Creating new servers
Once you have an account in Breqwatr Cloud, you can create virtual machines --- henceforth simply servers --- using either the Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel or the OpenStack CLI. Let us demonstrate the creation of a new server, following both approaches.
Prerequisites
You need to have at least one network in the region you are interested in. Additionally, if you prefer to work with the OpenStack CLI, then make sure to properly enable it first.
Creating a server
To create a server from the Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel, fire up your favorite web browser, navigate to the Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel start page, and log into your Breqwatr Cloud account. On the other hand, if you prefer to work with the OpenStack CLI, please do not forget to source the RC file first.
=== "Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel" On the top right-hand side of the Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel, click the Create button. A new pane titled Create will slide into view from the right-hand side of the browser window.
You will notice several rounded boxes on that pane, each for
defining, configuring, and instantiating a different Breqwatr Inc
Cloud object. Go ahead and click the _Server_ box. A new pane titled
_Create a Server_ will slide over. At the top, type in a name for the
new server and select one of the available regions.
In the _Boot source_ section below, click the dropdown menu on
the left and make sure you select _Boot from image_, so you can choose
one of the readily available OS images to boot the new server off of.
To pick one of the images, click on the dropdown menu on the right. For
this how-to guide, we have chosen _ubuntu_ in general and
_Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish 20220810_ in particular.
Next, make sure _Boot Target_ is set to _Volume (Recommended)_.
Regarding the server's CPU core count and amount of memory, set the
[_Flavor_](/reference/flavors) accordingly.
The default flavor specifies a server with 1 CPU core and 1GB of RAM.
You can start with that or select a different configuration by clicking
the dropdown menu at the right of _Flavor_. Please note that, depending on
the chosen flavor, the estimated monthly cost of the server changes. (While a
server is shut off you are still getting charged for it, but less so.)
At any time, this estimated cost is displayed in the green rectangular area
at the top. Something else that affects the cost is the size of the root
device. Take a look at the _Size_ parameter below, and notice the
default (in
[gibibytes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte#Base_2_(binary))).
You may leave the root device size unchanged, or modify it to be lower
or higher than the default.
When, at a later time, you decide to delete the server, you can
do so but **keep** its boot volume (you may want, for example, to
attach the exact same volume to a new server). Just leave the _Delete
on termination_ option disabled if you want this kind of flexibility.
On the other hand, if you want your root volume to be automatically
deleted when the server terminates, enable _Delete on termination_.
Use this option with caution.
Finally, you may enable _Disaster recovery_ for the server. If
you do, then daily server snapshots will be created, and you will have
the option for easy and fast rollups to previous snapshots. Please be
aware that enabling this option increases the server's monthly estimated
cost (again, it is displayed in the green rectangular area at the top).
Regarding networking, select one of the available networks to
attach the new server to. If you want the server accessible from the
Internet, do not forget to enable the _I want an external IP for my
server_ option. In the section below, set _Security Groups_ to
_default_.
If you already have one or more public keys in your
Breqwatr Cloud account, you can now select a key to be included
in the `~/.ssh/authorized_keys` file of the server's default user. That
way, you can securely log into the remote user's account without typing
a password. If there are no public keys to choose from, activate the
_Password login enabled_ option and set a password for a specific user
(with a username you define).
A configuration script is automatically prepared based on the
choices you have already made. That script runs during system boot and
performs housekeeping tasks like user account creation, enabling
acceptable authentication methods, and configuring remote package
repositories. Click on _Advanced Options_ to see the default script.
It is now time to create your Breqwatr Cloud server;
click the green _Create_ button, and the new server will be readily
available in a few seconds.
=== "OpenStack CLI"
An openstack command for creating a server may look like
this:
```bash
openstack server create \
--flavor $FLAVOR_NAME \
--image $IMAGE_NAME \
--boot-from-volume $VOL_SIZE \
--network $NETWORK_NAME \
--security-group $SEC_GROUP_NAME \
--key-name $KEY_NAME \
--wait \
$SERVER_NAME
```
Each variable represents a piece of information we have to look
for or, in the cases of `KEY_NAME` and `SERVER_NAME`, arbitrarily
define.
Let us begin with the [_flavors_](/reference/flavors) (`FLAVOR_NAME`), which
describe combinations of CPU core count and memory size. Each server has a
distinct flavor, and to see all available flavors type:
```bash
openstack flavor list
```
You will get a pretty long list of flavors. For our demonstration,
we suggest you go with `b.1c1gb`. A server with this particular flavor will
have one CPU core and one
[gibibyte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gigabyte#Base_2_(binary)) of
RAM. Go ahead and set `FLAVOR_NAME` accordingly:
```bash
FLAVOR_NAME="b.1c1gb"
```
Your server should have an image to boot off of (`IMAGE_NAME`).
For a list of all available images in Breqwatr Cloud, type:
```bash
openstack image list
```
This time you get a shorter list, but you can still filter for
images with the OS you prefer. For example, filter for Ubuntu:
```bash
openstack image list --tag "os:ubuntu"
```
Continue with the `Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish 20220810` image:
```bash
IMAGE_NAME="Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish 20220810"
```
Before you go on, decide on the capacity (in gibibytes) of the server's
boot volume (`VOL_SIZE`). We suggest you start with 20 gibibytes:
```bash
VOL_SIZE="20"
```
You need at least one network in the region you're about to
create your new server (`NETWORK_NAME`). To get the names of all
available (internal) networks, type:
```bash
openstack network list --internal -c Name
```
```plain
+----------------+
| Name |
+----------------+
| nordostbahnhof |
+----------------+
```
Set the `NETWORK_NAME` variable accordingly:
```bash
NETWORK_NAME="nordostbahnhof"
```
Regarding the security group (`SEC_GROUP_NAME`), unless you
have already created one yourself, you will find only one per region:
```bash
openstack security group list -c Name -c Description
```
```plain
+---------+------------------------+
| Name | Description |
+---------+------------------------+
| default | Default security group |
+---------+------------------------+
```
Go ahead and set `SEC_GROUP_NAME`:
```bash
SEC_GROUP_NAME="default"
```
You most likely want a server you can remotely connect to via
SSH without typing a password. Upload one of our public keys to your
Breqwatr Cloud account:
```bash
openstack keypair create --public-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub bahnhof
```
In the example above, we uploaded the public key
`~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub` to our Breqwatr Cloud account and named
it `bahnhof`. Follow our example and do not forget to set the
`KEY_NAME`:
```bash
KEY_NAME="bahnhof"
```
By the way, check all uploaded public keys...
```bash
openstack keypair list
```
...and get more information regarding the one you just uploaded:
```bash
openstack keypair show bahnhof
```
You are almost ready to create your new server. Decide on a
name...
```bash
SERVER_NAME="zug" # just an example
```
...and then go ahead and create it:
```bash
openstack server create \
--flavor b.1c1gb \
--image $IMAGE_NAME \
--boot-from-volume 20 \
--network nordostbahnhof \
--security-group default \
--key-name bahnhof \
--wait \
zug
```
(For clarity's sake, and with the exception of `IMAGE_NAME`, we
used the actual values and not the variables we so meticulously set.)
The `--wait` parameter is optional. Whenever you choose to
use it, you get back control of your terminal only after the server is
readily available in Breqwatr Cloud.
To connect to your server remotely, you need to create a floating IP
for the external network in the Breqwatr Cloud, and then assign
this IP to your server. First, create the floating IP:
```bash
openstack floating ip create ext-net
```
See all floating IPs...
```bash
openstack floating ip list
```
...and assign the one you just created to your server:
```bash
openstack server add floating ip zug 198.51.100.12
```
The username of the default user account in the Ubuntu image is
`ubuntu`, so now you can connect to your remote server via SSH without
typing a password:
```bash
ssh ubuntu@198.51.100.12
```
Alternatively, you may also use the following command, which is more flexible though slightly longer:
```bash
openstack server ssh --public zug -- -l ubuntu
```
Viewing information about the newly created server
=== "Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel" From the Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel you may, at any time, see all servers and get detailed information regarding each one of them; expand the left-hand side vertical pane, click Compute, then Servers, and, in the central pane, select the region you want.
=== "OpenStack CLI" To see all available servers in the region, type:
```bash
openstack server list
```
You can always get specific information on a particular server:
```bash
openstack server show zug
```
Connecting to the server console
=== "Breqwatr Cloud Management Panel" While viewing information regarding your server, you may get its public IP address (e.g., from the Addresses tab) and connect to it remotely. Alternatively, you may launch a web console and log in; click on the three-dot icon on the right of the server header, and from the pop-up menu that appears select Remote Console.
A new window pops up, and that's your web console to your
Breqwatr Cloud server. Please note that this window cannot be
resized but can be opened on a new browser window or tab.
=== "OpenStack CLI" You may have access to the web console of your server, and you need the corresponding URL for it:
```bash
openstack console url show zug
```
Usage of the web console is discouraged, though. Instead,
securely connect to your server via SSH.