🌩️ OpenStack Deployment & Management Guide

Build Your Own Private or Public Cloud with Confidence

🎯 Audience: Cloud Engineers • DevOps Professionals • System Administrators • IT Students • OpenStack Enthusiasts
📅 Last Updated: April 2025
🧑‍💻 Author: Sumon Paul • Cloud Engineer YouTube Channel
🔖 Tags: #OpenStack #PrivateCloud #KollaAnsible #PackStack #CloudComputing #IaaS

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📚 Table of Contents

• 🌟 About This Repository
• ☁️ What is OpenStack?
  • Why OpenStack?
  • History & Evolution
  • Core Components
  • Pros & Cons
  • OpenStack vs Alternatives
• ⚙️ Prerequisites for Installation
• 🚀 OpenStack Deployment Methods Overview
  • Official & Community-Supported Tools
  • Methods Covered in This Repository
• 🔧 Post-Installation: Verification & Essential Operations
  • How to Verify Your Installation
  • Accessing OpenStack
  • Managing via CLI – Essential Commands
  • Critical Tips for Configuration, Operation & Maintenance
• 📄 License
• 📬 Feedback & Contributions

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🌟 About This Repository

This repository provides hands-on, production-ready guides for deploying OpenStack using three widely used methods:

1. Kolla-Ansible – Containerized (Docker + Ansible), ideal for production.
2. PackStack – Rapid All-in-One setup via Puppet (RDO), perfect for labs.
3. Manual Installation – Step-by-step Ubuntu-based guide for deep learning.

Whether you're building a private cloud, running a home lab, or preparing for certification, this repo gives you everything from theory to terminal commands — with real-world fixes and troubleshooting.

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☁️ What is OpenStack?

Why OpenStack?

OpenStack is an open-source Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform that lets you build and manage private and public clouds using standard hardware. Used by NASA, CERN, AT&T, and thousands of enterprises.

History & Evolution

• Launched in 2010 by NASA and Rackspace.
• Now governed by the Open Infrastructure Foundation (OpenInfra).
• Enables vendor-neutral, scalable, and secure cloud infrastructure.

Core Components

Category	Service	Purpose
Compute	Nova	VM lifecycle
Networking	Neutron	SDN
Storage	Cinder (block), Swift (object)	Persistent storage
Identity	Keystone	Auth & authz
Image	Glance	VM image registry
Dashboard	Horizon	Web UI
Orchestration	Heat	IaC

Pros & Cons

✅ Pros	❌ Cons
Open-source & free	Steep learning curve
Highly modular & scalable	Complex networking
No vendor lock-in	Requires skilled team
Supports hybrid/multi-cloud	Resource-intensive

OpenStack vs Alternatives

Platform	Best For
OpenStack	On-prem private/public cloud with full control
AWS / Azure / GCP	Public cloud with zero infra management
Proxmox VE	Small-scale virtualization
VMware vCloud	Existing VMware environments

💡 Use OpenStack when: You need data sovereignty, custom billing, or to offer white-label cloud services.

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⚙️ Prerequisites for Installation

Hardware (Minimum for All-in-One)

• CPU: 2+ cores (4+ recommended)
• RAM: 8 GB (16+ GB for production)
• Disk: 40+ GB SSD (100+ GB preferred)
• Network: 2–3 NICs (Management, Data, External)

Software Requirements

• OS: Ubuntu 22.04/24.04, Rocky Linux 8/9, AlmaLinux 8/9
• Virtualization: Enabled in BIOS (vmx/svm)
• Root or sudo access
• Static IP configuration
• SELinux disabled (for RHEL-based)
• Firewall disabled (or required ports opened)

🔧 Tip: Use VirtualBox or Proxmox for labs. For production, use bare-metal servers.

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🚀 OpenStack Deployment Methods Overview

OpenStack can be deployed in many ways, depending on your use case, scale, and expertise. Below is a comprehensive list of official and community-supported deployment tools.

Official & Community-Supported Tools

Tool	Type	Best For	Official Docs
Kolla-Ansible	Containerized (Docker + Ansible)	Production, HA, scalable	docs.openstack.org/kolla-ansible
PackStack	Puppet-based (RDO)	Quick AIO labs, CentOS/AlmaLinux	rdoproject.org/install/packstack
DevStack	Shell script (development)	Developers, testing	docs.openstack.org/devstack
OpenStack Charms (Juju)	Model-driven (Ubuntu)	Canonical/Ubuntu environments	ubuntu.com/openstack/install
TripleO (OpenStack on OpenStack)	Production-grade (Red Hat)	Large-scale, enterprise	docs.openstack.org/tripleo
Helm Charts (Airship)	Kubernetes-native	Cloud-native deployments	airshipit.org
Manual Installation	Step-by-step	Learning, customization	docs.openstack.org/install-guide

📌 Note: While DevStack and TripleO are powerful, they are not included in this repo due to scope.

Methods Covered in This Repository

✅ 1. Kolla-Ansible (Containerized, Production-Ready)
📁 Path: /deployment-tools/kolla-ansible/
📘 Guides:

• Install OpenStack AIO with Kolla-Ansible
• Complete Kolla-Ansible v2 Guide

✅ 2. PackStack (RDO-based, All-in-One)
📁 Path: /deployment-tools/packstack/
📘 Guides:

• Install-OpenStack-PackStack-Using-Shell-Script
• Install OpenStack on AlmaLinux using PackStack (.txt)
• Install OpenStack-PackStack on AlmaLinux 9
• PDF Version (Offline)

✅ 3. Manual Installation (Step-by-Step, Educational)
📁 Path: /manually/
📘 Guides:

• Manual Installation Guide (Part 1)
• Automated Shell Scripts (Part 2)

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🔧 Post-Installation: Verification & Essential Operations

How to Verify Your Installation

After installation, always verify that all services are running:

# Source admin credentials
source ~/keystonerc_admin        # PackStack
# OR
source /etc/kolla/admin-openrc.sh  # Kolla-Ansible

# Check core services
openstack service list

# Check compute & network agents
openstack compute service list
openstack network agent list

# Verify hypervisors
openstack hypervisor list

# Test token issuance
openstack token issue

✅ Success: All services show enabled and up.

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Accessing OpenStack

• Horizon Dashboard: http://<your-ip>/dashboard
• Default Login:
  • Username: admin
  • Password: From ~/keystonerc_admin or /etc/kolla/passwords.yml
• Get Password:

  grep keystone_admin_password /etc/kolla/passwords.yml

🔒 Security Tip: Change default passwords and disable demo projects in production.

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Managing via CLI – Essential Commands

Install OpenStack CLI (if not installed):

pip install python-openstackclient

🔹 Identity & Projects

openstack project list
openstack user list
openstack role assignment list --names

🔹 Compute

openstack server list
openstack server create --image <img> --flavor <flavor> --network <net> test-vm
openstack server delete <server-id>
openstack flavor list
openstack hypervisor stats show

🔹 Networking

openstack network list
openstack subnet list
openstack router list
openstack floating ip list

🔹 Images & Volumes

openstack image list
openstack volume list

🔹 System Health

openstack catalog list
openstack endpoint list
nova-status upgrade check

💡 Pro Tip: Use --format json or --format yaml for scripting.

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Critical Tips for Configuration, Operation & Maintenance

🔸 1. Always Use Version-Pinned Installations

• Use stable branches (e.g., stable/2025.1) for Kolla-Ansible.
• Avoid master in production.

🔸 2. Backup Critical Files

• Kolla-Ansible: Backup /etc/kolla/, passwords.yml, and inventory.
• PackStack: Backup ~/keystonerc_admin and /root/answers.txt.

🔸 3. Enable Instance Auto-Start on Reboot

Edit /etc/nova/nova.conf:

[DEFAULT]
resume_guests_state_on_host_boot = true

Then restart:

systemctl restart openstack-nova-compute

🔸 4. Fix Common Runtime Issues

• Kolla-Ansible: Install missing modules in Ansible runtime:

  /opt/ansible-runtime/bin/pip install docker dbus-python

• PackStack: If Horizon fails, restart:

  systemctl restart httpd memcached

🔸 5. Monitor Logs Proactively

# Compute issues
tail -f /var/log/nova/nova-compute.log

# Networking issues
tail -f /var/log/neutron/server.log

# Authentication issues
tail -f /var/log/keystone/keystone.log

🔸 6. Use Screen or tmux for Long-Running Tasks

dnf install screen -y
screen -S openstack-install
# (Detach with Ctrl+A, D; Reattach with `screen -r`)

🔸 7. Clean Up Unused Resources

# Delete orphaned volumes
openstack volume list --status error -c ID -f value | xargs openstack volume delete

# Remove unused images
openstack image list --status active

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📄 License

• This repository is licensed under the MIT License.
• OpenStack itself is licensed under Apache 2.0.
• See LICENSE for details.

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📬 Feedback & Contributions

Found a typo? Have an improvement?
👉 Open an Issue or Submit a Pull Request!

🔗 Connect:

• LinkedIn: sumonpaul
• YouTube: Cloud Engineer by Sumon Paul
• GitHub: @SumonPaul18

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✨ Happy Cloud Building!
"The future is open, scalable, and in your control."