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Install your first SmoothGlue platform

TutorialPublicEnvironment: AWS EKS~45 minutes

What you'll build​

A complete SmoothGlue platform running on AWS EKS — GitLab, ArgoCD, Keycloak, Nexus, Prometheus, Grafana, and 40+ additional tools pre-integrated and compliance-ready. You'll use the smoothglue CLI to provision the infrastructure and deploy the platform stack, then verify in the Console.

Before you begin​

  • AWS account with permissions to create EKS clusters, VPCs, IAM roles, and EC2 instances
  • AWS CLI installed and configured (aws configure)
  • Terraform ≥ 1.5 installed
  • smoothglue CLI installed (see CLI Reference)
  • SmoothGlue license key (contact sales@smoothglue.com)

Step 1 — Create a new platform configuration​

smoothglue configure

The CLI opens an interactive TUI. Select:

  • Template: Run (includes GitLab, ArgoCD, Keycloak, Nexus, and the observability stack)
  • Cloud provider: AWS
  • Region: your preferred AWS region (e.g., us-east-1)
  • Instance type: m5.4xlarge (minimum for Run template)

The wizard writes platform.yaml to your working directory. Verify it was created:

cat platform.yaml

Expected output (abbreviated):

template: run
provider: aws
region: us-east-1
apps:
  - gitlab
  - argocd
  - keycloak
  - nexus
  # 40+ additional apps selected by template

Step 2 — Provision the infrastructure​

smoothglue install

The CLI runs a 9-stage state machine:

Stage 1/9: Validate configuration ✓
Stage 2/9: Provision VPC and networking...
Stage 3/9: Provision EKS cluster...

Stage 3 takes 15–20 minutes. The CLI is resumable — if interrupted, run smoothglue install again from the same directory and it picks up where it left off.

Step 3 — Verify the platform is up​

smoothglue status

Expected output:

Platform: SmoothGlue Run
Status: healthy
Console: https://console.<your-domain>
GitLab:  https://gitlab.<your-domain>
ArgoCD:  https://argocd.<your-domain>

Open the Console URL in your browser. Log in with the admin credentials printed at the end of smoothglue install.

What you built​

A fully operational SmoothGlue Run platform with 50+ pre-integrated tools. Zero manual Kubernetes configuration. FIPS 140-2/3 enabled, DISA STIGs applied, zero-trust network policy active.

Next: Explore what's pre-integrated →