Question

How can I create a virtual server in Cloud.net?

Environment

Cloud.net, all versions.

Answer

Virtual servers are created from templates and are deployed on the compute resources that provide them with CPU, disk, network, and other necessary resources. 

Before you begin

Before you begin to create a virtual server, take into consideration the following: 

• You should be subscribed to at least one of compute locations from the marketplace or add and configure a physical compute resource.
• You should have a bucket configured and attached to a user who creates a virtual server. 

Creating the Virtual Server

To create a virtual server, you need to launch a wizard. The wizard walks you through several steps to get your virtual server up and running. In this document, you can find detailed guidance on how to create a virtual server but first take a look at the following section. 

Follow the next procedure:

1. Go to your Control Panel > Cloud > Virtual Servers.
2. Click the + or Create Virtual Server button to launch the wizard.
3. Follow the step-by-step instructions below to complete the wizard.
4. After you are finished, click the Create Virtual Server button. 

Templates

The Templates step allows you to select a template from which to build your virtual server. The template is extracted when a virtual server is provisioned or when a backup is taken, using this template. While a template is being extracted, it is locked so that it can't be used simultaneously in other transactions. After the extraction is finished, the template is unlocked. If another transaction requires the locked template, the transaction will fail after five minutes of standby. If a transaction that locked a template eventually failed, it means that the extracted template is broken.

To select a template, follow the next procedure:

1. Click a Template Store Group icon on the left to see templates that are available in this store. You can see the following details for each template: 
1. Label
2. Min memory size that is required to create a VS from this template
3. Min disk size that is required to create a VS from this template
4. Virtualization type that is XEN or KVM
5. Estimated Price per Hour that is calculated for a VS in Mode ON and Mode OFF
2. Click a template to select it. 
3. Click Next to proceed.

Properties

There are some obligatory and optional properties that you can provide for your virtual server. The obligatory properties are marked with an asterisk on the list and the optional properties you can edit after creating a virtual server.

Enter the following properties for your virtual server: 

• Label - enter a label of the virtual server
• Hostname - enter a hostname of the virtual server. The hostname can consist of letters [A-Z a-z], digits [0-9], and dash [ - ]. For more info on hostname validation, refer to RFC documentation.

  The following symbols are not allowed for Windows-based virtual servers: percent sign [%] double quotation marks [“] brackets [<,>] vertical bar [|] caret [^] ampersand [&] parentheses [(,)]

• Domain - enter a domain of the virtual server. For example, in test.onapp.com the test is a hostname and onapp.com is a domain. If you don't enter a domain, the default value localdomain is used as follows test.localdomain. This parameter is not applicable to Windows virtual servers. 
• Time zone (Windows) - select a time zone for a Windows virtual server. Most operating systems imply that the hardware clock is in UTC, however, Windows implies a local time. Therefore, you need to select a time zone for it to be properly handled on a compute resource level. 
• Password - enter a secure password for the virtual server. It can consist of 6-99 symbols, including letters [A-Z a-z], digits [0-9], dash [ - ], underscore [ _ ], and the following special characters: ~ ! @ # $ * _ - + = ` \\ { } [ ] : ; ' , . ? /. You can use both lower and uppercase letters. If you don't enter a password, it will be generated automatically.
• Password confirmation - repeat the password to confirm it
  

Click Next to proceed to the following step of the wizard.

Resources

RAM and CPU resources

• RAM - enter the number of RAM. The maximum number depends on your bucket settings and virtualization type. If you create a FreeBSD virtual server, set RAM to 512 MB. You can increase RAM later while editing the VS.
• CPU Cores - enter the number of CPU cores. For KVM compute resources, this parameter sets CPU sockets by default unless CPU Topology is enabled. When CPU Topology is enabled, this number specifies how many virtual cores the virtual server will have.
• CPU Priority (or CPU Units) - enter the number of CPU Priority in %. If CPU Units are enabled on a user's bucket, the CPU Priority is replaced with CPU Units. Refer to Billing Calculation for details on CPU Units and CPU Priority.

The following options are available only for virtual servers based on KVM, providing that a user has the Enable CPU Topology permission:

• Use CPU Topology - move the slider to the right to enable CPU Topology
• CPU Sockets - enter the number of how many sockets the CPU cores should be arranged into. This value will affect the number of cores_per_socket. 

Primary Disk

Select the following properties for a primary disk: 

• Primary data store - select a data store for a primary disk
• Primary disk size - enter a size for a primary disk

Swap Disk

Select the following properties for a swap disk: 

• Swap data store - select a data store for a swap disk
• Swap disk size - enter a size for a swap disk
• Disable - select the checkbox to disable a swap disk
  

You cannot add a swap disk to a Windows-based virtual server. 

Network Configuration

Before you apply network configuration, consider the following: 

• When you create a virtual server, you cannot set a network port speed to a value greater than indicated by a seller while adding a zone to Federation.
• Since not every application supports IPv6, at least one IPv4 address must be allocated to a primary network interface. 
• The Show only my IP addresses checkbox appears only if you select a specific network, not Any network. 

Network Interface #0

• Network - select a network from which the VS should get the IP address 
• IP net - select an IP net from which the IP address should be assigned
• IP range - select an IP range from which the IP address should be assigned
• IP address - select an IP address to be assigned to the VS
• Show only my IP addresses - select the checkbox to view only your own IP addresses
• Selected IP address - if the option is available, you can also assign an IP address for the VS from the drop-down menu. Indicate Compute resource and network to have the list of available IPs.
• Port Speed - set the port speed for the VS

Click Next to proceed to the confirmation step of the wizard.

Confirmation

The Confirmation step allows you to apply the following settings: 

• Boot Virtual Server - move the slider to the right for the virtual server to be started up automatically.

The Confirmation step also provides the configuration summary of the virtual server, including information about the template, CPU cores, RAM, disk size, and network. When you are finished, click the Create Virtual Server button to start the creation process. After you click the button, several transactions are run to complete the process. You can check the status of each transaction in the Activity Log of the virtual server.

See also: 

Virtual Server Creation Workflow

Manage Virtual Servers