service
      .
    9. Wait for the service to launch, and then click
      View Service
      .
    10. Wait for
      Last status
       to change to
      RUNNING
       (it can take a few minutes), and then proceed to the next step.

    Configure Prisma Cloud Console

    Navigate to Console’s web interface, create your first admin account, and enter your license.
    1. Start a browser, then navigate to https://<LB_DNS_NAME>:8083
    2. At the login page, create your first admin account. Enter a username and password.
    3. Enter your license key, then click
      Register
      .

    Deploy Defender

    Create worker nodes in your ECS cluster, create a task definition for the Prisma Cloud Defender, and then create a service of type Daemon to deploy Defender to every node in the cluster.
    If you already have worker nodes in your cluster, skip directly to creating the Defender task definition.

    Create a launch configuration for worker nodes

    Create a launch configuration named pc-worker-node that:
    • Runs the Amazon ECS-Optimized Amazon Linux 2 AMI.
    • Uses the ecsInstanceRole IAM role.
    • Runs a user data script that joins the pc-ecs-cluster and runs the commands required to install Defender.
    1. Go to
      Services > Compute > EC2
      .
    2. In the left menu, click
      Auto Scaling > Launch Configurations
      .
    3. Click
      Create Launch Configuration
    4. In
      Name
      , enter a name for your launch configuration, such as
      pc-worker-node
      .
    5. In Amazon machine image, select
      Amazon ECS-Optimized Amazon Linux 2 AMI
      .
      You can get a complete list of per-region Amazon ECS-optimized AMIs from here.
    6. Choose an instance type, such as
      t2.medium
      .
    7. Under
      Additional configuration
      :
      1. In
        IAM instance profile
        , select
        ecsInstanceRole
        .
      2. Under
        User data
        , select
        Text
        , and paste the following code snippet:
        #!/bin/bash
echo ECS_CLUSTER=pc-ecs-cluster >> /etc/ecs/ecs.config
        Where:
        • ECS_CLUSTER must match your cluster name. If you’ve named your cluster something other than pc_ecs_cluster, then modify your user data script accordingly.
      3. (Optional) In
        IP Address Type
        , select
        Assign a public IP address to every instance
        .
        With this option, you can easily SSH to this instance to troubleshoot issues.
    8. Under
      Security groups
      :
      1. Select
        Select an existing security group
        .
      2. Select
        pc-security-group
        .
    9. Under
      Key pair (login)
      , select an existing key pair, or create a new key pair so that you can access your instances.
    10. Click
      Create launch configuration
      .

    Create an auto scaling group for worker nodes

    Launch two worker nodes into your cluster.
    1. Go to
      Services > Compute > EC2
      .
    2. In the left menu, click
      Auto Scaling > Auto Scaling Groups
      .
    3. Click
      Create an Auto Scaling group
      .
    4. In
      Choose launch template or configuration
      :
      1. In
        Auto Scaling group Name
        , enter
        pc-worker-autoscaling
        .
      2. In
        Launch template
        , click
        Switch to launch configuration
        .
      3. Select
        pc-worker-node
        .
      4. Click
        Next
        .
    5. Under
      Configure settings
      :
      1. In
        VPC
        , select your default VPC.
      2. In
        Subnet
        , select a public subnet, such as 172.31.0.0/20.
      3. Click
        Next
        .
    6. In
      Configure advanced options
      , accept the defaults, and click
      Next
      .
    7. In
      Configure group size and scaling policies
      :
      1. Set
        Desired capacity
         to
        2
        .
      2. Leave
        Minimum capacity
         at
        1
        .
      3. Set
        Maximum capacity
         to
        2
        .
      4. Click
        Skip to review
        .
    8. Review the configuration and click
      Create Auto Scaling Group
      .
      After the auto scaling group spins up (it will take some time), validate that your cluster has three container instances.
      1. Go to
        Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
        .
      2. The count for
        Container instances
         in your cluster should now be a total of three.

    Create a Prisma Cloud Defender task definition

    Generate a task definition for Defender in Prisma Cloud Console.
    1. Log into Prisma Cloud Compute Console.
    2. Go to
      Manage > Defenders > Deploy > Defenders
      .
    3. In
      Deployment method
      , select
      Orchestrator
      .
    4. For orchestrator type, select
      ECS
      .
    5. For the name that Defender uses to connect to Console, select the DNS name of the load balancer that sits in front of Console.
    6. In
      Specify a cluster name
      , leave the field blank.
      Console will automatically retrieve the cluster name from AWS. Only enter a value if you want to override the cluster name assigned in AWS.
    7. In
      Specify ECS task name
      , leave the field blank.
      By default, the task name is
      pc-defender
      .
    8. Click
      Download
       to download the task definition.
    9. Log into AWS.
    10. Go to
      Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
      .
    11. In the left menu, click
      Task Definitions
      .
    12. Click
      Create new Task Definition
      .
    13. In
      Step 1: Select launch type compatibility
      , select
      EC2
      , then click
      Next step
      .
    14. In
      Step 2: Configure task and container definitions
      , scroll to the bottom of the page and click
      Configure via JSON
      .
    15. Delete the contents of the window, and replace it with the Prisma Cloud Console task definition you just generated.
    16. Click
      Save
      .
    17. (Optional) Change the name of the task definition before creating it. The default name is
      pc-defender
      .
    18. Click
      Create
      .

    Start the Prisma Cloud Defender service

    Create the Defender service using the task definition. With Daemon scheduling, ECS schedules one Defender per node.
    1. Go to
      Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
      .
    2. In the left menu, click
      Clusters
      .
    3. Click on your cluster.
    4. In the
      Services
       tab, click
      Create
      .
    5. In
      Step 1: Configure service
      :
      1. For
        Launch type
        , select
        EC2
        .
      2. For
        Task Definition
        , select
        pc-defender
        .
      3. In
        Service Name
        , enter
        pc-defender
        .
      4. In
        Service Type
        , select
        Daemon
        .
      5. Click
        Next Step
        .
    6. In
      Step 2: Configure network
      , accept the defaults, and click
      Next step
      .
    7. In
      Step 3: Set Auto Scaling
      , accept the defaults, and click
      Next step
      .
    8. In
      Step 4: Review
      , click
      Create Service
      .
    9. Click
      View Service
      .
    10. Verify that you have Defenders running on each node in your ECS cluster.
      1. Go to your Prisma Cloud Console and view the list of Defenders in
        Manage > Defenders > Manage
         There should be a total of three Defenders, one for each EC2 instance in the cluster.

    Using a private registry

    For maximum control over your environment, you might want to store the Console container image in your own private registry, and then install Prisma Cloud from your private registry. When the Console service is started, ECS retrieves the image from your registry. This procedure shows you how to push the Console container image to Amazon’s Elastic Container Registry (ECR).
    Prerequisites:
    • AWS CLI is installed on your machine. It is required to push the Console image to your registry.
    1. Go to the directory where you unpacked the Prisma Cloud release tarball.
      $ cd prisma_cloud_compute_edition/
    2. Load the Console image.
      $ docker load < ./twistlock_console.tar.gz
    3. Go to
      Services > Containers > Elastic Container Service
      .
    4. In the left menu, click
      Repositories
      .
    5. Click
      Create repository
      .
    6. Follow the AWS instructions for logging in to the registry, tagging the Console image, and pushing it to your repo.
      Be sure to update your Console task definition so that the value for image points to your private registry.

    Recommended For You

    © 2023 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.