Overview ---------------- `Aether OnRamp `__ is a packaging of Aether in a way that makes it easy to deploy the system on your own hardware. It provides an incremental path for users to: * Learn about and observe all the moving parts in Aether. * Customize Aether for different target environments. * Experiment with scalable edge communication. * Deploy and operate Aether with live 5G traffic. Aether OnRamp begins with a *Quick Start* recipe that deploys Aether in a single VM or server, but then goes on to prescribe a sequence of steps users can follow to deploy increasingly complex configurations. OnRamp refers to each such configuration as a *blueprint*, where the set supports both emulated and physical RANs, along with the runtime machinery needed to operate an Aether cluster supporting live 5G workloads.\ [#]_ The goal of this Guide is to help users take ownership of the Aether deployment process by incrementally exposing all the degrees-of-freedom Aether supports. .. [#] OnRamp also defines a 4G blueprint that can be used to connected one or more physical eNBs, but we postpone a discussion of that capability until a later section. Everything else in this guide assumes 5G. .. include:: directory.rst Aether OnRamp is still a work in progress, but anyone interested in participating in that effort is encouraged to join the discussion on Slack in the `Aether Community Workspace `__. A roadmap for the work that needs to be done can be found in the `Aether OnRamp Wiki `__. How to Read This Guide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This guide is written to be followed sequentially, with each section establishing a capability that later sections build upon. This is also helpful when troubleshooting a deployment—for example, isolating a problem with a physical gNB is easier if you know that connectivity to the AMF and UPF works correctly, which the :doc:`Emulated RAN ` section helps to establish. Once you reach the last section (:doc:`Other Blueprints `), you will have seen examples of all the degrees-of-freedom OnRamp supports, with the goal of preparing you to take ownership of your own deployment. You can do this by defining your own customized blueprint, and/or directly interacting with Helm and Kubernetes (rather than depending entirely on OnRamp's playbooks). That final :doc:`Other Blueprints ` section then gives a synopsis of several additional OnRamp blueprints. Each blueprint enables a particular combination of Aether features, demonstrating how those features are configured, and deployed. This section presumes familiarity with all of OnRamp's capabilities introduced in the earlier sections. For a summary review of all available blueprints, see the :doc:`Quick Reference ` guide.