Virtual Machines

A guide on how to create and manage virtual machines on the Cudo Compute platform.

Overview

Navigate to your project by clicking "Projects" on the sidebar and clicking on the project of your choice.

From here, you can select "Virtual machines" from the sidebar or "View virtual machines" from the virtual machines summary card on the page.

You can also use the quick button at the top right-hand side of the page to Create a virtual machine.

Project overview

If you haven't created a virtual machine before, you will see the quick start for creating a virtual machine. Clicking Create a virtual machine will take you to the Create a Virtual Machine page. Project

Create a virtual machine

When you navigate to the Create a Virtual Machine page you will need to at minimum enter a name and specification for your virtual machine.

Create a virtual machine

Name

Enter a name for your virtual machine. This will be used to identify your virtual machine in the virtual machines list.

Specification

For specification, you can use the quick select tabs and options to fill out a specification that matches your use case.

  • General purpose - this is a general purpose virtual machine category, with a balance of CPU, memory and storage
  • Compute optimized - this is a compute optimized virtual machine category, with a focus on CPU
  • Memory optimized - this is a memory optimized virtual machine category, with a focus on memory
  • GPU - this is a GPU virtual machine category

Each of these categories has a number of options to choose from. You can also use the vCPU quantity/model, memory and GPU quantity/model selects to create a custom specification.

Create a virtual machine - specification

Storage

For storage, you can configure your boot disk size using the slider, and image from the select menu.

To select a public image, click the "Public images" tab and select the image you wish to use. Create a virtual machine - storage public image

To select a private image, click the "Private images" tab and select the image you wish to use. Create a virtual machine - storage public image

Network

The default network for your virtual machine will be the public network. This will give your virtual machine a public IP address and allow it to communicate with the internet.

Create a virtual machine - network

You can also add private networks to your virtual machine. This will give your virtual machine a private IP address and allow it to communicate with other virtual machines on the same private network.

To select a private network, click the "Network" select menu and select the network you wish to use. You can also create a network from this menu. Create a virtual machine - private network

If you have selected a private network, you can also select to also include a public IP address for your virtual machine. This will give your virtual machine a public IP address and allow it to communicate with the internet. Create a virtual machine - private network with public IP

Security groups

You can also add security groups to your virtual machine. This will allow you to control the traffic that is allowed to and from your virtual machine.

Please note that without defining any security groups, all traffic will be permitted to and from your virtual machine. Defining security groups and rules is highly recommended.

Create a virtual machine - security groups

To select a security group, click the "Add security group button" and select the security group you wish to use. You can also create a security group from this menu.

Create a virtual machine - security groups applied

Data center

By default, your virtual machine will be deployed to the cheapest data center available. If you have a specific data center you would like to deploy to, you can select it from the "Data center" options. Create a virtual machine - data center

Security

Next, you can configure the security of your virtual machine.

- SSH keys

You can configure the SSH keys you would like to be deployed to your virtual machine. You can choose from the following options:

  • Include all project collaborator keys - this will include the keys of all the users that you have given access to your project
  • Include only my keys - this will include just the keys you have added
  • Use custom keys - this will allow you to add any keys you wish for this virtual machine

Create a virtual machine - SSH keys

- Root/administrator password

You can configure the root/administrator password for your virtual machine.

Create a virtual machine - root/administrator password

Startup script

Additionally, you can add your own startup scripts - commands that will run on successful deployment of the virtual machine.

Create a virtual machine, start up scripts and name

Summary

On the right-hand side, you can see a summary of your virtual machine, with estimated cost prior to creating it.

Create a virtual machine - summary

There is additional functionality available to you in the summary pane:

  • Switch between hourly or monthly cost estimates - this will allow you to switch between hourly and monthly cost estimates for your virtual machine
  • View other host configurations - this will allow you to view other host configurations that are available for your virtual machine specification

Create a virtual machine - summary additional host options

Note that other host configurations may not be available based on the specification you have chosen.

Create a virtual machine - create virtual machine Once you are happy, click "Create virtual machine" and your virtual machine will be built.

Viewing all of your virtual machines

From the virtual machines page, you can see all of the virtual machines that you are being billed for.

You will be able to see the virtual machine's ID, specification, data center, IP address and status.

Virtual machine list

Virtual machines options menu

You can also manage your virtual machines from this page by using the options menu on the right-hand side of the virtual machine you wish to manage. You can Stop/Start, Reboot, SSH, Start a VNC session or Delete the virtual machine from this menu.

Virtual machine list - manage virtual machines

View a virtual machine

Clicking the virtual machine's ID from the virtual machine list will show you the virtual machine details page. Virtual machine details

You will be able to see the following:

  • ID the ID of the virtual machine
  • Status the status of the virtual machine
  • Data center the data center the virtual machine is deployed in
  • Specification the specification of the virtual machine
  • IP addresses the private and public IP addresses of the virtual machine
  • Disks the disks attached to the virtual machine
  • Networks the private networks the virtual machine is attached to
  • Security groups the security groups the virtual machine has been assigned
  • Estimated costs the estimated hourly and monthly costs of the virtual machine
  • CPU and memory monitoring charts the CPU and memory usage of the virtual machine

You can use the quick buttons at the top right-hand side of the page to:

To view monitoring information for your virtual machine, click the "Monitoring" item from the sidebar, or click "View CPU monitoring" or "View memory monitoring" from the charts on the virtual machine details page.

Virtual machine details - monitoring

Stop a virtual machine

To stop a virtual machine, you can use the "Stop virtual machine" item from the options menu on the virtual machines list page. Or you can use the quick buttons at the top right-hand side of the virtual machine details page.

Stopping a virtual machine does not stop you from being charged for it. To stop being charged for a virtual machine, you must click Delete virtual machine.

Virtual machine details - stop

Start a virtual machine

To start a stopped virtual machine, you can use the "Start virtual machine" item from the options menu on the virtual machines list page. Or you can use the quick buttons at the top right-hand side of the virtual machine details page.

Virtual machine details - start

Reboot a virtual machine

To reboot a virtual machine, you can use the "Reboot virtual machine" item from the options menu on the virtual machines list page. Or you can use the quick buttons at the top right-hand side of the virtual machine details page.

Virtual machine details - reboot

SSH onto a virtual machine

To SSH onto a virtual machine, you can use the "SSH" item from the options menu on the virtual machines list page. Or you can use the quick buttons at the top right-hand side of the virtual machine details page.

Virtual machine details - SSH

Start a VNC session with a virtual machine

To start a VNC session virtual machine, you can use the "Start VNC session" item from the options menu on the virtual machines list page. Or you can use the quick buttons at the top right-hand side of the virtual machine details page.

Virtual machine details - VNC

You can click the quick buttons on the top right-hand side of the VNC session window to show the on-screen keyboard or send a Ctrl+Alt+Delete command to the virtual machine.

Virtual machine details - on screen keyboard

Resize a virtual machine

In order to resize a virtual machine, it must be stopped first. Once the virtual machine is no longer running, you can click the "Resize" button on the virtual machines list page.

This will open a dialog box that allows you to select the new values for both vCPUs and Memory (RAM). Once you are happy with your new values, click "Resize virtual machine" and the VM will be resized in a matter of seconds. You can then start your virtual machine once again.

Virtual machine details - Resize

Delete a virtual machine

To delete a virtual machine, you can use the "Delete virtual machine" item from the options menu on the virtual machines list page. Or you can use the quick buttons at the top right-hand side of the virtual machine details page.

Virtual machine details - delete