Due to security and operational requirements, some organizations may be unable to allow even outbound connectivity on port 443 to the SaaS Controller. As a result, these organizations may be required to deploy and operate the controller itself in their infrastructure. Here are some examples:

- A defense agency that needs to manage their clusters in GovCloud
- A highly regulated business that needs to operate their clusters in a private network

The Rafay Platform can be deployed in "fully air gapped" environments. All software and dependencies for the "controller" and "upstream Kubernetes clusters" are "pre-packaged" into the installer. Once the controller is installed, new upstream Kubernetes clusters can be provisioned, operated and kept up to date without requiring any software downloads from the Internet.

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# Air-Gapped Controller Installation Guide

This guide provides an overview and step-by-step instructions for installing the Rafay Controller in air-gapped environments such as VMs or bare metal servers.

Watch the video below for a high-level walkthrough of the installation process:

[Air-Gapped Rafay Controller Installation Guide | Secure On-Premises Setup](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQXXgD4cXLo)

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## Core Components

The diagram below illustrates the key software components automatically installed and configured by Rafay’s air-gapped installer. These components span multiple layers:

- **Rafay Controller Application Layer**
- **Observability Layer**
- **Software Infrastructure Layer**
- **Kubernetes Cluster Layer**

Note: The provisioning and lifecycle management of the underlying VMs or servers is the responsibility of the operator.

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## Requirements and Setup Steps

Before you begin the installation process, make sure your environment is ready and meets all the required prerequisites.

| Section | Link |
| --- | --- |
| ✅ Prerequisites | [View Prerequisites](https://docs.rafay.co/selfhosted/airgapped/pre-requisites/) |
| ⚙️ Installation Steps | [Installation](https://docs.rafay.co/selfhosted/airgapped/install/) |
| ⬆️ Upgrade | [Upgrade](https://docs.rafay.co/selfhosted/airgapped/upgrade/) |
| 📊 Monitor & Dashboard | [Monitoring](https://docs.rafay.co/selfhosted/airgapped/monitoring/) |
| 🛠️ Troubleshooting | [Troubleshooting](https://docs.rafay.co/selfhosted/troubleshooting/) |