---
title: "Enroll a Compute Node Using AWS Nitro on Amazon Linux"
slug: "users-guide-enroll-a-compute-node-using-aws-nitro-on-amazon-linux-1"
updated: 2026-06-26T16:28:21Z
published: 2026-06-26T16:28:21Z
canonical: "support.fortanix.com/users-guide-enroll-a-compute-node-using-aws-nitro-on-amazon-linux-1"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://support.fortanix.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Enroll a Compute Node Using AWS Nitro on Amazon Linux

## 1.0 Enroll a Compute Node Using Nitro on Amazon Linux

This article describes how to enroll a compute node using AWS Nitro on Amazon Linux.

### 1.1 Setting up the Environment

Perform the following steps to create a new VM:

1. Log in to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Click **EC2** → **Instances** → **Launch Instances**, and enter the name and tags for your VM.
2. Select **Amazon Linux 2023 AMI** Machine Image (AMI).

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/CCM_AWS Linux_Select AMI.png)

**Figure 2: Select AMI**
3. Select **Instance Type**: Choose an adequate instance. The **c5a.xlarge** type is the minimum option that supports Nitro enclaves (see [https://docs.aws.amazon.com/enclaves/latest/user/nitro-enclave.html#nitro-enclave-reqs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/enclaves/latest/user/nitro-enclave.html#nitro-enclave-reqs))

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/CCM_AWS Linux_Add Instance Type(1).png)

**Figure 3: Add Instance Type**
4. Create a new **Key pair**. This provides the private key to securely connect to the VM.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/CCM_AWS Linux_Create a Key Pair.png)

**Figure 4: Configure a Key Pair**
5. Configure the required storage size. The default storage size is 8 GB. Increase the storage to a reasonable value if required.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/CCM_AWS Linux_Configure Storage.png)

**Figure 5: Configure Storage**
6. Expand the **Advanced Details** section. Select **Enable** under **Nitro Enclave info**.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/CCM_AWS Linux_Nitro Enclave.png)

**Figure 6: Configure Nitro Enclave**
7. Configure the rest of the parameters as needed and launch the enclave.
8. Install Nitro Driver and Utilities: *To achieve this, follow the instructions under Amazon Linux 2023 in* [*Installing the Nitro Enclaves CLI on Linux*](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/enclaves/latest/user/nitro-enclave-cli-install.html)*.*

> [!NOTE]
> NOTE
> 
> The number of vCPUs and memory to pre-allocate is defined in the allocator service configuration file (`/etc/nitro_enclaves/allocator.yaml`).

### 1.2 Install Nitro Node Agent

Perform the following steps:

1. Obtain the join token from Fortanix CCM. To generate your Join Token, log in to [https://ccm.fortanix.com/](https://ccm.fortanix.com/).
2. Click the **Infrastructure → Compute Nodes** menu item, and then click **+ ADD NODE**.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/Screenshot (3614) - Copy(1).png)

**Figure 7: Add node**
3. In the **ENROLL COMPUTE NODE** window, a Join Token will be generated in the text box for "**Get a join token to register a compute node**". This Join Token is used by the compute node to authenticate itself.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/Screenshot (3615)(2).png)

**Figure 7: Copy Join Token**
4. Click **COPY** to copy the Join Token.
5. Download the [*Amazon Nitro node agent installer*](https://node-agent-installer.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.com/nitro/centos/latest/Node-Agent-Installer.tar.gz).
6. Extract the contents of the package and open the folder.
7. Open the README file, which contains the steps to enroll the compute node in Fortanix CCM.
8. To enroll the compute node:
  1. Copy the file `installer.sh` to your VM.
  2. Run the `installer.sh` with the join token copied in *Step 3*. This will enroll the compute node in Fortanix CCM.

```bash
sudo bash ./installer.sh <join-token>
```
9. After the compute node is enrolled in Fortanix CCM, you will see it under the Compute Nodes overview table.

![](https://cdn.us.document360.io/c3bd85d2-4ad8-4d85-9f60-f1c168a3aad9/Images/Documentation/Screenshot (3617) - Copy - Copy.png)

**Figure 8: Node enrolled**
10. Debug:
  1. To view the logs, run the following command:

```bash
journalctl -xe | grep em-agent
```
  2. To view the status, run the following command or directly check the `syslog`:

```bash
systemctl status em-agent-nitro
```

## Related

- [Enroll a Compute Node (bare metal or VM) - SGX](/fortanix-ccm-enroll-a-compute-node-bare-metal-or-vm-sgx.md)
- [Application and Compute Node Policy Enforcement](/fortanix-ccm-application-and-compute-node-policy-enforcement.md)
- [Kernel Version Supported](/fortanix-ccm-kernel-version-supported.md)