VirtualBox BasicsGetting StartedThe following are the conventional methods of deploying
OpenStack on Virtual Box for the sake of a test/sandbox or just to
try out OpenStack on commodity hardware.1. DevStack2. VagrantBut DevStack and Vagrant bring in some level of automated
deployment as running the scripts will get your VirtualBox
Instance configured as the required OpenStack deployment. We
will be manually deploying OpenStack on VirtualBox Instance to
get better view of how OpenStack works.Prerequisite:Well, its a daunting task to just cover all of OpenStack’s
concepts let alone Virtualization and Networking. So some basic
idea/knowledge on Virtualization, Networking and Linux is
required. Even though I will try to keep the level as low as
possible for making it easy for Linux Newbies as well as
experts.These Virtual Machines and Virtual Networks will be given
equal privilege as a physical machine on a physical
network.Just for those who would want to do a deeper research or
study, for more information you may refer the following
linksOpenStack:OpenStack
Official Documentation (docs.openstack.org)Networking:Computer
Networks (5th Edition) by Andrew S. TanenbaumVirtualBox:Virtual Box
Manual (http://www.virtualbox.org/manual/UserManual.html)Requirements :Operating Systems - I recommend Ubuntu Server 12.04 LTS,
Ubuntu Server 13.10 or Debian WheezyNote :Ubuntu 12.10 is not
supporting OpenStack Grizzly Packages. Ubuntu team has decided not
to package Grizzly Packages for Ubuntu 12.10.Recommended Requirements.
VT Enabled PC:
Intel ix or Amd QuadCore
4GB Ram:
DDR2/DDR3
Minimum Requirements.
Non-VT PC's:
Intel Core 2 Duo or Amd Dual
Core
2GB Ram:
DDR2/DDR3
If you don't know whether your processor is VT enabled, you
could check it by installing cpu checker
$sudo apt-get install
cpu-checker
$sudo kvm-ok
If your device does not support VT it will showINFO:Your CPU does not support KVM extensionsKVM acceleration can NOT be usedYou will still be able to use Virtual Box but the instances
will be very slow.There are many ways to configure your OpenStack Setup, we
will be deploying OpenStack Multi Node using OVS as the Network
Plugin and QEMU/ KVM as the hypervisor.Host Only Connections:Host only connections provide an Internal network
between your host and the Virtual Machine instances up and
running on your host machine.This network is not traceable
by other networks.You may even use Bridged connection if you have a
router/switch. I am assuming the worst case (one IP without
any router), so that it is simple to get the required
networks running without the hassle of IP tables.The following are the host only connections that you
will be setting up later on :vboxnet0 - OpenStack Management Network - Host static IP
10.10.10.1vboxnet1 - VM Conf.Network - Host Static IP
10.20.20.1vboxnet2 - VM External Network Access (Host
Machine) 192.168.100.1Network Diagram :Vboxnet0, Vboxnet1, Vboxnet2 - are virtual networks setup up
by virtual box with your host machine. This is the way your host
can communicate with the virtual machines. These networks are in
turn used by virtual box VM’s for OpenStack networks, so that
OpenStack’s services can communicate with each other.Setup Your VM EnvironmentBefore you can start configuring your Environment you need to
download some of the following stuff:
Oracle Virtual BoxNote:You cannot set up a amd64 VM on a x86 machine.
Ubuntu 12.04 Server or Ubuntu 13.04 ServerNote:You need a x86 image for VM's if kvm-ok fails, even
though you are on amd64 machine.Note: Even Though I'm using Ubuntu as Host, the same is
applicable to Windows, Mac and other Linux Hosts.If you have i5 or i7 2nd gen processor you can have VT
technology inside VM's provided by VmWare. This means that
your OpenStack nodes(Which are in turn VM's) will give
positive result on KVM-OK. (I call it - Nesting of type-2
Hypervisors). Rest of the configurations remain same except
for the UI and few other trivial differences.Configure Virtual NetworksThis section of the guide will help you setup your
networks for your Virtual Machine.Launch Virtual BoxClick on File>Preferences present on the menu bar of
Virtual Box.Select the Network
tab.On the right side you will see an option to add
Host-Only networks.Create three Host-Only Network Connections. As shown
above.Edit the Host-Only Connections to have the following
settings.Vboxnet0
Option
Value
IPv4 Address:
10.10.10.1
IPv4 Network Mask:
255.255.255.0
IPv6 Address:
Can be Left Blank
IPv6 Network Mask Length :
Can be Left Blank
Vboxnet1
Option
Value
IPv4 Address:
10.20.20.1
IPv4 Network Mask:
255.255.255.0
IPv6 Address:
Can be Left Blank
IPv6 Network Mask Length :
Can be Left Blank
Vboxnet2
Option
Value
IPv4 Address:
192.168.100.1
IPv4 Network Mask:
255.255.255.0
IPv6 Address:
Can be Left Blank
IPv6 Network Mask Length :
Can be Left Blank
Install SSH and FTPYou may benefit by installing SSH and FTP so that you
could use your remote shell to login into the machine and
use your terminal which is more convenient that using the
Virtual Machines tty through the Virtual Box's UI. You get a
few added comforts like copy - paste commands into the
remote terminal which is not possible directly on VM.FTP is for transferring files to and fro ... you can
also use SFTP or install FTPD on both HOST and VM's.Installation of SSH and FTP with its configuration is
out of scope of this GUIDE and I may put it up but it
depends upon my free time. If someone wants to contribute to
this - please do so.Note:Please set up the
Networks from inside the VM before trying to SSH and FTP into the
machines. I would suggest setting it up at once just after the
installation of the Server on VM's is over.Install Your VM's InstancesDuring Installation of The Operating Systems you will be
asked for Custom Software to Install , if you are confused
or not sure about this, just skip this step by pressing
Enter Key without selecting any of the given Options.Warning - Please do not
install any of the other packages except for which are mentioned
below unless you know what you are doing. There is a good chance
that you may end up getting unwanted errors, package conflicts ...
due to the same.Control Node:Create a new virtual machine. Select Ubuntu ServerSelect appropriate RAM, minimum 512 MB of RAM for Control
Node. Rest all can be default settings. The hard disk size can
be 8GB as default.Configure the networks(Ignore the IP Address for now, you will set it up from
inside the VM)
Network Adapter
Host-Only Adapter Name
IP Address
eth0
Vboxnet0
10.10.10.51
eth1
Vboxnet2
192.168.100.51
eth2
NAT
DHCP
Adapter 1 (Vboxnet0)Adapter 2 (Vboxnet2)Adapter 3 (NAT)Now Install Ubuntu Server 12.04 or 13.04 on this
machine.Note :Install SSH server
when asked for Custom Software to Install. Rest of the packages
are not required and may come in the way of OpenStack packages -
like DNS servers etc. (not necessary). Unless you know what you
are doing.Network Node:Create a new Virtual Machine,Minimum RAM is 512MB. Rest all can be left default. Minimum
HDD space 8GB.Configure the networks(Ignore the IP Address for now, you will set it up from
inside the VM)
Network Adapter
Host-Only Adapter Name
IP Address
eth0
Vboxnet0
10.10.10.52
eth1
Vboxnet1
10.20.20.52
eth2
Vboxnet2
192.168.100.51
eth3
NAT
DHCP
Adapter 1 (Vboxnet0)Adapter 2 (Vboxnet1)Adapter 3 (Vboxnet2)Adapter 4 (NAT)Now Install Ubuntu Server 12.04 or 13.04 on this
machine.Note :Install SSH server
when asked for Custom Software to Install. Rest of the packages
are not required and may come in the way of OpenStack packages -
like DNS servers etc. (not necessary). Unless you know what you
are doing.Compute Node:Create a new virtual machine, give it atleast 1,000 MB RAM.
Rest all can be left as defaults. Give atleast 8GB HDD.Configure the networks(Ignore the IP Address for now, you will set it up from
inside the VM)
Network Adapter
Host-Only Adapter Name
IP Address
eth0
Vboxnet0
10.10.10.53
eth1
Vboxnet1
10.20.20.53
eth2
NAT
DHCP
Adapter 1 (Vboxnet0)Adapter 2 (Vboxnet1)Adapter 3 (NAT)Now Install Ubuntu Server 12.04 or 13.04 on this
machine.Note :Install SSH server
when asked for Custom Software to Install. Rest of the packages
are not required and may come in the way of OpenStack packages -
like DNS servers etc. (not necessary). Unless you know what you
are doing.Warnings/Advice :Well there are a few warnings that I must give you out
of experience due to common habits that most people may
have :Sometimes shutting down your Virtual Machine may lead to
malfunctioning of OpenStack Services. Try not to direct
shutdown your 3. In case your VM's don't get internet.From your VM Instance, Use ping command to see whether
Internet is on.$ping www.google.comIf its not connected, restart networking
service-$sudo service networking restart
$ping www.google.comIf this doesn't work, you need to check your network
settings from Virtual Box, you may have left something or
misconfigured it.This should reconnect your network about 99% of the
times. If you are really unlucky you must be having some
other problems or your Internet connection itself is not
functioning.Note :There are known bugs with the ping under NAT.
Although the latest versions of Virtual Box have better
performance, sometimes ping may not work even if your
Network is connected to internet.Congrats, you are ready with the infrastructure for
deploying OpenStack. Just make sure that you have installed
Ubuntu Server on the above setup Virtual Box Instances. In the
next section we will go through deploying OpenStack using the
above created Virtual Box instances.