Launching instances is easily done using the OpenStack Dashboard. We simply select our chosen image, choose the size of the instance, and then launch it.
Getting ready
Load a web browser, point it to our OpenStack Dashboard address at http://192.168.100.200/, and log in as a user, such as the demo user created in the Adding users to Keystone recipe of Chapter 1, Keystone – OpenStack Identity Service, with the password openstack.
How to do it...
To launch an instance by using the OpenStack Dashboard interface, carry out the following steps:
Navigate to the Images tab under the Compute section and select an appropriate image to launch—for example, the trusty-image server image:
Click on the Launch button under the Actions column applying to the image to be launched.
A dialog box appears requesting a name for the instance (for example, horizon1). Choose a flavor type of m1.tiny for the instance:
Next select the Access & Security tab and choose the key pair and security groups for this image:
Note
If you haven't created a key pair, you can click on the + button and import a key from this dialog box.
With Neutron configured in our environment, selecting the Networking tab allows us to choose the networks that our instance will be attached to by dragging the networks listed under Available networks into the Selected networks box:
Once selected, we can click on the Launch Instance button.
We will be returned to the Instances Tab that shows the instance in a Build status, which will eventually change to Active:
Note
If the display hasn't refreshed, click on the Instances tab to refresh the information manually.
How it works...
Launching instances from Horizon—the OpenStack Dashboard—is done in two stages:
Selecting the appropriate image from the Images tab.
Choosing the appropriate values to assign to the instance.
The Instances tab shows the running instances under our cookbook project.
Note
You can also see an overview of what is running in our environment by clicking on the Overview tab.