Creating and Starting a CISER Custom Red Cloud Machine

This page is ONLY relevant for LDI Administrators - Replicators can ignore!

These are instructions for creating, running and managing a specific CISER instance. This is to be used only for replications that require additional software to be installed (and that software is not available on the regular version of CISER).

Accessing the project

• You need to be on the Cornell campus VPN
• You will need to request access to the project on Red Cloud. You can do so here.
• You will request an account under ciser_0029.
• If you need additional assistance, contact Florio Arguillas.

Some basics

An 'instance' is like a computer, except in the cloud.

Connecting to RedCloud

0. If you are working from home (or off-campus), make sure to install and run the Cornell VPN. You can find instructions on how to do that here: https://it.cornell.edu/cuvpn
1. Go to: redcloud.cac.cornell.edu
   • Domain: cac
   • Username: your CAC ID (usually Cornell NetID)
   • Password: your CAC password (not NetID password, not CISER password...)

You should first check if there is a useful instance that somebody has used in the past, you might be able to re-use it. If so, go to Stopping and Starting an Instance, otherwise continue to Setting up the Virtual CISER instance.

Creating the Virtual CISER instance

2. From the Dashboard make sure you select our project (ciser_0029) in the upper right hand corner

3. [May not be needed] In the menu on the top left, select Key Pairs and create a new key pair

   • Name: netID_key
   • More info on key pairs

4. From the Dashboard, select the Compute tab in the top left then the Images menu

5. Scroll down until you find CISERImage you want (either CISERimage1 or CISERimage2), then click Launch

   • If you have specific software you need to use but need CISER to have it installed, make sure to choose the CISERImage that have the software installed.
     • CISERimage1 has MATLAB installed.
     • CISERimage2 has STATA installed.
     • For other programs, contact Florio Arguillas.

6. A pop up window will appear. Fill in the following information:

   • Details
     • Instance name: whatever you want, but must be less than 15 characters, no spaces, and no special characters
     • Leave Availability Zone and count default
     • Click Next
   • Source
     • The Image you selected above should be listed under Allocated
     • Check yes on Delete Volumes on Instance Delete and set the size of the Volume
     • Click Next
   • Flavor
     • Select what type of system you require by pressing the up arrow next to it. Choose the smallest 2-Core system! (cost)
   • (Linux) Click on Key Pair
     • Select your key pair
     • The rest can be left at default settings
     • Click Launch Instance

7. Go to the Instance menu in the top left and click on the instance name you just created

8. Click on the Console tab. This will display the CISER console for the new instance within the browser.

   • Wait 5-10 minutes for this to work. If the console window looks like a normal CISER landing page, then you have successfully created your instance.
   • If instead you get an error message, then you need to delete this instance and start over.

Stopping and Starting an Instance

It is very important to monitor activity on the custom Red Cloud machine because LDI is charged for its use.

1. Stopping
   • On Red Cloud, go to Instances, select the instance you want to stop, and select one of the states under the action menu
   • 🚨 There is ONLY one state, SHELF Instance, where your allocation will NOT be charged, however you will be charged for the storage required to hold it; all other states continue to use your allocation.
   • See Important States at https://www.cac.cornell.edu/wiki/index.php?title=OpenStack#Instance_States for a description of the States and Operations to transition between states.
2. Starting
   • Go to Instances, go to your instance you want to start, and select Start Instance under action menu

Accessing

For access, see Connect-to-a-CISER-Custom-Red-Cloud-Machine.

• When you first creat an image, then you need an IP address to access freom the remote desktop application.
  • cmd
  • ipconfig will provide IP address that you need (128.84.8.XXX)