> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://newdocs.keeper.io/kcm-linux-rpm-method/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://newdocs.keeper.io/kcm-linux-rpm-method/installation/preparing-for-installation.md).

# Preparing for Installation

<figure><img src="/files/unrnyohosZhaJ0XvgEas" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Preparing for Installation

Since you'll be accessing Keeper Connection Manager using a browser, we need to establish where to find it.

**You'll need the following:**

**1.  A designated machine (usually a Linux VM)**\
**2.  A fully-qualified domain name (FQDN)**\
**3.  Your DNS record set to point your FQDN to the IP of your designated machine**\
**4.  An SSL certificate (or generate one during installation)**\
\
You can either bring your own SSL certificate, or you can generate one during the installation by choosing the option for [Let's Encrypt](https://letsencrypt.org/). If planning to use Let's Encrypt, make sure that ports 80 and 443 are open to the internet during the installation.

To prepare for installation:

1. Create/Identify and establish root access to the server that will run the Keeper Connection Manager gateway
2. Decide if you want your KCM gateway to be public-facing (assign public IP), or internal-only (assign private IP)
3. Add a DNS A Record (or AAAA record) to point your domain to your KCM server's IP address

**Check your firewall to make sure that traffic can flow between your server and Docker.**  Some domains that it will need to reach include docker.com, docker.io and others.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Public-facing Instances" %}
Make sure that ports 80 and 443 are open to the public.
{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Internal Instances" %}
If bringing your own SSL certificate, make sure that the server is accessible on port 8080 internally.
{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

## Platform-specific Setup

#### Virtual Machines

To check your that your linux system's entropy level is at least 1000, use the command:

```
$ cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/entropy_avail
```

To increase the speed of entropy generation, you can install the `haveged` service to ensure that the environment can efficiently create secure random numbers.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="RHEL" %}
On RHEL, the `haveged` package is not available from the Red Hat repositories and must instead be installed from the EPEL repository. EPEL provides instructions for configuring their repository here: <https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/epel/>. After EPEL is installed, run the following commands:

```
sudo yum install haveged
sudo systemctl start haveged
sudo systemctl enable haveged
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="Debian / Ubuntu" %}

```
sudo apt-get install haveged
```

{% endtab %}

{% tab title="CentOS / Rocky Linux" %}

```
sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install haveged
sudo systemctl start haveged
sudo systemctl enable haveged
```

{% endtab %}
{% endtabs %}

#### RHEL / Rocky Linux 8 (and derivatives)

If Podman is installed, you must run the following two commands before installation:

```
sudo yum remove containerd
sudo yum remove runc
```


---

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