Eval Kit Quick Start Guide

Time to Admin UI: typically 15 to 20 minutes after you click Create stack. First-Time Setup runs automatically (headless) - you do not walk the wizard yourself.

Have your own VPC and Active Directory® already? Use the Dual-AZ Quick Start Guide for production. Dual-AZ is the only supported production path. The Eval Kit is evaluation only.

What the Eval Kit is

The Eval Kit is a self-contained, single-AZ Marketplace launch that stands up everything you need to try Roadrunner SMB™ without bringing your own network or directory. It is not a production topology.

Headless First-Time Setup joins the appliance to that domain and finishes product setup before you log in. The stack self-uninstalls after EvalLifetimeDays (default 30, maximum 30), removing every billable resource it created.

Default 2 nodes. Scale to 8 is supported; 9-16 is Experimental (beta). Scaled Eval is still evaluation, not Dual-AZ production.

CFT-created EFS (cluster /rrsmb and Eval customer-shares) defaults to Elastic throughput.

Step 1 - Subscribe and launch

1. Open Roadrunner SMB in AWS Marketplace and Subscribe.

2. Choose the Eval Kit delivery option → Continue to Configuration → pick your Region → Continue to Launch.

3. Choose Launch CloudFormation® → Launch.

4. On the Create stack page you typically see:

   Parameter	What to enter
   InstanceType	c6i.2xlarge (default) or c6i.4xlarge for 2x planning capacity
   EvalLifetimeDays	30 (default) - days until automatic self-uninstall

5. Acknowledge the capability checkboxes, then Create stack.

6. Wait for the parent stack RoadrunnerSMB-Eval to reach CREATE_COMPLETE.

Parent stack name is typically RoadrunnerSMB-Eval. Nested stacks under it create the VPC/DC and the Roadrunner SMB appliance - use the parent for day-one Outputs (next steps).

Step 2 - Find the Admin URL (CloudFormation Outputs)

1. Open the AWS CloudFormation console in the same Region as your stack.

2. Select the parent stack: RoadrunnerSMB-Eval (not a nested ...-EvalStack-... or ...-InnerStack-... name).

3. Open the Outputs tab.

4. Use these outputs:

   Output	Use it for
   AdminUIUrl	Admin console (https://<distribution>.cloudfront.net) - this is the only Admin URL
   EvalAdminLogin	Suggested domain admin login (for example ACME\eval-admin)
   EvalCredentialsConsoleUrl	One-click link into Secrets Manager for passwords
   EvalCredentialsSecretArn	Secret ARN for CLI / automation
   NlbDnsName	SMB hostname (\\<NlbDnsName>\<sharename>) after you create a share - private NLB, not Admin
   EvalLifetimeDays / EvalTeardownAt	When automatic self-uninstall is scheduled

Confirm AdminUIUrl is a CloudFront https:// URL. Do not bookmark or publish the Admin ALB DNS. The ALB rejects requests that are missing the CloudFront origin-verify header. AWS® WAF is attached to the CloudFront distribution.

There is no self-signed Admin certificate on Eval - the browser should not warn.

Step 3 - Get passwords from Secrets Manager

Passwords are never printed in CloudFormation Outputs. Retrieve them from AWS Secrets Manager.

Open the secret

1. On the RoadrunnerSMB-Eval Outputs tab, click EvalCredentialsConsoleUrl
   (or open Secrets Manager and search for eval-dc-passwords).
2. Choose Retrieve secret value. The secret is JSON.

JSON fields you need

After headless First-Time Setup finishes, ApplianceOwnerPassword is written into the same secret as the AD passwords. If that field is missing, wait a minute and retrieve the secret again, or confirm the stack has reached CREATE_COMPLETE.

Step 4 - Log in as eval-admin

1. Open AdminUIUrl from the parent stack Outputs.

2. Username - use one of these (all accepted):

   • eval-admin (simple)
   • ACME\eval-admin (NetBIOS - matches EvalAdminLogin)
   • eval-admin@corp.acme.com (UPN)

3. Password - paste EvalAdminPassword from Secrets Manager (copy/paste exactly; do not type it by hand if you can avoid it).

4. Sign in. You should see the Dashboard.

Do not combine formats. ACME\eval-admin@corp.acme.com is rejected. With a DOMAIN\ prefix, use the short account name, not the UPN.

Other accounts (same secret)

Full identity model: Identity and permissions.

Step 5 - Create a share and mount (same as standard Quick Start)

From here the product workflow matches the standard guide:

1. Shares → Create Share → name the share → set permissions → Create (wait 15-60 seconds).
2. On a Windows client that can reach the private NLB, mount:

\\<NlbDnsName>\<sharename>

Use NlbDnsName from the RoadrunnerSMB-Eval Outputs tab. Sign in with an AD account that has share access (for example eval-admin or eval-user and the matching password from the secret).

Detailed steps: Quick Start - Create your first share · Quick Start - Mount from Windows

What's next

• Quick Start Guide - Dual-AZ production (bring your own VPC and AD)
• Security overview - Eval vs Dual-AZ Admin paths
• Admin Guide - day-to-day administration, cluster health, updates
• Identity and permissions - Deployer vs Appliance Owner vs AD Administrator
• Known Limitations - before you plan a production cutover
• Release Notes - what is new in this version

Common Eval Kit issues

More help: Support & Troubleshooting.