Using a lab environment, I've created this step by step tutorial to help one configure FlashSystem.ai from a clean installation of Ubuntu. The setup should be very similar for Red Hat or other Linux distributions.

FlashSystem.ai Installation Guide

Lab Environment:
VMware Workstation 25H2u1
Ubuntu 26.04 Desktop
FS5200 Software Version 9.1.2.3

Variables used in this installation:
Remember to replace all IP's/Hostnames below with your information and apply it to the guide below as required.

Ubuntu Hostname flashsystemai
FlashSystem  FQDN flashsystemai.lab.local
FlashSystem Management IP 192.168.2.195
Ubuntu/K3s IP  192.168.3.155
Namespace flashsystem-app

Prerequisites:

1. Storage must connect to Storage Insights.
2. The IP address used on the VM must be registered with DNS. See first step below to do a ping test from the storage. 192.168.3.155 was used in this lab setup.
3. Cloud API Key must be created from https://cloud.ibm.com/login. "Manage-->Access (IAM)-->API Keys. Copy the key and keep it safe as you will be unable to view the key later.
*note a credit card was needed to create the account for verification. The is no billing to create the API key.
4. Install VM-Tools on the Ubuntu VM so all the commands below can be copy/paste into the terminal.

Installation Steps using Ubuntu Terminal:

1 - Prepare Ubuntu:

Set Hostname
sudo hostnamectl set-hostname flashsystemai.lab.local

Verify:
hostname -f
*putty into the storage and do a test ping. Example: ping -srcip4 192.168.2.195 flashsystemai.lab.local

Expected:
flashsystemai.lab.local
Successful ping from storage

2 - Update Ubuntu

sudo apt update
sudo apt -y upgrade
sudo reboot

3 - Install basic prerequisites (can copy/paste all together)
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y \
curl \
wget \
vim \
git \
jq \
openssl \
ca-certificates \
gnupg \
apt-transport-https \
software-properties-common

Verify:
curl --version
openssl version
git --version

Expected:
openssl version
git --version
Warning: The argument '–version' starts with a Unicode character. Maybe ASCII was intended?
curl: (6) Could not resolve host: –version
OpenSSL 3.5.5 27 Jan 2026 (Library: OpenSSL 3.5.5 27 Jan 2026)
git version 2.53.0

4 - Verify networking
ip addr

Expected primary IP:
192.168.3.155

Test internet:
ping -c 4 8.8.8.8
ping -c 4 ibm.com

5 - Update local hosts file
sudo nano /etc/hosts

Add:
192.168.3.155 flashsystemai.lab.local flashsystemai

Verify:
getent hosts flashsystemai.lab.local

Expected:
192.168.3.155   flashsystemai.lab.local flashsystemai

6 - Install k3s (Lightweight Kubernetes):
curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh -

Verify:
sudo systemctl status k3s --no-pager

Expected:
Active: active (running)

Then run:
sudo kubectl get nodes

Expected:
NAME            STATUS   ROLES                  AGE   VERSION
flashsystemai   Ready    control-plane,master   ...

7 - Verify k3s Cluster Components:
sudo kubectl get pods -A

Expected:
kube-system   coredns-...
kube-system   local-path-provisioner-...
kube-system   metrics-server-...
kube-system   traefik-...

8 – Disable swap:
sudo swapoff -a
sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.backup
sudo sed -i '/swap/d' /etc/fstab

Verify:
swapon --show
free -h

Expected:
Swap: 0B

9 - Disable Traefik:
sudo kubectl get pods -A
sudo mkdir -p /etc/rancher/k3s
sudo nano /etc/rancher/k3s/config.yaml

Using nano add the following lines and save/exit:
disable:
- traefik

sudo systemctl restart k3s (may take minute for traefik to delete)

Verify:
sudo kubectl get pods -A

Expected:
traefik-...
svclb-traefik-...
Should be gone

10 - Install Helm:
curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/helm/helm/main/scripts/get-helm-3 | bash
helm repo update

Verify:
helm version

Expected:
version.BuildInfo{Version:"v3.21.3", GitComm……..

11  - Install ingress-nginx:
helm repo add ingress-nginx https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx
helm repo update

helm install ingress-nginx ingress-nginx/ingress-nginx \
  --namespace ingress-nginx \
  --create-namespace

If installation fails with:

Error: INSTALLATION FAILED: Kubernetes cluster unreachable: Get "http://localhost:8080/version": dial tcp 127.0.0.1:8080: connect: connection refused

follow the steps below else continue with step 12:

11.1 - Configure kubectl for Your User:
mkdir -p ~/.kube
sudo cp /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml ~/.kube/config
sudo chown $(id -u):$(id -g) ~/.kube/config
chmod 600 ~/.kube/config

Verify:
sudo kubectl get nodes

Expected:
NAME                      STATUS   ROLES           AGE     VERSION
flashsystemai.lab.local   Ready    control-plane   ...

11.2 - Check KUBECONFIG:
echo $HOME
ls -l ~/.kube/config
head -5 ~/.kube/config

Expected:
apiVersion: v1
clusters:
- cluster:
    certificate-authority-data:…………………..

11.3 - Force kubectl to Use Your Config:
kubectl --kubeconfig=$HOME/.kube/config get nodes
export KUBECONFIG=$HOME/.kube/config

Verify: Should work without sudo
kubectl get nodes

Expected:
NAME                      STATUS   ROLES           AGE   VERSION
flashsystemai.lab.local   Ready    control-plane   26m   v1.36.2+k3s1

12 Install ingress-nginx: (second attempt after correcting error)
helm repo add ingress-nginx https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx
helm repo update

helm install ingress-nginx ingress-nginx/ingress-nginx \
  --namespace ingress-nginx \
  --create-namespace

Verify:
kubectl get pods -n ingress-nginx

Expected:
STATUS   Running

13 Verify the ingress-nginx Service:
kubectl get svc -n ingress-nginx

Expected:
ingress-nginx-controller Ready 1/1(may take a minute)

14 Create the FlashSystem.ai Namespace:
kubectl create namespace flashsystem-app

Verify:
kubectl get namespace flashsystem-app

Expected:
NAME              STATUS   AGE
flashsystem-app   Active   ...

15 Create the IBM Container Registry Pull Secret:
kubectl create secret docker-registry icr-io \
  --docker-server=icr.io \
  --docker-username=iamapikey \
  --docker-password='<YOUR_IBM_CLOUD_API_KEY>' \
  --docker-email='<YOUR_EMAIL>' \
  -n flashsystem-app

*NOTE Can copy/paste entire command above but update API key and enter email address. Cloud API Key is the one create on https://cloud.ibm.com/login. Remember to remove the quotes from '<YOUR_IBM_CLOUD_API_KEY>' and '<YOUR_EMAIL>'. Leave the username iamapikey.

Verify:
kubectl get secrets -n flashsystem-app

Expected:
icr-io

16 - Create the Backend TLS Certificate:
cd ~
openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 \
  -keyout tls.key \
  -out tls.crt \
  -subj "/CN=flashsystem-app-service.flashsystem-app.svc.cluster.local"

16.1
kubectl create secret tls flashsystem-app-tls \
  --key=tls.key \
  --cert=tls.crt \
  -n flashsystem-app

Verify:
kubectl get secrets -n flashsystem-app

Expected:
icr-io
flashsystem-app-tls

17 - Create a Frontend Certificate:
openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 3650 -newkey rsa:2048 \
  -keyout frontend.key \
  -out frontend.crt \
  -subj "/CN=flashsystemai.lab.local" \
  -addext "subjectAltName=DNS:flashsystemai.lab.local"

17.1:
kubectl create secret tls my-custom-frontend-cert \
  --key=frontend.key \
  --cert=frontend.crt \
  -n flashsystem-app

18 -  Verify Helm Can Authenticate to IBM Container Registry:
helm registry login icr.io \
  --username iamapikey \
  --password '<YOUR_IBM_CLOUD_API_KEY>'

*NOTE Can copy/paste entire command above but update API key. Cloud API Key is the one create on https://cloud.ibm.com/login. Remember to remove quotes from '<YOUR_IBM_CLOUD_API_KEY>'. Leave the username iamapikey.

Verify:
Login Succeeded

19 - Pull the FlashSystem.ai Helm Chart:
helm pull oci://icr.io/flashsystem-ai-release/flashsystem-ai:1.1.0 --untar

Verify:
ls -la

Expected:
There should be a flashsystem-ai directory

20 - Update values.yaml in flashsystem-ai folder
cd flashsystem-ai
nano values.yaml

*FIND:
hosts:
  - host: ""
*CHANGE TO:
hosts:
  - host: "flashsystemai.lab.local"

*FIND:
backend:
  mode: "manual"
  secretName: ""
*CHANGE TO:
backend:
  mode: "manual"
  secretName: "flashsystem-app-tls"

*FIND:
frontend:
  mode: "wildcard"
  secretName: ""
CHANGE TO:
frontend:
  mode: "custom"
  secretName: "my-custom-frontend-cert"

*Note don't forget to change mode to custom.

21 - Install FlashSystem.ai from inside the ~/flashsystem-ai directory
helm install flashsystem-app . -f values.yaml -n flashsystem-app

Verify: (may have to wait minute or two to come ready)
kubectl get pods -n flashsystem-app

Expected:
NAME                              READY   STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE
flashsystem-ai-7xxxxxxxxd-ws6ns   1/1     Running   0          2m2s

22 -  Verify the Service:
kubectl get svc -n flashsystem-app

Expected:
NAME                     TYPE        CLUSTER-IP     EXTERNAL-IP   PORT(S)    AGE
flashsystem-ai-service   ClusterIP   10.43.147.60   <none>        8443/TCP   3m17s

23 - Verify the Ingress Was Created:
kubectl get ingress -n flashsystem-app

Expected:
NAME                     CLASS   HOSTS                     ADDRESS         PORTS     AGE
flashsystem-ai-ingress   nginx   flashsystemai.lab.local   192.168.3.155   80, 443   4m14s

24  - Open web browser (from within the VM):
https://flashsystemai.lab.local/setup

24.1 There should be a log on screen. Enter a username and password

24.2 Add storage, with superuser and password. Select Security to Self Signed

24.3 Test connection and Save

25 - Storage Insights information:

25.1 Enter Tenant ID from Storage Insights. Get this from the IBM SI URL Typically https://insights.ibm.com/cui/01f17ec3xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx omit the https://insights.ibm.com/cui and only use 01f17ec3xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

25.2 Copy/paste the very long Storage Insights API Key. Create the API key in Storage Insights. Settings-->User access management

25.3 Click Save and refresh the page. There should be a GUI Connection Key. You need this key for the step below

26 - Configure Storage to Communicate to FlashSystem AI:

26.1 Putty to storage and login superuser

26.2 lsaicontainerinfo (should be blank)

26.3 chaicontainerinfo -key GUI Connection Key Above -url flashsystemai.lab.local

Example: chaicontainerinfo -key aaxaxxxx-dxxx-4xxx-8xxx-xxxxxxxx -url flashsystemai.lab.local

*Note URL must not contain https:// Although it will accept this, the storage will not communicate.

Conclusion:

Login to the storage and you should now see the small blue AI icon and be able to initiate a chat.  

------------------------------
Brandon Rock
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