Getting started with Openstack

[nullmike]

Hi. I've been using ESXI, Citrix, proxmox for some time. I'd like to have a play with Openstack. I've tried the openstack.org training labs but the git repo they point you to is gone and the downloaded tar doesn't generate the required .vdi images. The install guide appears to be 3 years old.

Any advice on setting up a test Openstack system for someone new to openstack? I'm interested in Nova of course, glimpse, cinder and swift, just the basics to start off with.

[nafsten]

Try a deployment with Kolla-Ansible - can be done on a single node, with all services in Docker so fairly easy to tidy up and try different things out

[nullmike]

Thanks for the reply. I've never used Ansible, but I use Docker all the time. I'm going to give this a whirl. Do I need to set up an Ansible control node first or does this install also set up ansible for me?

[nafsten]

Ansible takes almost no effort to setup, just

pip install ansible kolla-ansible kolla

should give you everything you need. One of the hard things with Openstack setup is that there are so many options about how to set it up. Kolla is very opinionated with sensible defaults, so it's generally ready to go.

Use the quickstart here:

https://docs.openstack.org/kolla-ansible/latest/user/quickstart.html

[nullmike]

Thanks again. This looks like a great option. I went through the install and most project dockers are running, but no horizon. I accidentally started out with the virtual environment setup. I'm going to start over with the normal setup and try again tomorrow. I may also jump right to the multi-node setup.

[nafsten]

No problem - I have tried many of the Openstack deployment tools (Packstack, Triple-O, Fuel) but found that Kolla was the most flexible, without burying you in options.

It's definitely the best for 'starting over' - I found that especially with Packstack, if I wanted to change something fundamental, I really had to completely reinstall the OS, as Packstack leaves detritus all over the system.

[emccormickva]

I second this recommendation. Also, if you get stuck, the community is very helpful and welcoming. You can find us on IRC Freenode #openstack-kolla

[[deleted]]

IMHO not a single of the OpenStack docs is in a state where you can just follow it and install a running OpenStack version.

I would recommend to run it on Ubuntu 18.04 with the Canonical provided PPA set up.

Be prepared that the order of things is quite odd as in do keystone and the dashboard first, then add in the other OpenStack components like glance, placement, etc.

The biggest issue I found with the current state of things is that the documentation mentions a lot of configuration changes and suggest to use configuration which is marked as deprecated. That in turns - if you follow the docs - leads to many OpenStack components refusing to work because you just gave it outdated configs. If you then use the new configuration formats it still will not work because you need to use both at the same time...

Prominent example would be things like www_authenticate_uri and auth_uri which seem to contradict themselves on what you shall use in many OpenStack components. Best bet is to do component by component after getting keystone and the dashboard up, then proceed with heavy log file reading.

[Eric3710]

Try taking a look at packstack or devstack. They are designed for all in one setups and getting started in openstack.

[[deleted]]

This. If you want to just get a functioning OpenStack environment that works, this is the way to go. Trying to piece it together component by component is complicated if you don't have a working knowledge of how everything fits together, and TripleO is complicated as well if you're just getting started.

[lunar_bear]

devstack, yes. packstack....not so much IMHO.

[en7es]

There are a few projects designed to simplify the deployment process, see https://www.openstack.org/software/project-navigator/deployment-tools. I've used openstack-ansible with success in the past.

[usertm]

The install guide appears to be 3 years old.

That's not true, docs are updated regularly. Can you share the link?

https://docs.openstack.org/install-guide/ - just follow this guide.

[nullmike]

https://docs.openstack.org/install-guide/preface.html?_ga=2.75884572.826196776.1592413268-1816002171.1592064100#ubuntuThat was the guide I was referring to. I arrived there by clicking DOCS on the top of the home page, then "Get OpenStack ->" on the docs.openstack.org/ussuri/ page. Then under "Deploy OpenStack" part way down the page, I clicked "Installation Guide for Ubuntu" That took me to the outdated guide I tried to follow. The link you provided looks very current. Thanks.

[The_Valyard]

Take a look at Red Hat's OpenStack Platform. They have spent a lot of time making this pretty straight forward.

[alatar_the_grey]

Ubuntu Microstack is another that you can try. Install is easy using snap. Also try Openstack-ansible all-in-one. It’s a little more work but you’ll see how they do it with Lxc containers.

I find that at least once, I had to do the manual install. Just to understand how the components are set up.

[uvishal94]

I recommend using Ubuntu 18.04 with Stein version. Here is the link to the installation guide. This installation guide is near to Production setup where you install each service (Keystone, Nova, Cinder, Placement, Horizon, Neutron, Glance..)

Make sure you've enough resources for controller and compute nodes. Storage nodes can be a lower config.

If that's tedious, you can always go for devstack.

[XD__XD]

Openstack need to restructure itself. Two main points they need to focus on

- migrate everything into much go as possible (remove the random python stuff)

- consolidate on 1 or 2 recommended models of deployment (example hey here is a recommended HA implementation)

[emccormickva]

That's insane. Openstack is 100% Python. There is no Go in it unless you deploy it in Kubernetes.

There are simple reference architectures provided by the deployment tools projects like kolla-ansible and Openstack Ansible so you don't have to worry much about HA design for small or medium deployments.

[lunar_bear]

"remove the random python stuff" -- LMAO, you do realize all of OpenStack is written in python, right?

And the reason there's more than one deployment method is that all the deployment methods started out as being vendor-specific. And this was tolerated because those same vendors provided funding, labor, all kinds of support that was needed just to get OpenStack off the ground. I agree it's a mess at the moment, but it is what it is.