Docs: Create a VM

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Create one or more VMs on on-premise, private cloud, or public cloud platforms.

If the instance request workflow is enabled, configuring create-VM parameters submits an instance request ticket; automatic deployment starts only after approval. If the workflow is not enabled, you can create VMs directly. (Tickets are supported in the Enterprise Edition only.)

Prerequisites

On-premise: An enabled OneCloud host must exist in basic resources, or VMware must be connected with an enabled VMware host in basic resources.
Private cloud: OpenStack, ZStack, ZettaCloud, or HCSO account resources must be imported; an enabled host of that platform must exist in basic resources, and an available IP subnet must exist on that platform.
Public cloud: Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Azure, Huawei Cloud, Tencent Cloud, or UCloud account resources must be imported; the account must be enabled and healthy, and an available IP subnet must exist on that platform.

Entry points

Create an on-premise VM: On the VMs page, click “Create” above the list
Create a private cloud VM: Click the “Private cloud” tab, then click “Create” above the list
Create a public cloud VM: Click the “Public cloud” tab, then click “Create” above the list

On any create-VM page, you can switch the “On-premise”, “Private cloud”, and “Public cloud” tabs at the top to create VMs on different platforms.

Parameter configuration

When creating on on-premise, you can select the platform directly (OneCloud or VMware).

When creating on private cloud, the region determines the platform (OpenStack, ZStack, ZettaCloud, or HCSO).

When creating on public cloud, platform and region determine the platform (Alibaba Cloud, AWS, Azure, Huawei Cloud, Tencent Cloud, UCloud).

Basic configuration

Project: Administrators and domain administrators must specify the owning project when creating a VM.
Region (on-premise, private cloud): Select region and zone. For private cloud, the region determines the platform.
Name: Set the VM name.
- When quantity is greater than 1, names after the first use name-1~N.
- VMs and bare metal share a namespace. Names are unique in the system.
- Ordered suffix placeholders with # are supported; each # is one digit. For example, name host## with quantity 2 creates host00 and host01.
- Expressions are supported in the form ${variable}, e.g. ${host} uses the host name where the VM is created. See Hostname expression examples.
Notes: Set VM notes.

Billing configuration (public cloud)

Billing method: Pay-as-you-go or subscription.
- Pay-as-you-go: Pay by actual usage. Suitable when demand spikes sharply; more expensive than subscription.
- Subscription: Prepaid for one month, one year, or multiple years. Suitable when demand is stable; cheaper than pay-as-you-go. Auto-renewal can be enabled.

Only domestic public clouds support subscription.

Only Alibaba Cloud subscription supports purchasing one week; selecting one week auto-selects Alibaba Cloud.

On Alibaba Cloud, weekly purchases renew weekly, monthly renew monthly, and yearly renew yearly; other platforms renew monthly.

Expire and release: Set how long the new VM runs before it is deleted into the recycle bin. Default is unset. Options include “1 hour”, “6 hours”, “1 day”, “3 days”, “1 week”, “1 month”, or a custom duration.

On public cloud, expire and release is supported only for pay-as-you-go VMs.

Public cloud VMs in the recycle bin still incur charges; purge them from the recycle bin if no longer needed.

Instance configuration

Quantity: Number of VMs to create.
Platform (on-premise): OneCloud or VMware.
Platform and region (public cloud): Use geography, platform, region, and zone to filter available instance types. Prefer the nearest geography to reduce latency.

After selecting a geography for a public cloud VM, available platforms and regions must meet all of the following:

A cloud account for that platform exists, is not disabled, and has sufficient balance;

A VPC and IP subnet exist in that platform region;

Cloud subscription (public cloud): Create the VM with the specified subscription. Images, VPC, and IP subnets are filtered by subscription.
CPU architecture: x86 and ARM. Only OneCloud supports ARM; other platforms support x86 only by default.
Passthrough devices: Whether to configure passthrough devices. When enabled, select GPU, NPU, and similar devices. For GPU, also select GPU type and specific cards. Setting a graphics GPU filters images to UEFI.

Spec configuration

CPU cores, Memory: Set VM specs and choose available instance types from them.
Instance type: Combination of CPU and memory; prices differ by type. If CPU and memory are Unlimited, all types are shown. On-premise and private cloud types can be maintained on the cloud management platform; when creating a private cloud VM you can choose on-premise or private cloud types. Public cloud types sync from the corresponding public cloud.

OS images are currently filtered by the CPU architecture of the instance type.

Image configuration

Operating system: Select the VM image from the following sources. The dropdown shows name, size, CPU architecture, partition style, and boot mode, and can auto-select the boot mode below from the selected image.
- Public cloud image: Public images on the corresponding public cloud; public cloud only; not shown in the image list.
- Public cloud custom image: Custom images on a specified public cloud account; public cloud only; not shown in the image list.
- Private cloud image: Images on the corresponding private cloud; private cloud only; not shown in the image list.
- VMware image: Images on a specified VMware account; VMware only; not shown in the image list.
- Public image: Public images in the system image list; common system images maintained by administrators.
- Custom image: Custom images in the system image list; usually uploaded by users.
- Boot from ISO: ISO images in the system image list. Selecting an ISO requires installing an OS on the VM. Supported only on OneCloud and VMware.
- Host image: Host images in the host image list; OneCloud only.
- Instance snapshot: Instance snapshots in the instance snapshot list; OneCloud and VMware only.

When creating a public cloud VM with platform public or custom images, caching to the public cloud may make creation slower; prefer already cached images. Cached images show a cached badge next to the name.

For Windows VMs installed via ISO, install Virtio drivers after installation; drivers are available under Image Marketplace - ISO.

Monitoring agent: After installing the monitoring agent, detailed CPU, memory, disk, and other metrics are available.

Only OneCloud supports installing the monitoring agent plugin.

Disk configuration

System disk

Disk type, medium, and size are shown and set based on the selected instance type.

Only OneCloud system disks support viewing the disk medium.

On VMware, when selecting a VMware image or instance snapshot, system disk size cannot be changed.

On OpenStack, the image can be used as the system disk, with image storage as system disk storage.

Public clouds do not support scheduling tags.

On Tencent Cloud, system disk size must be a multiple of 10 or creation fails.

When “Boot from ISO” is selected, all disk types are shown as data disks. Display does not affect normal use.

Storage scheduling policy:

When no scheduling tag, preference, or block storage is specified, the system chooses the best storage by scheduling policy and default tag preferences.

Scheduling policies are checked first. If a matching policy exists, storage is chosen by the policy’s scheduling tags and preferences. Preferences in the policy override default preferences on the tags.
If no matching policy exists, the best storage is chosen by default preferences of scheduling tags bound to storage devices.

Scheduling preferences:

Prefer: Prefer storage with this tag.
Avoid: Prefer to avoid storage with this tag.
Exclude: Must not use storage with this tag.
Require: Must use storage with this tag.

Specify block storage: In the management backend view, you can specify block storage for disks and view usage. Currently supported only on VMware and OneCloud.

Data disks

Optional. Add multiple data disks and set type, medium, and size. Available types match the system disk. Only the first data disk can choose type; additional data disks use the same type as the first.

Only OneCloud data disks support viewing the disk medium.

Only OneCloud data disks support creating disks from disk snapshots.

On OpenStack, when the system disk uses image storage, data disk type can be set.

On VMware, data disk type matches the system disk.

Added data disks are attached only and are not partitioned automatically; partition manually after remote login.

Only OneCloud supports mount points, create-from-snapshot, and scheduling tags. Private clouds using local storage also support scheduling tags.

Administrator account: Shows the VM administrator account
Administrator password: Set the administrator password (root on Linux; Administrator on Windows).
- Random: Generate a random password; view and copy it in the Password column on the VM list
- Associate key: Create a key first. After associating, log in remotely with the private key.
- Keep image settings: Use the administrator password already in the image.
- Manual: Set the administrator password manually.

Boot from ISO does not support setting an administrator password; set it while installing the OS.

Supported password methods depend on the platform; follow the UI.

Network configuration

Network: Set the VM IP address.

VMware VMs do not support VPC networks; only the default classic network can be selected.

Only OneCloud VMs can select the default classic network and VPC networks.

Only OneCloud supports up to 8 networks; other platforms support only one.

Only OneCloud VMs can configure passthrough NICs.

Network scheduling:

Auto schedule: Allocate an IP from IP subnets with auto scheduling enabled.
Specify IP subnet: Select VPC and IP subnet. To set a static IP, click “Configure IP manually”, set the IP, then click “OK”.
Specify scheduling tags: Set scheduling tags and preferences. Preferences override default tag policies. The best IP subnet is chosen by tags and preferences.

Tags: Bind tags to the new VM. Select existing tags or create new ones.

Create a tag: Click “Create” above the list, set key and value, then click “Add” to create and bind the tag.
Select existing tags: Click “Existing tags”, then select key and value.

Advanced configuration

Hidden by default; configure as needed.

Elastic public IP

An elastic public IP is a NAT IP bound to a VM for public network communication. Default is Do not bind. When “Create” is selected, configure:

Line type: Create an EIP of the required line type.
Network billing: By traffic or by bandwidth.
- By traffic: Charge by actual traffic; peak bandwidth can be limited to avoid unexpected cost. Packets are dropped when instantaneous bandwidth exceeds the limit. Suitable for high network fluctuation.
- By bandwidth: Charge by transfer rate with a fixed bandwidth; packets are dropped when exceeded. Suitable for low network fluctuation.
Bandwidth: Set bandwidth size.

Public IP

A public IP bound to a VM for public network communication. Includes elastic public IP and static public IP. Elastic public IPs can be bound and unbound flexibly; static public IPs cannot be unbound. Default is Do not bind. When creating an elastic or static public IP, configure:

Network billing: By traffic or by bandwidth.
Bandwidth: Set bandwidth size.

On on-premise, VPC-network VMs can bind an elastic public IP and support bandwidth billing only;

Except Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud, public clouds support creating elastic public IP only when creating a VM; Tencent Cloud and Alibaba Cloud support elastic and static public IP.

When creating an AWS VM, if the selected VPC disallows external access, creating an elastic public IP is not allowed.

AWS, Azure, and Google support traffic billing only.

Only Alibaba Cloud elastic public IPs support selecting line type.

Security groups

Set security group rules for the VM. A security group is a virtual packet-filtering firewall that controls whether associated VMs can be accessed and which external resources they can access. A VM can bind up to 5 security groups.

Scheduling policy

Choose the host or cloud account for the VM via scheduling policy.

Default: The system chooses the best host by scheduling policies and scheduling tags.
- Scheduling policies are checked first. If a matching policy exists, the best host is chosen by the policy’s tags and preferences. Preferences in the policy override default tag preferences.
- If no matching policy exists, the best host is chosen by default preferences of tags bound to hosts.
Specify host: Create the VM on the specified host.
Specify scheduling tags: Set scheduling tags and preferences. Preferences override default tag policies. Hosts are chosen by tags and preferences.
Cloud subscription (on-premise and private cloud): Create the VM with the specified subscription on private cloud or VMware. If an IP subnet was specified in network configuration, only the subscription of that IP subnet can be selected.

Other configuration

Boot mode: BIOS or UEFI; OneCloud only. ARM supports UEFI only.
Remote console protocol: VNC or SPICE; OneCloud only.
- VNC: Mainly for Linux server management; no audio or USB transfer, so not ideal for virtual desktops.
- SPICE: Better color, audio, and USB support; suitable for virtual desktops.
Graphics card: Standard or QXL. With VNC, Standard or QXL; with SPICE, QXL only. OneCloud only.
Machine type: PC or Q35; OneCloud only.
Backup instance: OneCloud only. Requires at least two hosts in the VM’s domain or shared to that domain. Creates a backup instance for high availability.
Instance group: Optionally select an instance group so the new VM is placed by the group’s scheduling rules. OneCloud only.
Instance encryption: Enable instance encryption so all disks are encrypted with the selected key. OneCloud only.
Custom data: Configure the elastic cloud server with custom data via text or uploaded JSON. OneCloud supports shell, python, and perl scripts; private and public clouds support shell and yaml.
Bastion host: Off by default. When enabled, select a bastion host managed on OneCloud.

After configuration, click “Create” to create the VM.

If tickets are enabled, enter the request reason, click “Submit ticket”, and wait for approval before creation starts.

Hostname expression examples

Host names (VMs and bare metal) support expressions in the form ${variable_name} with lowercase variable names. For example, ${host} uses the host name where the VM is created; ${region}-${zone} shows region-zone, and so on.

Supported variables:

Variable	Example	Description
brand	aliyun	Brand
charge_type	postpaid	Billing method
cloud_env	onpremise/public/private	Distinguishes on-premise, private cloud, and public cloud
cloudregion_id	default	Region ID
cpu	1	CPU count
host	gobuild	Host name
host_id	16f49f8a-88cc-4715-8870-f78130196fa9	Host ID
ip_addr	192.168.1.1	IP address
mem	1024	Memory
os_distribution	CentOS	Operating system
os_type	Linux	OS type
os_version	6.9	OS version
owner_tenant	system	Project
owner_tenant_id	d56f5c37e36a42b782d7f32b19497c4c	Project ID
provider	OpenStack	Provider
region	Default	Region
region_id	kvm	Virtualization type
res_name	server	Resource category
template_id	5199f56b-01c2-425c-8e29-0179d283e4a3	Template ID
zone	zone1	Zone
zone_id	00f3f3c6-1d16-4053-81f1-4cb092f418f5	Zone ID

Cloudpods – Create