Launch and manage instances (Compute tab)¶
The OpenStack Compute service provides a way to provision compute instances (aka virtual servers). It supports creating virtual machines, baremetal servers (through the use of ironic), and has limited support for system containers. For detailed information, refer to the OpenStack Nova Guide.
Create a key pair¶
Log in to the dashboard.
Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.
On the Console page, open the Compute tab and click Key Pairs category.
Click Create Keypair.
In the Create Volume dialog box, select one of Create Type options:
Create Keypair: If you choose this option, enter a Name.
Import Keypair: If you choose this option, a new field for Public Key displays. Enter the Name of your key pair, copy the public key into the Public Key box.
Click OK.
The Dashboard lists the key pair on the Key Pairs tab.
Launch an instance¶
Log in to the dashboard.
Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.
On the Console page, open the Compute tab and click Instances category.
Click Create Instance.
On the Create Instance page, enter the instance values.
Available Zone: The availability zone from which to launch the server.
Specification: Select a flavor for your server instance.
Start Source: Select one of the following options:
Image: If choose this option, a new field for Operating System displays. You can select the image from the list. And enter the size of the volume used as System Disk of the instance.
Note
click the Deleted with the instance option to delete the volume on deleting the instance.
Instance Snapshot: Using this option, you can boot from a volume snapshot and create a new volume by choosing Instance Snapshot from a list.
Bootable Volume: If you choose this option, a new field for Bootable Volume displays. You can select the volume from the list.
Data Disk: The disks mounted on the instance.
Click Next: Network Config.
You can choose Networks, Ports or a mix of both for the instance network config.
Networks: Add a network to the instance. If you specify the networks, Virtual LAN and Security Group are required fields.
Virtual LAN: Specify a subnet of the network and assign fixed IP address automatically or manually for the instance.
Security Group: Security groups are a kind of cloud firewall that define which incoming network traffic is forwarded to instances.
Ports: Activate the ports that you want to assign to the instance.
Note
The port executes its own security group rules by default.
Click Next: System Config.
Name: The server name.
Login Type: Select one of the following options:
Keypair: If you choose this option, a new field for Keypair displays. The key pair allows you to SSH into your newly created instance. You can select an existing key pair, import a key pair, or generate a new key pair.
Password: Enter the Login Password and confirm it. And you can login to the instance by using password.
Click Next: Confirm Config and confirm your choice.
The instance are created and you can wait for a few seconds to follow the changes of the instance list data or manually refresh the data to get the final display result.
Create an instance snapshot¶
Log in to the dashboard.
Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.
On the Console page, open the Compute tab and click Instances category.
Select an instance to create a snapshot from it.
In the Action column, select Backups & Snapshots and click Create Snapshot.
In the Create Instance Snapshot dialog box, enter a snapshot name.
Click OK.
The dashboard shows the new instance snapshot in Instance Snapshots tab.
Control the state of an instance¶
Log in to the dashboard.
Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.
On the Console page, open the Compute tab and click Instances category.
Select the instance for which you want to change the state.
In the Action column of the instance, click Instance Status and select the status.
Allocate a floating IP address to an instance¶
Log in to the dashboard.
Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.
On the Console page, open the Compute tab and click Instances category.
In the Action column, select Related Resources and click Associate Floating IP.
In the Associate Floating IP dialog box, select Instance IP and Floating Ip Address.
Click OK.
Note
To disassociate an IP address from an instance, click the Disassociate Floating Ip button.
Upload an image¶
Images are used to create virtual machine instances within the cloud. For information about creating image files, see the OpenStack Glance Guide.
Log in to the dashboard.
Select the appropriate project from the Switch Project menu at the top left.
On the Console page, open the Compute tab and click Images category.
Click Create Image.
On the Create Image page, enter the following values:
Name: The name of the image.
Upload Type: Select one of the following options:
Upload File: If choose this option, click Click to Upload to upload the binary image data file.
File URL: If choose this option, enter the File URL.
Format: Select the image format (for example, QCOW2) for the image.
OS: Select the image operating system (for example, CentOS).
OS Version: The image operating system version.
OS Admin: The administrator name of image operating system. in general, administrator for Windows, root for Linux.
Min System Disk (GiB): Amount of disk space in GB that is required to boot the image.
Min Memory (GiB): Amount of Memory in GB that is required to boot the image.
Protected: Image protection for deletion.
Usage Type: Select usage type (for example, Common Server) for the image.
Description: A human-readable description for the resource.
Click Confirm.
The image is queued to be uploaded. It might take some time before the status changes from Queued to Active.
