// Module included in the following assemblies:
//
// * hosted_control_planes/hcp-deploy/hcp-deploy-bm.adoc

:_mod-docs-content-type: PROCEDURE
[id="hcp-bm-prereqs_{context}"]
= Configuring a management cluster for bare metal

[role="_abstract"]
Before you create a hosted cluster on bare metal with the Agent platform, you need a properly configured {product-title} management cluster.

.Prerequisites

* The management cluster and compute nodes must be on the same platform.

* You need the {mce} 2.2 and later installed on an {product-title} cluster. You can install {mce-short} as an Operator from the {product-title} software catalog.

.Procedure

. The {mce-short} must have at least one managed {product-title} cluster. The `local-cluster` is automatically imported in {mce-short} 2.2 and later. For more information about the `local-cluster`, see "Advanced configuration" in the {rh-rhacm-title} documentation. You can check the status of your hub cluster by running the following command:
+
[source,terminal]
----
$ oc get managedclusters local-cluster
----

. Add the `topology.kubernetes.io/zone` label to your bare-metal hosts on your management cluster. Ensure that each host has a unique value for `topology.kubernetes.io/zone`. Otherwise, all of the control plane pods are scheduled on a single node, causing a single point of failure.

. Use the Agent platform to provision {hcp} on bare metal. The Agent platform uses the central infrastructure management service to add compute nodes to a hosted cluster. For more information, see "Enabling the central infrastructure management service".

. Install the hosted control plane command-line interface. For more information, see "Installing the {hcp} command-line interface".
