---
title: Air-Gapped Environment with an Ocient System
slug: Wj7a-drfa
description: An air gap is a security measure that physically isolates a computer or network from all external connections to protect sensitive data used by governments and other critical infrastructure operators. Ocient supports this without special configuration.
docTags: 
createdAt: Wed May 14 2025 14:47:58 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
updatedAt: Wed Apr 29 2026 21:03:38 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
---

An air gap is a security measure that physically isolates a computer or network from any other network, including the internet. This isolation removes wired or wireless connections between the isolated system and any external and potentially unsecured networks. Organizations that handle highly sensitive information, such as government agencies, financial institutions, and critical infrastructure operators, use air-gapped environments to protect against various security incidents.&#x20;

Ocient® supports using an Ocient System in an air-gapped environment without any special configuration. Here, you can find the general workflow for using an Ocient System in an air-gapped environment and the required installation steps.

# Work with an Ocient System in an Air-Gapped Environment

This workflow shows the high-level steps to set up an Ocient System in an air-gapped environment.

::::WorkflowBlock
:::WorkflowBlockItem
Ensure that your drive firmware and operating system is up to date.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Install and configure an Ocient System in a connected environment where you can download the required files from the internet.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Disassemble the cluster.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Pack and deliver the hardware to your secured location.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Reassign a new IP address.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Reassign a new hostname.
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Bootstrap the system again.
:::
::::

# Install an Ocient System in an Air-Gapped Environment

Follow these steps to install the Ocient System in an air-gapped environment. These steps assume that you have met the system requirements for installation.

:::::WorkflowBlock
:::WorkflowBlockItem
## Bootstrap the First Node

### Bootstrap the Node&#x20;

Connect to the initial SQL Node with the username and password of your server and the IP address of your node. This example connects as the administrator `admin` to the IP Address `10.10.10.10`.

```shell
ssh admin@10.10.10.10
```

Use your preferred text editor with `sudo` to create the `/var/opt/ocient/bootstrap.conf` file as root with these contents.

`/var/opt/ocient/bootstrap.conf` **example**&#x20;

```yaml
initialSystem: true
```

Start the database.&#x20;

```shell
sudo systemctl start rolehostd
```

Verify that the node and the service is active by executing this status command.

```shell
systemctl status rolehostd

rolehostd.service - Rolehostd daemon startup
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/rolehostd.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2022-01-26 23:31:36 UTC; 7s ago
     ...
```

If the `rolehostd` service is running, you can also check the Ocient logs on your node.  Search and ensure there are no \[ERROR] log messages.

```shell
tail -f /var/opt/ocient/log/rolehostd.log
```

### Verify Connection to the SQL Node

At this point, you have a running database with a single node. You should be able to connect to the database using JDBC or `pyocient` and execute commands.

Every new system starts with a `system` database. To connect to a new system, use the username and password configured in the `bootstrap.conf` file or the username `admin@system` and password `admin` if none were provided.

For example, assume your node named `sql0` has an IP address of `10.10.0.1`. Use the JDBC driver CLI to connect with this connection string.

```shell
connect to jdbc:ocient://10.10.0.1:4050/system user "myuser@system" using "mypassword";
```

To see the roles running on the single node, execute this query.

```sql
select name, operational_status, software_version, array_agg(service_role_type)
        from sys.node_status as ns
        left join sys.nodes as n  on ns.node_id = id
        left join sys.service_roles as sr on sr.node_id = n.id
        group by name, operational_status,software_version;
```

The initial node should be listed as running the `sql`, `admin`, `health`, and `operatorvm` roles. If all of these roles are present and the node is Active, you can proceed to the next step to bootstrap the remaining nodes.
:::

::::WorkflowBlockItem
## Bootstrap the Remaining Nodes

Performing the bootstrapping process on the remaining nodes is identical on all nodes. The remaining nodes can be bootstrapped in any order.

On each node, log in using SSH and use your text editor with `sudo` to create the file `/var/opt/ocient/bootstrap.conf` that contains this text by replacing `<FIRST_NODE_IP_ADDRESS>` with the IP address of the initial node you created in Step 1.

`/var/opt/ocient/bootstrap.conf`**&#x20;example**

```yaml
adminHost: <FIRST_NODE_ADDRESS>
```

`<FIRST_NODE_IP_ADDRESS>` is the DNS name or IP address of the initial node.

:::hint{type="info"}
You can obtain the IP Address of the initial node by executing `ifconfig` on that node.
:::

:::hint{type="info"}
If the password for the system administrator has changed, set the correct username `adminUserName` and password `adminPassword` in the bootstrap configuration file `bootstrap.conf`.
:::

On each node, start the database.

```shell
sudo systemctl start rolehostd
```

:::hint{type="warning"}
When you replace Foundation Nodes, the Ocient System removes the prior node after the creation of the new node. Some queries of the system catalog tables might not return results until the prior node is removed.
:::

At this point, all the remaining nodes are not configured with any roles. After all nodes have been started, you should see them when you execute this query with only the `health` role listed. This query uses the `sys.node_status`, `sys.nodes`, and `sys.service_roles` system catalog tables to retrieve node information for the node name, operation status, version, and all service role types. The query uses the ARRAY\_AGG function to retrieve the service role type for all rows.

```sql
SELECT name, operational_status, software_version, array_agg(service_role_type)
    FROM sys.node_status AS ns
    LEFT JOIN sys.nodes AS n ON ns.node_id = id
    LEFT JOIN sys.service_roles AS sr ON sr.node_id = n.id
    GROUP BY name, operational_status,software_version;
```


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:::::

# Remove a Cluster in an Air-Gapped Environment

Use this information and workflow to remove a cluster by shutting down all Ocient processes and erasing the drives and data.

:::hint{type="info"}
The system administrator must download the `sedutil-cli` utility used in this workflow.
:::

You can classify the drives in an Ocient System in two categories based on their usage.

- Operating System (OS) drives: These drives contain the installation of the operating system and software, including the Ocient Data Intelligence Platform™. A system might have a single physical OS drive or an OS installed on a RAID disk created by using more than one drive. The OS drives on nodes with the administrator role (Metadata and possibly SQL Nodes) also store configuration information related to the Ocient System that can include:
  - Node names
  - Node IP addresses
  - User data mapping information for compressed columns
  - Encryption keys for the data drives (unless the keys are under the control of an external key management system)
- Data drives: The data drives are present in all types of nodes except the node running only the administrator role. On the Foundation Node, the data drives store tables. On SQL Nodes, the data drives store transient query information. And, on Loader Nodes, the data drives store transient loading information.

The data drives in the Ocient System are exclusively NVMe drives. The OS drives can be NVMe or SSD. These drives can support The Computing Group (TCG) Opal Specification or not support it. The type of drive (Opal-supported or not) determines how the system removes all data on the drive. Follow these steps to remove a cluster for Opal-supported drives. To remove data for Opal-supported drives, follow these steps.

:::hint{type="danger"}
These steps irreversibly remove the data. Follow these steps after you ensure that you no longer need the applicable data from the system.
:::

:::::WorkflowBlock
:::WorkflowBlockItem
Stop the Ocient processes running on the nodes using these commands.

For Loader Nodes, use this command. The command combines two commands that stop all processes related to loading.

```shell
sudo systemctl disable lat && sudo systemctl stop lat
```

For all types of nodes, use this command. The command combines two commands where the first command stops processing on all nodes and the second command stops the main Ocient System process.

```shell
sudo systemctl disable rolehostd && sudo systemctl kill -s SIGKILL rolehostd
```
:::

:::WorkflowBlockItem
Bind the data drives to an NVMe driver so that the drives become visible to the OS.

```shell
sudo /opt/ocient/scripts/nvme-driver-util.sh bind-nvme
```
:::

::::WorkflowBlockItem
Run this command for each data drive. The impacted drives are the drives displayed as their association change from `uio` drivers to `nvme` drivers. You can see the `nvme` drive association by running the `/opt/ocient/scripts/nvme-driver-util.sh` script. All data drives are erased.

:::hint{type="info"}
You can move drives to another node with the `sedutil-cli` utility if the nodes are already powered off and you cannot power them on. Use the same command to erase the drive: `sedutil-cli -n --revertTPer admin /dev/nvmeXn1`.
:::

```shell
sedutil-cli -n --revertTPer admin /dev/nvmeXn1
```
::::
:::::

:::hint{type="info"}
You cannot securely erase the OS drives while the OS is running. You can either use the secure erase facility from BIOS or move drives to an external host with a utility approved by your organization for the remove operation.
:::

# Related Links

[Install an Ocient System](<./Install an Ocient System.md>)&#x20;

[Ocient System Bootstrapping](<./Install an Ocient System/Ocient System Bootstrapping.md>)&#x20;

[Set Up System Monitoring with the TIG Stack and Kapacitor](<./Monitoring/Set Up System Monitoring with the TIG Stack and Kapacitor.md>)&#x20;





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