Creating an Image and Launching a Virtual Machine

Creating an Image

You can use the OpenStack dashboard to specify an image to upload to the Image Service for a project in your system.

1. In OpenStack, select Project > Compute > Images. The Images window is displayed. See Figure 1.

   Figure 1: OpenStack Images Window

   
2. Make sure you have selected the correct project to which you are associating an image.
3. Click Create Image.

   The Create An Image window is displayed. See Figure 2.

   Figure 2: OpenStack Create An Image Window

   
4. Complete the fields to specify your image. Table 1 describes each of the fields on the screen.

   Note: Only images available through an HTTP URL are supported, and the image location must be accessible to the Image Service. Compressed image binaries are supported (*.zip and *.tar.gz).

   Table 1: Create An Image Fields

   Field	Description
   Name	Required field. Enter a name for this image.
   Description	Enter a description for the image.
   Image Source	Select Image File or Image Location. If you select Image File, you are prompted to browse to the local location of the file.
   Image Location	Enter an external HTTP URL from which to load the image. The URL must be a valid and direct URL to the image binary. URLs that redirect or serve error pages result in unusable images.
   Format	Required field. Select the format of the image from a list: AKI- Amazon Kernel Image AMI- Amazon Machine Image ARI- Amazon Ramdisk Image ISO- Optical Disk Image QCOW2-QEMU Emulator Raw VDI VHD VMDK
   Architecture	Enter the architecture.
   Minimum Disk (GB)	Enter the minimum disk size required to boot the image. If you do not specify a size, the default is 0 (no minimum).
   Minimum Ram (MB)	Enter the minimum RAM required to boot the image. If you do not specify a size, the default is 0 (no minimum).
   Public	Check the box if this is a public image. Leave unchecked for a private image.
   Protected	Check the box for a protected image.

5. When you are finished, click Create Image.

Launching a Virtual Machine (Instance)

1. On the OpenStack dashboard Project tab, make sure your project is selected in the left column in the Current Project box, then click Instances.

   The Instances screen is displayed, displaying all instances (VMs) currently in the selected project; see Figure 3.

   Figure 3: OpenStack Instances

   
2. To create and launch a new instance, click Launch Instance in the upper right corner.

   The Launch Instance window is displayed, where you can define and launch a new instance.

   Figure 4: Launch Instance , Details Tab

   
3. Make sure the Details tab is active; see Figure 4, then define your instance using the fields shown in Table 2

   Table 2: Launch Instance Details Tab Fields

   Field	Description
   Instance Source	Select from the list the source type: Image or Snapshot.
   Image	Select from a list the image to use for this instance. The images represent the operating systems and applications available for this project.
   Instance Name	Enter a name for this instance.
   Flavor	From the list, select the OpenStack Flavor for this instance. Flavors provide general definitions for sizing VMs. The Flavor Details of the Flavor you select are displayed on the right column of this window.
   Instance Count	Enter the number of instances you want to launch using the details defined in this screen. On the right side column, Project Quotas displays the number of instances currently active and the number still available for this project.
   Compute Hostname	To launch a VM on a specific compute node, enter the name of the compute node. This functionality is only available to administrators.

4. Click the Networking tab in the Launch Instance window to identify one or more networks to associate with this instance; see Figure 5.

   Figure 5: Launch Instance, Networking Tab

   
5. When you are finished defining this instance, click Launch at the lower right.

   Your new VM instance is launched as part of your project.