Community support

The following resources are available to help you run and use OpenStack. The OpenStack community constantly improves and adds to the main features of OpenStack, but if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. Use the following resources to get OpenStack support and troubleshoot your installations.

Documentation

For the available OpenStack documentation, see docs.openstack.org.

The following guides explain how to install a Proof-of-Concept OpenStack cloud and its associated components:

The following books explain how to configure and run an OpenStack cloud:

The following book explains how to use the command-line clients:

The following documentation provides reference and guidance information for the OpenStack APIs:

The following guide provides information on how to contribute to OpenStack documentation:

ask.openstack.org

During the set up or testing of OpenStack, you might have questions about how a specific task is completed or be in a situation where a feature does not work correctly. Use the ask.openstack.org site to ask questions and get answers. When you visit the Ask OpenStack site, scan the recently asked questions to see whether your question has already been answered. If not, ask a new question. Be sure to give a clear, concise summary in the title and provide as much detail as possible in the description. Paste in your command output or stack traces, links to screen shots, and any other information which might be useful.

The OpenStack wiki

The OpenStack wiki contains a broad range of topics but some of the information can be difficult to find or is a few pages deep. Fortunately, the wiki search feature enables you to search by title or content. If you search for specific information, such as about networking or OpenStack Compute, you can find a large amount of relevant material. More is being added all the time, so be sure to check back often. You can find the search box in the upper-right corner of any OpenStack wiki page.

The Launchpad bugs area

The OpenStack community values your set up and testing efforts and wants your feedback. To log a bug, you must sign up for a Launchpad account. You can view existing bugs and report bugs in the Launchpad Bugs area. Use the search feature to determine whether the bug has already been reported or already been fixed. If it still seems like your bug is unreported, fill out a bug report.

Some tips:

  • Give a clear, concise summary.

  • Provide as much detail as possible in the description. Paste in your command output or stack traces, links to screen shots, and any other information which might be useful.

  • Be sure to include the software and package versions that you are using, especially if you are using a development branch, such as, "Kilo release" vs git commit bc79c3ecc55929bac585d04a03475b72e06a3208.

  • Any deployment-specific information is helpful, such as whether you are using Ubuntu 14.04 or are performing a multi-node installation.

The following Launchpad Bugs areas are available:

Documentation feedback

To provide feedback on documentation, join our IRC channel #openstack-doc on the OFTC IRC network, or report a bug in Launchpad and choose the particular project that the documentation is a part of.

The OpenStack IRC channel

The OpenStack community lives in the #openstack IRC channel on the OFTC network. You can hang out, ask questions, or get immediate feedback for urgent and pressing issues. To install an IRC client or use a browser-based client, go to https://webchat.oftc.net/. You can also use Colloquy (Mac OS X), mIRC (Windows), or XChat (Linux). When you are in the IRC channel and want to share code or command output, the generally accepted method is to use a Paste Bin. The OpenStack project has one at Paste. Just paste your longer amounts of text or logs in the web form and you get a URL that you can paste into the channel. The OpenStack IRC channel is #openstack on irc.oftc.net. You can find a list of all OpenStack IRC channels on the IRC page on the wiki.

OpenStack mailing lists

A great way to get answers and insights is to post your question or problematic scenario to the OpenStack mailing list. You can learn from and help others who might have similar issues. To subscribe or view the archives, go to the general OpenStack mailing list. If you are interested in the other mailing lists for specific projects or development, refer to Mailing Lists.

OpenStack distribution packages

The following Linux distributions provide community-supported packages for OpenStack: