Launch a VM using OpenStack CLI

First find the following details using openstack command, we would required these details during the creation of virtual machine.

Flavor
Image
Network
Security Group
Key Name

Get the flavor list using below openstack command:

openstack flavor list
+--------------------------------------+-------------+--------+------+-----------+-------+-----------+
| ID                                   | Name        |    RAM | Disk | Ephemeral | VCPUs | Is Public |
+--------------------------------------+-------------+--------+------+-----------+-------+-----------+
| 12ded228-1a7f-4d35-b994-7dd394a6ca90 |gpu-su-a100.2| 196608 |   20 |         0 |    24 | True      |
| 15581358-3e81-4cf2-a5b8-c0fd2ad771b4 | mem-su.8    |  65536 |   20 |         0 |     8 | True      |
| 17521416-0ecf-4d85-8d4c-ec6fd1bc5f9d | cpu-su.1    |   2048 |   20 |         0 |     1 | True      |
| 2b1dbea2-736d-4b85-b466-4410bba35f1e | cpu-su.8    |  16384 |   20 |         0 |     8 | True      |
| 2f33578f-c3df-4210-b369-84a998d77dac | mem-su.4    |  32768 |   20 |         0 |     4 | True      |
| 4498bfdb-5342-4e51-aa20-9ee74e522d59 | mem-su.1    |   8192 |   20 |         0 |     1 | True      |
| 7f2f5f4e-684b-4c24-bfc6-3fce9cf1f446 | mem-su.16   | 131072 |   20 |         0 |    16 | True      |
| 8c05db2f-6696-446b-9319-c32341a09c41 | cpu-su.16   |  32768 |   20 |         0 |    16 | True      |
| 9662b5b2-aeaa-4d56-9bd3-450deee668af | cpu-su.4    |   8192 |   20 |         0 |     4 | True      |
| b3377fdd-fd0f-4c88-9b4b-3b5c8ada0732 |gpu-su-a100.1|  98304 |   20 |         0 |    12 | True      |
| e9125ab0-c8df-4488-a252-029c636cbd0f | mem-su.2    |  16384 |   20 |         0 |     2 | True      |
| ee6417bd-7cd4-4431-a6ce-d09f0fba3ba9 | cpu-su.2    |   4096 |   20 |         0 |     2 | True      |
+--------------------------------------+------------+--------+------+-----------+-------+------------+

Get the image name and its ID,

openstack image list  | grep almalinux-9
| 263f045e-86c6-4344-b2de-aa475dbfa910 | almalinux-9-x86_64  | active |

Get Private Virtual network details, which will be attached to the VM:

openstack network list
+--------------------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------------------+
| ID                                   | Name            | Subnets                              |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------------------+
| 43613b84-e1fb-44a4-b1ea-c530edc49018 | provider        | 1cbbb98d-3b57-4f6d-8053-46045904d910 |
| 8a91900b-d43c-474d-b913-930283e0bf43 | default_network | e62ce2fd-b11c-44ce-b7cc-4ca943e75a23 |
+--------------------------------------+-----------------+--------------------------------------+

Find the Security Group:

openstack security group list
+--------------------------------------+----------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------------+------+
| ID                                   | Name                             | Description            |Project                          | Tags |
+--------------------------------------+----------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------------+------+
| 8285530a-34e3-4d96-8e01-a7b309a91f9f | default                          | Default security group |8ae3ae25c3a84c689cd24c48785ca23a | []   |
| bbb738d0-45fb-4a9a-8bc4-a3eafeb49ba7 | ssh_only                         |                        |8ae3ae25c3a84c689cd24c48785ca23a | []   |
+--------------------------------------+----------------------------------+-----------------------+----------------------------------+------+

Find the Key pair, in my case you can choose your own,

openstack keypair list | grep -i cloud_key
| cloud_key | d5:ab:dc:1f:e5:08:44:7f:a6:21:47:23:85:32:cc:04 | ssh  |

Note

Above details will be different for you based on your project and env.

Launch an instance from an Image

Now we have all the details, let's create a virtual machine using "openstack server create" command

Syntax :

openstack server create --flavor {Flavor-Name-Or-Flavor-ID } \
    --image {Image-Name-Or-Image-ID} \
    --nic net-id={Network-ID} \
    --user-data USER-DATA-FILE \
    --security-group {Security_Group_ID} \
    --key-name {Keypair-Name} \
    --property KEY=VALUE \
    <Instance_Name>

Important Note

If you boot an instance with an "Instance_Name" greater than 63 characters, Compute truncates it automatically when turning it into a hostname to ensure the correct functionality of dnsmasq.

Optionally, you can provide a key name for access control and a security group for security.

You can also include metadata key and value pairs: --key-name {Keypair-Name}. For example, you can add a description for your server by providing the --property description="My Server" parameter.

You can pass user data in a local file at instance launch by using the --user-data USER-DATA-FILE parameter. If you do not provide a key pair, you will be unable to access the instance.

You can also place arbitrary local files into the instance file system at creation time by using the --file <dest-filename=source-filename> parameter. You can store up to five files. For example, if you have a special authorized keys file named special_authorized_keysfile that you want to put on the instance rather than using the regular SSH key injection, you can add the –file option as shown in the following example.

--file /root/.ssh/authorized_keys=special_authorized_keysfile

To create a VM in Specific "Availability Zone and compute Host" specify --availability-zone {Availbility-Zone-Name}:{Compute-Host} in above syntax.

Example:

openstack server create --flavor cpu-su.2 \
    --image almalinux-8-x86_64 \
    --nic net-id=8ee63932-464b-4999-af7e-949190d8fe93 \
    --security-group default \
    --key-name cloud_key \
    --property description="My Server" \
    my-vm

NOTE: To get more help on "openstack server create" command , use:

openstack -h server create

Detailed syntax:

openstack server create
  (--image <image> | --volume <volume>)
  --flavor <flavor>
  [--security-group <security-group>]
  [--key-name <key-name>]
  [--property <key=value>]
  [--file <dest-filename=source-filename>]
  [--user-data <user-data>]
  [--availability-zone <zone-name>]
  [--block-device-mapping <dev-name=mapping>]
  [--nic <net-id=net-uuid,v4-fixed-ip=ip-addr,v6-fixed-ip=ip-addr,port-id=port-uuid,auto,none>]
  [--network <network>]
  [--port <port>]
  [--hint <key=value>]
  [--config-drive <config-drive-volume>|True]
  [--min <count>]
  [--max <count>]
  [--wait]
  <server-name>

Note

Similarly, we can lauch a VM using bootable "Volume" as described here.

Now verify the test vm "my-vm" is "Running" using the following commands:

openstack server list | grep my-vm

OR,

openstack server show my-vm

Check console of virtual machine

The console for a Linux VM can be displayed using console log.

openstack console log show --line 20 my-vm

Associating a Floating IP to VM

To Associate a Floating IP to VM, first get the unused Floating IP using the following command:

openstack floating ip list | grep None | head -2
| 071f08ac-cd10-4b89-aee4-856ead8e3ead | 169.144.107.154 | None |
None                                 |
| 1baf4232-9cb7-4a44-8684-c604fa50ff60 | 169.144.107.184 | None |
None                                 |

Now Associate the first IP to the server using the following command:

openstack server add floating ip my-vm 169.144.107.154

Use the following command to verify whether Floating IP is assigned to the VM or not:

openstack server list | grep my-vm
| 056c0937-6222-4f49-8405-235b20d173dd | my-vm | ACTIVE  | ...
nternal=192.168.15.62, 169.144.107.154 |

Remove existing floating ip from the VM

openstack server remove floating ip <INSTANCE_NAME_OR_ID> <FLOATING_IP_ADDRESS>

Get all available security group in your project

openstack security group list
+--------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------+----------------------------------+------+
| 3ca248ac-56ac-4e5f-a57c-777ed74bbd7c | default  | Default security group |
f01df1439b3141f8b76e68a3b58ef74a | []   |
| 5cdc5f33-78fc-4af8-bf25-60b8d4e5db2a | ssh_only | Enable SSH access.     |
f01df1439b3141f8b76e68a3b58ef74a | []   |
+--------------------------------------+----------+-----------------------+----------------------------------+------+

Add existing security group to the VM

openstack server add security group <INSTANCE_NAME_OR_ID> <SECURITY_GROUP>

Example:

openstack server add security group my-vm ssh_only

Remove existing security group from the VM

openstack server remove security group <INSTANCE_NAME_OR_ID> <SECURITY_GROUP>

Example:

openstack server remove security group my-vm ssh_only

Alternatively, you can use the openstack port unset command to remove the group from a port:

openstack port unset --security-group <SECURITY_GROUP> <PORT>

Adding volume to the VM

openstack server add volume
  [--device <device>]
  <INSTANCE_NAME_OR_ID>
  <VOLUME_NAME_OR_ID>

Remove existing volume from the VM

openstack server remove volume <INSTANCE_NAME_OR_ID> <volume>

Reboot a virtual machine

openstack server reboot my-vm

Deleting Virtual Machine from Command Line

openstack server delete my-vm