Lab 06: OpenStack Experiments
Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD
1
Assistant Professor
1
Central Department of CSIT, Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Lab 06: OpenStack with MicroStack
Objective: Install and explore OpenStack
services using MicroStack
MicroStack is a lightweight, single-node OpenStack distribution ideal
for today’s labs and testing.
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 1
Lab Objectives
Install MicroStack on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (VirtualBox)
Initialize OpenStack services
Explore core components: Nova and Glance
Launch a virtual machine instance
Verify running services
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 2
Prerequisites
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS installed (from Lab 01)
Minimum resources:
2 CPUs, 8 GB RAM
40 GB disk space
Working internet connection
Updated system:
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 3
What is MicroStack?
A single-node OpenStack distribution maintained by
Canonical
Easy to install using Snap packages
Suitable for development, testing, and education
Includes core OpenStack services:
Nova (Compute)
Glance (Image service)
Keystone (Identity)
Neutron (Networking)
Horizon (Dashboard)
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 4
Installing MicroStack
Install using Snap:
sudo snap install microstack --classic
Check status:
sudo [Link]
Installation size: 2 GB
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 5
Initialize MicroStack
Run initialization:
sudo microstack init --auto --control
This sets up:
Keystone for authentication
Glance image repository
Nova compute service
Neutron networking
Horizon dashboard
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 6
Accessing Horizon Dashboard
Open browser in Ubuntu
Visit:
[Link]
Default login:
Username: admin
Password: run:
sudo [Link] configuration show | grep
admin
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 7
Exploring Nova (Compute)
Nova manages virtual machines
Check services:
sudo [Link] compute service list
Available VM flavors:
sudo [Link] flavor list
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 8
Nova (Compute) Overview
Nova is the Compute service in OpenStack responsible
for:
Creating, running, and terminating virtual machine
instances
Managing compute resources such as CPU, RAM, and
storage
Scheduling VMs across available compute nodes
In MicroStack, Nova services run locally within the
single-node environment.
Nova interacts with:
Glance (for VM images)
Neutron (for networking)
Keystone (for authentication)
Placement (for resource allocation)
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 9
Checking Nova Services Status
In a working OpenStack environment, several Nova
components must be active:
nova-api – Handles API requests
nova-scheduler – Decides where to place VMs
nova-conductor – Communicates with the database
nova-compute – Creates and manages VM instances
To verify Nova services in MicroStack, run:
sudo [Link] compute service list
This command shows:
Service names and their hosts
Enabled/disabled status
Whether the service is up or down
Last heartbeat time
Ensuring all services are “up” is crucial before launching
VMs.
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 10
Exploring Nova Flavors (VM Hardware Templates)
Nova uses flavors to define the hardware configuration of a
VM:
vCPUs
RAM (in MB)
Disk size (in GB)
Ephemeral/Swap storage
To view all available flavors, use:
sudo [Link] flavor list
Default MicroStack flavors include:
[Link] – 1 vCPU, 512 MB RAM
[Link], [Link], etc.
Flavors ensure standardized VM sizes and allow efficient
scheduling.
Custom flavors can also be created for specific use cases
(e.g., GPU workloads).
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 11
Exploring Glance (Image Service)
Glance stores OS images for launching VMs
Add a CirrOS test image:
sudo [Link] image list
sudo [Link] image create
Verify image:
sudo [Link] image list
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 12
Lab Submission: Nova and Glance
Screenshot of Horizon dashboard
Nova (Compute Service)
Verified Nova service health using:
sudo [Link] compute service list
Listed available VM flavors with:
sudo [Link] flavor list
Launched VM instance using chosen flavor, network, and
Glance image.
Glance (Image Service)
Verified Glance service status using:
sudo [Link] image list
Uploaded and registered OS images (e.g., Cirros).
Checked image details and ensured availability for instance
creation.
Outcome
Successfully explored and used core OpenStack services:
Nova for VM provisioning
Glance for image management
Gained hands-on experience with MicroStack OpenStack
workflows.
Prepared By: Dhiraj K. Pandey, PhD 13