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.
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.
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.
Name
Enter a name for your virtual machine. This will be used to identify your virtual machine in the virtual machines list.
Virtual machine name must be 1 to 30 characters in length, can only contain lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens, must start with a letter, cannot end with a hyphen and cannot be in use.
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.
The specification you choose will determine the host that your virtual machine is deployed to. You can see the host that your virtual machine is deployed to in the summary pane on the right-hand side of the page.
Storage
For storage, you can configure your boot disk size using the slider, and image from the select menu.
Public images are available at all data centers.
To select a public image, click the "Public images" tab and select the image you wish to use.
If you pick a private image, you will need to ensure that the virtual machine you are creating is deployed in the same data center as the private image.
To select a private image, click the "Private images" tab and select the image you wish to use.
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.
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.
If you choose to use a private network, you will need to ensure that the virtual machine you are creating is deployed in the same data center as the 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.
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.
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.
If you choose to use a security group, you will need to ensure that the virtual machine you are creating is deployed in the same data center as the security group.
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.
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.
If your specification is not available in the data center you have selected, or your network, image or security groups you have selected are not available in the data center, the option to use that data center will be disabled.
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
If you have selected a Windows image for your virtual machine, you will not be able to deploy with SSH keys but an administrator password will be required.
- Root/administrator password
You can configure the root/administrator password for your virtual machine.
For Windows images, you must set an administrator password.
Startup script
Additionally, you can add your own startup scripts - commands that will run on successful deployment of the virtual machine.
Summary
On the right-hand side, you can see a summary of your virtual machine, with estimated cost prior to creating it.
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
Note that other host configurations may not be available based on the specification you have chosen.
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 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.
View a virtual machine
Clicking the virtual machine's ID from the virtual machine list will show you the virtual machine details page.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
You will need to have already set the root password on your virtual machine to gain access through 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.
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.
