Using the Cybera Rapid Access Cloud
Welcome to The Cloud
Cybera operates the Rapid Access Cloud, an OpenStack cloud providing Infrastructure-as-a-Service, which allows users to set up virtual servers in any configuration desired. The virtualized cloud environment allows for the utilization of several operating systems (e.g. ubuntu, Windows) and makes it easy to scale up and down resources. It also offers object and volume storage, accommodating further use cases.
The cloud consists of two geographically distinct regions, hosted in Calgary and Edmonton. The high speed research and education network links the two regions through a 10Gbps connection providing excellent network performance and low latency. Upon registration, users are allocated a quota of 8 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, and 500GB of storage space, along with 1 public IPv4 address and an IPv6 address for each instance. Note that the quota is shared between the two regions, but instances, volumes, etc. that are housed in the other region cannot be seen on the dashboard.
Overview
This document steps through the process of using the Rapid Access Cloud dashboard to create a single Ubuntu 14.04 Linux instance accessible via ssh with a 25GB attached storage volume. This process will provide a basic understanding of the Rapid Access Cloud and how to create and manage instances and volumes. Once these steps have been completed, you are encouraged to explore the dashboard and build other instances, then move on the Advanced Guide for an understanding of some of the additional features that OpenStack and the Rapid Access Cloud provide, including information pertaining to Windows images and instructions on how to automate deployment in the cloud.
Conventions in this document
There are step-by-step instructions provided throughout this document, however there are points along the way in which it is required to input information, such as the name of the instance or to make decisions, such as what operating system is installed in the instance.
User inputted variables will be formatted with angle brackets:
<instance_name>, <security_group_name>, <description>
If there are pre-determined choices, they will be formatted with parentheses:
(chocolate, strawberry, vanilla)
Commands to be entered at a command prompt will be prefixed with a ‘$’
File name paths are indicated as
/path/to/<some_file_or_command>
Step-by-step
Create account
Create a key pair
Modify the default security group
Launch an instance
Allocate and associate a floating IP
Log in
Create a volume
Attach a volume
Use a volume
Accounts
Access to the Rapid Access Cloud is provided by third-party Federated identity providers: Google Identity Platform and Canadian Access Federation.
Users can log into either the Edmonton or Calgary region at cloud.cybera.ca.
Google Identity Platform
If you already have an existing Google account, proceed to creating a Rapid Access Cloud account at https://rac-portal.cybera.ca/ and click Sign in using Google, otherwise create an account with Google at https://accounts.google.com/SignUp.
Canadian Access Federation
Canadian Access Federation (CAF) permits member institutions a single sign-on (SSO) solution for access to network and network resources across Canada. Please check the list of participating institutions to see if you can use “Federated Single Sign-On” option at https://rac-portal.cybera.ca.
Key Pairs
Before instances can be created, users will require a key pair that will be injected into the instance to permit access; any instance launched from an image in the Rapid Access Cloud