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Hardware Management

Adding Servers Into Provider Application​

The primary OS supported by the Fluence team is Talos Linux, which natively supports the SideroLink protocol. This protocol enables secure management of Talos OS and clusters through the Talos API. It is the core technology behind the Provider Application, allowing remote management of server infrastructure.

To connect a server to the Provider Application, navigate to the Servers tab and generate a new Talos Linux Image specifying the following parameters:

  1. System extensions - OS drivers that allow to extend basic Talos OS functionality and, for example, can be used for network or storage setup. To achieve maximum server performance, please use the amd-ucode or intel-ucode extension, respectively.
  2. Extra kernel command line arguments - These additional settings are required if there is no DHCP server running in the private network used for Talos API and Kubernetes API management. Reed more about private networking here.
Attention

If you don’t have DHCP server setup, you will need to specify network parameters within kernel arguments. Refer to the official Talos documentation for network config examples.

  1. Image extension - Choose an image extension type suitable for bare-metal installation. PXE booting is highly recommended if most of your servers can use the same Talos image, including identical system extensions and kernel arguments. For more details, see the PXE booting option.
Note

Please use only Talos images generated by Fluence for your servers to be compliant with the Provider Application

factory

After installing Talos Linux on your servers, and assuming the private network is configured correctly, you will see the following:

  • Via Provider Application: on the Servers page new machines detected by Fluence software. After a couple of minutes, the Application will collect data about our hardware detected by Talos Linux. Note: To monitor server status, check the Last Talos Connection parameter, which indicates the time of the Provider Application's most recent connection to the server. This connection occurs automatically every 2 minutes.

Screenshot 2025-09-28 at 6.55.55 PM.png

  • Via IPMI: Talos and SideroLink status with extended info about server and logs.
Attention

You can (re-)name a new servers at will before adding them to the cluster. Once added to the cluster, you will no longer be able to rename a server.