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Getting Started

This guide will help you get up and running with the NexusAI Deployer.

Overview

The NexusAI Deployer is a desktop application that deploys NexusAI capabilities to your AWS environment. The deployment process is guided by a step-by-step wizard that handles all the complexity of AWS infrastructure provisioning.

Before You Begin

Prerequisites

Before using the installer, ensure you have:

  1. AWS Account with administrative access or appropriate IAM permissions
  2. AWS Credentials using one of the supported authentication methods:
  3. IAM Role ARN (recommended for cross-account deployments)
  4. AWS Access Keys
  5. AWS CLI Profile
  6. ADFS/SAML authentication
  7. Network Access to AWS APIs from your workstation

Required AWS Permissions

The deployment process requires permissions to create and manage:

  • CloudFormation stacks
  • IAM roles and policies
  • VPC and networking resources
  • ECS/Fargate services (for ECS deployments)
  • EKS cluster access (for Kubernetes deployments)
  • S3 buckets
  • DynamoDB tables
  • CloudFront distributions
  • Route53 DNS records
  • ACM certificates
  • WAF rules
  • CloudWatch logs and alarms

Additional requirements for EKS (Kubernetes) deployments: - eks:DescribeCluster and eks:ListClusters permissions - Kubernetes API access to the target cluster - ECR pull permissions for container images

See AWS Configuration for detailed IAM policy requirements.

Application Overview

Main Screen

When you launch the application, you'll see the Welcome screen:

Home Screen

The home screen provides:

  • Hero illustration showing the deployment concept
  • Platform icons indicating supported cloud providers
  • Get Started button to begin the deployment wizard
  • View Installation History to see past deployments

Deployment Wizard Steps

The wizard guides you through these steps:

Step Description Screenshot
1. Capability Selection Choose which capability to deploy View
2. Architecture Selection Select frontend and backend deployment options View
3. Environment Configuration Configure domain, region, and environment settings View
4. AWS Configuration Enter and validate AWS credentials View
5. Permission Verification Verify AWS permissions and prerequisites View
6. Strategy Selection Choose deployment strategy (for updates) -
7. Deployment Execution Monitor real-time deployment progress View
8. Post Verification Verify deployed resources are healthy -
9. Results View deployment outputs and next steps View

Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Launch the Application

Double-click the NexusAI Installer icon to launch the application. You will see the welcome screen:

Home Screen

Step 2: Click "Get Started"

On the welcome screen, click the Get Started button to begin the deployment wizard.

Step 3: Select a Capability

Browse the available capabilities and click Install on the one you want to deploy.

Capability Selection

The capability selection screen shows: - Installed Capabilities (green section) - Already deployed to your environment - Available Capabilities (blue section) - Ready for installation

Step 4: Choose Architecture

Select your preferred deployment architecture:

Architecture Selection

Recommended Configuration: - Frontend: CloudFront + S3 (recommended) - Backend: ECS Fargate (recommended)

Step 5: Configure Environment

Enter your deployment configuration:

Environment Configuration

Configure the following: - Environment: dev, staging, or prod - AWS Region: Your target AWS region - Domain Settings: Your domain name and subdomains - Route53 Hosted Zone ID: Your DNS zone identifier

Step 6: Enter AWS Credentials

Choose your authentication method and enter credentials:

AWS Configuration

Authentication Options: - IAM Role ARN (recommended for production) - AWS Access Keys - AWS CLI Profile - ADFS/SAML

Click Test Credentials to validate before proceeding.

Step 7: Verify Permissions

The installer will verify all prerequisites:

Permission Verification

Verification Checks: - AWS account access - Required IAM permissions - Artifact availability - Network resources

All checks must pass (✅) before proceeding.

Step 8: Start Deployment

Click Start Deployment and monitor progress:

Deployment Progress

The deployment screen shows: - Real-time progress bar - Current deployment stage - Live deployment logs

Deployment Logs

Tip: Deployment typically takes 15-30 minutes. Do not close the application during this process.

Step 9: Access Your Application

Once complete, you'll receive your deployment outputs:

Deployment Results

You will receive: - Frontend application URL - Backend API URL - Admin login credentials - Cognito User Pool information

What Gets Deployed?

A typical capability deployment creates resources based on your architecture selection:

Frontend Infrastructure (CloudFront + S3)

  • S3 bucket for static assets
  • CloudFront distribution for global CDN
  • WAF rules for security
  • ACM certificate for HTTPS
  • Route53 DNS records

Backend Infrastructure - ECS Fargate

  • VPC with public/private subnets
  • ECS Fargate cluster and services
  • Application Load Balancer
  • DynamoDB tables
  • S3 data buckets
  • Secrets Manager secrets
  • CloudWatch logs and alarms
  • IAM roles and policies

Backend Infrastructure - EKS (Kubernetes)

When using the Kubernetes Operator deployment:

Kubernetes Resources: - Dedicated namespace ({capability}-{env}) - Frontend Deployment and Service (LoadBalancer) - Backend Deployment and Service (LoadBalancer) - ServiceAccount with IRSA annotations - ConfigMaps and Secrets

AWS Resources (auto-provisioned by operator): - DynamoDB tables for application data - S3 buckets for storage - Glue database and catalog - IAM role with IRSA trust policy - Secrets Manager entries - SSM Parameter Store entries

Operator Components (in nexus-system namespace): - Nexus Operator deployment - NexusAICapability CRD - RBAC roles and bindings

Managing Your Deployments

After your initial deployment, you can manage all deployments from the Installation History:

Installation History

From here you can: - Update existing deployments to newer versions - Delete deployments you no longer need - View Details of any deployment

Next Steps