Create a VM Instance (Standard Creation)

• Basic Offering: Set the VM offering by selecting an existing instance offering and disk offering.
  • Instance Offering: Select an existing instance offering.
  • Image: Select an existing image.
  • Root Disk Offering: Select an existing disk offering for the root volume of the VM instance. This parameter appears only when the image type is ISO.
  • Data Volume: Optional. Choose whether to create a data volume and attach it to the VM instance. By default, no data volumes will be created.
    • Data Disk Offering: Select an existing disk offering for the data volume.
    • VirtIO SCSI: Optional. Choose whether to create a SCSI data volume.
      Note:

      • This data volume uses a VirtIO SCSI bus for communication.
      • This data volume allows for multi-queue I/O operations. After this data volume is initialized, the system automatically creates a worldwide name (WWN) for the data volume as its unique ID.
      • We recommend that you do not create SCSI data volumes for LocalStorage primary storages.
• Custom Offering: Set the VM offering by customizing the following VM configurations:
  • CPU: Set the number of CPU cores of the VM instance. Valid values: 1 to 1024, integer.
  • Memory: Set the memory size of the VM instance. Valid values: 16 MB to 1000 TB, integer. Unit: MB, GB, and TB.
  • Image: Select an existing image.
  • Root Volume: Set the size of the root volume. This parameter appears only when the image type is ISO.

    Valid values: 1 MB to 1024 TB, integer. Unit: MB, GB, and TB.

  • Data Volume: Choose whether to create a data volume and attach it to the VM instance.
    • Data Volume Size: Set the size of the data volume. Valid values: 1 MB to 1024 TB, integer. Unit: MB, GB, and TB.
    • VirtIO SCSI: Optional. Choose whether to create a SCSI data volume.
      Note:

      • This data volume uses a VirtIO SCSI bus for communication.
      • This data volume allows for multi-queue I/O operations. After this data volume is initialized, the system automatically creates a worldwide name (WWN) for the data volume as its unique ID.
      • We recommend that you do not create SCSI data volumes for LocalStorage primary storages.

• HA Mode: Optional. Choose a high availability (HA) mode for the VM instance.
  Note:

  • You can enable or disable the VM HA feature in the Cloud by using the following method:

    Go to Settings > Platform Setting > Global Setting > Advanced > Platform Policy > HA Policy, locate Enable VM HA Globally, and enable or disable the switch as needed. Default: true.

  • The HA switch of a single VM instance is strictly controlled by that in the global setting.
  • If you disable the switch in the global setting, you cannot set HA mode for a VM instance on the VM details page. In this case, the VM business may not be protected by HA. Please exercise caution.
• Time Sync: Optional. Choose whether to synchronize the VM time with the host time. If yes, the time of the VM instance is the same as that of the host. The time sync feature is enabled by default.
  Note: If the VM instance is running or paused, restart the VM instance to make the setting take effect.
• Resource Priority: Optional. Set a high resource priority for the VM instance so that VM instance can compete for more resources in case of resource contention.
  Note:

  • When resource contention occurs due to high host workloads, priority is given to allocating resources to VM instances with the high resource priority.
  • We recommend that you set a high resource priority for vital VM instances.
• Affinity Group: Optional. Select an affinity group for the VM instance. You can set the affinity group policy for the VM instance as needed. Valid affinity group policies: anti-affinity group (soft) and anti-affinity group (hard).
  • Anti-affinity group (soft):

    Allocates VM instances in the affinity group to different hosts as much as possible. If no more hosts are available, the VM instances will be allocated randomly.

  • Anti-affinity group (hard):

    Strictly allocates VM instances in the affinity group to different hosts. If no more hosts are available, the allocation fails.

• USB Redirection: Optional. Set USB redirection for the VM instance.
  Note:

  • The Cloud currently supports redirection of multiple USB devices. If you want to use the VDI feature, you can redirect the USB device on the VDI client to the VDI VM instance.
  • The setting takes effect after you restart the VM instance.
• Anti-Spoofing Mode: Optional. Enable the anti-spoofing mode for the VM instance.
  Note:

  • This mode provides IP/MAC anti-spoofing and ARP anti-spoofing for the VM instance. If enabled, the VM instance can only communicate with outside networks by using the IP or MAC addresses allocated by the Cloud.
  • You can set whether to enable the anti-spoofing mode globally by using the following method:

    Go to Settings > Platform Setting > Global Setting > Basic > Resource Center > Resource Pool > VM Instance, locate IP/MAC Anti-Spoofing, and enable or disable the switch as needed. Default: false.

  • By default, the anti-spoofing mode of a single VM instance is strictly controlled by that in the global setting.
  • If anti-spoofing is disabled in the global setting, you can enable it for a single VM instance on the VM details page.

• Network: Select an L3 network used by the VM instance. Supported network types: public network, flat network, and VPC network.
  Note: When you select an L3 network, note that:

  • A VM instance can have multiple networks attached, and each L3 network corresponds to a NIC.
  • If the selected L3 network has both an IPv4 and IPv6 address, the VM instance would have a dual-stack NIC. That is, the VM NIC has both an IPv4 and IPv6 address.
  • Before you can create a VM instance by using an IPv6 or IPv4+IPv6 network, obtain the IP address by using dhclient -6 NIC_NAME.
  • We recommended that you use only one IPv6 address for VM instances to avoid potential risks.
• Make Default: If you add multiple network configurations, set one of the networks as the default network.
• Enable SR-IOV: Optional. Choose whether to use SR-IOV to generate a VF NIC and pass it through to the VM instance.
  • By default, SR-IOV is not enabled. In this case, the VM instance that you created will have a vNIC attached.
  • If enabled, the VM instance that you created will have a VF NIC attached.
  Note: To enable SR-IOV, note that:

  • Only IPv4 networks support SR-IOV, but IPv6 or IPv4+IPv6 networks do not.
  • Make sure that SR-IOV is enabled for the L2 network corresponding to the L3 network of the VM instance. Otherwise, SR-IOV cannot be enabled.
  • After SR-IOV is enabled, make sure that the physical NIC corresponded by the L3 network has an available VF NIC. Otherwise, the VM instance might fail to be created.
  • If SR-IOV is enabled, NICs of the VM instances that were created by using a public network or a flat network do not support the network services such as security group and EIP. If the VM instances were created by using a VPC network, their NICs do not support the security group network services.
• Assign IP: Optional. Choose whether to assign an IP address to the VM NIC.
  • The Cloud assigns an IP address to the VM instance by default.
  • If you choose to assign an IP address to the VM instance, set the following parameters:
    • Assign IPv4: Assign an IPv4 address to the VM instance.
    • Assign IPv6: Assign an IPv4 address to the VM instance.
    Note:

    • If you use the custom configuration, the Cloud assigns an IP address to the VM instance according to your configurations. In this case, pay attention to avoid IP address conflicts.
    • If you create VM instances in bulk and choose to assign an IP address here, the Cloud automatically assigns IP addresses to these VM instances with the first assigned IP address as the start address. If an IP address is occupied or if IP addresses are insufficient within the continuously assigned IP range, the corresponding VM instance will fail to be created.
• MAC Address: Optional. Choose whether to configure a MAC address for the VM instance.
  • By default, the Cloud assigns a MAC address to the VM instance.
  • If you choose to configure a MAC address, set the following parameters:
    • MAC Address: Customize a MAC address for the VM instance.
  • Note:

    • If you use the custom configuration, the Cloud assigns a MAC address to the VM instance according to your configurations. In this case, pay attention to avoid MAC address conflicts.
    • If you create VM instances in bulk and choose to assign a MAC address here, the Cloud automatically assigns MAC addresses to these VM instances with the first assigned MAC address as the start address. If a MAC address is occupied within the continuously assigned MAC range, the corresponding VM instance will fail to be created.
• Security Group: Optional. Associate a security group with the VM instance.

  The security group is used to better protect the VM instance by implementing access control in the group. You can customize access rules in the security group. These rules take effect immediately when the VM instance joins the security group. This protects the VM instance in real time.

• EIP: Optional. Associate an elastic IP address (EIP) with the VM instance.
  Note: This parameter does not appear if you selected a public network.

Note:

• System allocation: The Cloud allocates a primary storage according to the preconfigured policy.
• Manual allocation: You can select a primary storage as needed.

• If you select System Allocation, set the following parameters:
  • Host: Optional. Select the host on which the VM instance is to be started. If you specified a cluster, select a host from the cluster.
  • vDrive: Optional. Add a virtual drive (vDrive) for the VM instance.
    You can click Add vDrives to create more vDrives. Then, you can click Select ISO to attach an ISO to a vDrive.

    • • If you select a qcow2 image or raw image, the Cloud creates an empty vDrive by default. To delete a vDrive, click the delete icon next to the vDrive parameter.
      • If you select an ISO image, the Cloud creates a vDrive by default and attaches the ISO image to the vDrive. Note that this vDrive cannot be deleted here.
    • You can set the maximum number of vDrives for a VM instance after stopping the VM instance. The method is as follows:

      Go to Settings > Platform Setting > Global Setting > Basic > Resource Center > Resource Pool > VM Instance, locate Maximum Virtual Drive, and change its value as needed. Default: 3. Valid values: 1, 2, and 3.

  • GPU: Add a GPU device for the VM instance by specifying a GPU specification or device. The GPU device can be either a physical GPU (pGPU) or a virtual GPU (vGPU).
    • Load GPU Specification: Allocate a CPU device according to the selected specification when you create a VM instance.
    • Auto Detach GPU Device: Choose whether to uninstall a GPU device automatically after the VM instance is stopped.
      • If a pGPU specification is used, this option is not selected by default. If a vGPU specification is used, this option is selected by default.
      • If selected, the GPU device will be automatically uninstalled after the VM instance is stopped. When the VM instance is restarted, a new GPU device will be allocated to the VM instance according to the GPU specification.
      • If not selected, the GPU device will be retained after the VM instance is stopped. When the VM instance is restarted, the existing GPU device will be used.
    • Load GPU Device: Attach the GPU device you selected when you create a VM instance.
    Note:

    • You can attach multiple pGPU devices or only one vGPU device to a VM instance at a time.
    • You cannot attach both pGPU and vGPU devices to a VM instance at the same time.
    • You can attach GPU devices to a VM instance from the host where the VM instance is located. Currently, you cannot attach GPU devices to a VM instance across hosts.
  • CPU Pinning: Specify the association between the pCPU of the host and the vCPU of the VM instance. Then, the Cloud allocates a pCPU to the VM instance accordingly. This helps to improve the VM performance.
    • You can click Add CPU Pinning to specify more CPU pinning policies.
    • Enter the vCPU range in the left text box and the pCPU range in the right. Note that the - symbol indicates the value range, while the ^ symbol indicates that a value is not included. If you specify multiple rules in a policy, separate each rule by using a comma (,). The following are some examples:
      • 0-2 indicates CPU 0, CPU 1, and CPU 2.
      • ^2 indicates that CPU 2 is not included.
      • 0-2,^2 indicates CPU 0 and CPU 1.
      • 1-7,^2,^3,^4,10 indicates CPU 1, CPU 5, CPU 6, CPU 7, and CPU 10.
      Note:

      • The vCPU range depends on the selected instance offering of the VM instance, while the pCPU range depends on the selected cluster or the number of pCPUs of the selected host.
      • If a vCPU has multiple CPU pinning policies, the union of the policies is used.
      • ZStack Cloud supports CPU overcommitment. Therefore, the number of vCPUs can be greater than that of pCPUs. However, if the number of vCPUs specified in the CPU pinning policy is greater than that of pCPUs, the VM performance will be affected. Therefore, CPU overcommitment is not recommended.
      • You can modify the CPU pinning policy on the Overview tab page of a VM details page. The modification takes effect after you restart the VM instance.
      • Cloning or migrating a VM instance also copies the CPU binding policy, while creating a VM image or performing VM backup does not.
      • When you create a VM instance, the Cloud firstly checks the affinity group and host allocation strategies, and then checks the CPU pinning policy.
      • When you power off a VM instance to modify its instance offering and reduce its CPU, the invalid CPU pinning policy will not take effect. In this case, we recommend that you modify or delete this policy.

• If you select Manual Allocation, set the following parameters:
  • Primary Storage: Select a primary storage for the VM instance.
  • • Host: Optional. Select the host on which the VM instance is to be started. If you specified a cluster, select a host from the cluster.
    • vDrive: Optional. Add a virtual drive (vDrive) for the VM instance.
      You can click Add vDrives to create more vDrives. Then, you can click Select ISO to attach an ISO to a vDrive.

      • • If you select a qcow2 image or raw image, the Cloud creates an empty vDrive by default. To delete a vDrive, click the delete icon next to the vDrive parameter.
        • If you select an ISO image, the Cloud creates a vDrive by default and attaches the ISO image to the vDrive. Note that this vDrive cannot be deleted here.
      • You can set the maximum number of vDrives for a VM instance after stopping the VM instance. The method is as follows:

        Go to Settings > Platform Setting > Global Setting > Basic > Resource Center > Resource Pool > VM Instance, locate Maximum Virtual Drive, and change its value as needed. Default: 3. Valid values: 1, 2, and 3.

    • GPU: Add a GPU device for the VM instance by specifying a GPU specification or device. The GPU device can be either a physical GPU (pGPU) or a virtual GPU (vGPU).
      • Load GPU Specification: Allocate a CPU device according to the selected specification when you create a VM instance.
      • Auto Detach GPU Device: Choose whether to uninstall a GPU device automatically after the VM instance is stopped.
        • If a pGPU specification is used, this option is not selected by default. If a vGPU specification is used, this option is selected by default.
        • If selected, the GPU device will be automatically uninstalled after the VM instance is stopped. When the VM instance is restarted, a new GPU device will be allocated to the VM instance according to the GPU specification.
        • If not selected, the GPU device will be retained after the VM instance is stopped. When the VM instance is restarted, the existing GPU device will be used.
      • Load GPU Device: Attach the GPU device you selected when you create a VM instance.
      Note:

      • You can attach multiple pGPU devices or only one vGPU device to a VM instance at a time.
      • You cannot attach both pGPU and vGPU devices to a VM instance at the same time.
      • You can attach GPU devices to a VM instance from the host where the VM instance is located. Currently, you cannot attach GPU devices to a VM instance across hosts.
    • CPU Pinning: Specify the association between the pCPU of the host and the vCPU of the VM instance. Then, the Cloud allocates a pCPU to the VM instance accordingly. This helps to improve the VM performance.
      • You can click Add CPU Pinning to specify more CPU pinning policies.
      • Enter the vCPU range in the left text box and the pCPU range in the right. Note that the - symbol indicates the value range, while the ^ symbol indicates that a value is not included. If you specify multiple rules in a policy, separate each rule by using a comma (,). The following are some examples:
        • 0-2 indicates CPU 0, CPU 1, and CPU 2.
        • ^2 indicates that CPU 2 is not included.
        • 0-2,^2 indicates CPU 0 and CPU 1.
        • 1-7,^2,^3,^4,10 indicates CPU 1, CPU 5, CPU 6, CPU 7, and CPU 10.
        Note:

        • The vCPU range depends on the selected instance offering of the VM instance, while the pCPU range depends on the selected cluster or the number of pCPUs of the selected host.
        • If a vCPU has multiple CPU pinning policies, the union of the policies is used.
        • ZStack Cloud supports CPU overcommitment. Therefore, the number of vCPUs can be greater than that of pCPUs. However, if the number of vCPUs specified in the CPU pinning policy is greater than that of pCPUs, the VM performance will be affected. Therefore, CPU overcommitment is not recommended.
        • You can modify the CPU pinning policy on the Overview tab page of a VM details page. The modification takes effect after you restart the VM instance.
        • Cloning or migrating a VM instance also copies the CPU binding policy, while creating a VM image or performing VM backup does not.
        • When you create a VM instance, the Cloud firstly checks the affinity group and host allocation strategies, and then checks the CPU pinning policy.
        • When you power off a VM instance to modify its instance offering and reduce its CPU, the invalid CPU pinning policy will not take effect. In this case, we recommend that you modify or delete this policy.

• SSH Login Mode: Select SSH Public Key.
  Note: If cloud-init is installed in your VM image, you can log in to your VM instance by using an SSH public key or a password.
  • SSH Public Key: After an SSH key is injected to your VM instance, you can SSH in to the VM instance without entering a password when the VM instance is running.
• SSH Login Mode: Select Password.
  • User Name: The default user name is root.
  • Password: After a root password is injected to your VM instance, you can SSH in to the VM instance by entering a password when the VM instance is running.
  Note:

  • The root password setting method only applies to Linux VM instances. For Windows VM instances, you can set passwords by using User Data.
  • Before you set the password, make sure that the VM image has the cloud-init installed. Recommended versions for cloud-init: 0.7.9, 17.1, 19.4, and later.
  • After you set a password, do not set the password again in User Data to avoid conflicts.
  • After you set a root password, a clear text password will be displayed in the User Data on the details page of the VM instance. Keep your password confidential.
  Note: The SSH login method varies according to the types of images.

  • Images of different operating systems:
    • Linux image: Use root as the user name. Supported SSH login methods: SSH key and password.
    • Windows image: Use administrator as the user name. Supported SSH login method: setting password by using User Data.
  • Images of different formats:
    • Image of the ISO type: Supports the SSH key login method only.
    • Image of the Image type: Supports both SSH key and password login methods.

• The rules for setting Linux hostname and Windows hostname are different.
  • Linux hostname: The hostname must be 2 to 60 characters in length, and can be uppercase, lowercase, digits, and hyphens (-). Note that a hostname cannot contain consecutive hyphens (-) and cannot start or end with hyphens (-).
  • Windows hostname: The hostname must be 2 to 15 characters in length, and can be uppercase, lowercase, digits, and hyphens (-). Note that a hostname cannot contain consecutive hyphens (-), cannot start or end with hyphens (-), and cannot contain only digits.
• To set a hostname, make sure that the DHCP service of the corresponding L3 network is enabled.
• For Linux images, the hostname must be set to localhost.localdomain.
• After you set a hostname, do not set it again in User Data to avoid conflicts.

• Before you import user data, make sure that both the user data network service and DHCP network service work as expected.
• By default, the user data network service and DHCP network service in the flat network and VPC network environments are enabled.
• If you set a hostname and password by using the user data, do not set them again in SSH Login Method to avoid conflicts.
• After you set a root password by using the user data, a clear text password will be displayed in the User Data field on the details page of the VM instance. Keep your password confidential.
• When you import user data to a Linux VM instance, note the following:
  • Make sure that cloud-init is installed on the images of the VM instance. We recommend that you install cloud-init 0.7.9, 17.1, 19.4, 19.4, or later.
  • If you create a Linux VM instance by using a VM image that has cloud-init installed, you must import the user data. Otherwise, the cloud-init task will wait until the task times out.
  • The following is an example of importing user data to a Linux VM instance.

    #cloud-config
    users:
     - name: test
       shell: /bin/bash
       groups: users
       sudo: ['ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL']
       ssh-authorized-keys:
           - ssh-rsa AAAAB3NzaC1LXCJfjroD1lT root@10-0-0-18
    bootcmd:
     - mkdir /tmp/temp 
    write_files:
     - path: /tmp/ZStack_config
       content: |
           Hello,world!
       permissions: '0755'
    fqdn: Perf-test
    disable_root: false
    ssh_pwauth: yes
    chpasswd:
      list: |
          root:word
      expire: False
    runcmd:
     - echo ls -l / >/root/list.sh

    The preceding script can do the following:

    1. Create a user named test and use ssh-key when a VM instance is created.
    2. Write the /etc/hosts file when the VM instance is started, create a directory named /tmp/temp, create a file, and write data to the file.
    3. Set a hostname, enable the root user, enable SSH login with password, and change the root password.
    4. Run the echo ls -l / command.
• When you import user data to a Windows VM instance, note the following:
  • Cloudbase-Init must be installed for the VM image. The version of the Cloudbase-Init is not enforced. For information about how to install Cloudbase-Init, see Cloudbase Documentation.
  • If you create a Windows VM instance by using a VM image that has Cloudbase-Init installed, you must import the user data. Otherwise, the Cloudbase-Init task will wait until the task times out.
  • The following is an example of importing user data to a Windows VM instance.

    #cloud-config
    write_files:
       -   encoding: b64
           content: NDI=
           path: C:\b64
           permissions: '0644'
       -   encoding: base64
           content: NDI=
           path: C:\b64_1
           permissions: '0644'
       -   encoding: gzip
           content: !!binary |
               H4sIAGUfoFQC/zMxAgCIsCQyAgAAAA==
           path: C:\gzip
           permissions: '0644'

    The preceding script can do the following:

    • Create b64, b64_1, and gzip files under C drive when the VM instance is started.

Note: When you use the user data, you can configure only one L3 network to an L2 network.

The password must be 6 to 18 characters long.