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Instance Launching Guide

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Stefor07 edited this page Apr 30, 2026 · 8 revisions

Launching Instances

The launch command allows you to quickly spin up an OpenStack instance with a single command. It automatically handles keypair generation, floating IP allocation and attachment — so the instance is ready to use as soon as the command completes.

Basic Usage

openstack_installer launch --name <instance-name>

To see the syntax of the launch command, review Debian OpenStack Deployer — CLI Reference - launch

ℹ️ Remember to always authenticate your shell with source admin-openrc.sh or source demo-openrc.sh before using the launch command as it relies on the system shell.

Keypair Management

If --keypair is not specified, the tool automatically:

  1. Generates a new RSA 2048-bit SSH key at ~/.ssh/id_<name>
  2. Registers the public key in OpenStack as <name>-keypair

If the key already exists locally or the keypair is already registered in OpenStack, it will be reused without regeneration.

If you provide an existing keypair via --keypair, no key is generated and SSH access depends on you having the corresponding private key.

Password Configuration

The --password argument sets the administrator password on the instance via cloud-init. This is supported only on compatible images that expose OS metadata (os_type, os_distro) in Glance.

Image type Password support Notes
Linux (with metadata) ✅ Password set via cloud-init user-data
Windows (with metadata) ✅ Password set via PowerShell on config drive
CirrOS ❌ Unsupported — password configuration is skipped automatically
Unknown (missing metadata) ❌ Skipped automatically for safety

⚠️ Note: If the image is missing os_type or os_distro or os_admin_user metadata, password configuration is skipped automatically even if --password is provided.

Floating IP

A floating IP is automatically allocated and attached to every instance launched with this command. No manual steps are required.

Output

Once the instance is running, the tool prints a summary with everything needed to connect:

Linux instance

Instance '<name>' successfully started

Attached Floating IP : <floating-ip>

You can connect to the instance with:
  ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_<name> <user>@<floating-ip>

If a password was configured:

You can log in with credentials:
  username: <user>
  password: <password>

Windows instance

Instance '<name>' successfully started

Attached Floating IP : <floating-ip>

You can connect via RDP to: <floating-ip>

IMPORTANT: ensure that a security group rule is configured to allow
inbound TCP port 3389 (RDP) from your public IP or network.

You can log in with credentials:
  username: <user>
  password: <password>

Examples

Launch a CirrOS instance (quickest test)

openstack_installer launch --name test-instance

Launches a CirrOS instance with auto-generated keypair and floating IP. Connect via SSH:

ssh -i ~/.ssh/id_test-instance cirros@<floating-ip>

Launch a Linux instance with password

openstack_installer launch --name my-linux-vm --image ubuntu --password MySecret123

Launch a Windows instance with password

openstack_installer launch --name my-win-vm --image windows-server-2022 --password MySecret123

⚠️ After launching a Windows instance, make sure a security group rule allows inbound TCP port 3389 (RDP) from your IP.

Launch with a specific flavor and existing keypair

openstack_installer launch --name my-vm --image ubuntu --flavor m1.medium --keypair my-existing-keypair

Accessing Launched Instances from Dashboard

You can point any browser to: http://<HOST_IP>/dashboard and reach the Login page

alt text

Log in with the credentials we can find in the openrc files in the /root folder

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From the "Instances" tab you will be able to see the newly created test-instance

For issues or contributions, visit the project repository.

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