Using your virtual machine

Vocabulary

• Virtual Machine (VM): a computer implemented/emulated in software. We will study these later in the class. Example software that offers VMs include VMWARE, Xen, Virtualbox, and many more.
• OpenStack: a cloud-computing project. For this course, it is being used to provide each student with a personal virtual machine (VM).
• OpenStack Dashboard: a web interface you can use to access your virtual machine's console.
• Instance: another term for a virtual machine

Warning

Any files you create on your virtual machine and any modifications to files are lost when the instance is deleted. It is important that you regularly backup work you wish to keep to another computer. We generally don't delete virtual machines, but if you so modify your machine that it no longer boots, we might be forced to delete it and build a new instance.

Accessing your virtual machine

In the steps below, replace linkblueid with your LinkBlue ID and password with your LinkBlue password.

• Log on to your OpenStack Dashboard
  • Browse to http://controller.netlab.uky.edu/horizon
  • OpenStack Username: linkblueid
  • OpenStack Password: linkblueid password
• Connect to your virtual machine's console
  • click the blue instance name (linkblueid)
  • click the Console tab. You should see a Linux login screen.
  • Linux Username: linkblueid
  • Linux Password: linkblueid password
  
  If the console is not responding to keyboard input: click the blue/grey status bar at the top of the console, or refresh the web page in your browser (usually F5 works).
• Your virtual machine and your account on that machine are both named after your LinkBlue ID.
• To connect to your virtual machine's command-line interface, you don't need to use the OpenStack console; instead, you can connect with ssh:

          % ssh -Y linkblueid@linkblueid.netlab.uky.edu
  
          password: linkblueid password
  		

  If you are connecting from a Win32 machine, you can use putty instead of ssh. Using ssh or putty is much more efficient than using the console via a browser.

Changing the size of the console

1. First login to the console of your Linux machine (you will need to follow the steps under "Accessing your virtual machine" above)
2. In the upper left corner click on Applications -> System Tools -> System Settings
3. Click on the "Displays" icon, which is grouped under the "Hardware" header.
4. Click on the popup menu labelled "Resolution" to choose a different resolution.
5. Click on "Apply" at the bottom to test it out.

Copying files to and from your virtual machine

• If you are connecting to your virtual machine from Linux or a Mac, you can copy files from your virtual machine to your local machine. From a local terminal:

  scp linkblueid@linkblueid.netlab.uky.edu:fileNameVM fileNameLocal

  The scp program will request your LinkBlue password.
• Similarly, you can copy files to your virtual machine:

  scp fileNameLocal linkblueid@linkblueid.netlab.uky.edu:fileNameVM 

• If you are connecting to your virtual machine from a Windows machine, you might try using one of these programs (click to get to the web site): PSCP, WinSCP.

Modifying your virtual machine

If you have a specific need for additional software that is not already installed on your VM, please send email to user "help" at "netlab.uky.edu" with a brief description of the software you need and the name of your VM (yourlinkblueID.netlab.uky.edu). Your request will be reviewed to determine if we can (or will allow) the requested software to be installed. In some cases, you may be asked to provide additional information. There are no guarantees that we will install the requested software.

Summary

You have two new accounts, one on OpenStack and one on your virtual machine.

You use your OpenStack account to access your virtual machine's console by browsing to http://controller.netlab.uky.edu/horizon  and providing your LinkBlue credentials.

The name of your virtual machine is linkblueid.netlab.uky.edu. Your virtual machine can be accessed via the OpenStack Dashboard console or with ssh or putty.

Notes/Caveats

• Note 1: If the console is not responding to mouse or keyboard input: reload/refresh the browser page and click on the blue/grey status bar at the top of the console
• Note 2: If when using the Firefox browser on Mac OS, the mouse pointer is not visible, then use the Safari or Chrome browser.
• Note 3: Although there is a nightly backup of your home directory in the /backups directory, you should still regularly copy any work you wish to keep to another system.
• Note 4: Remember to log out of the console of your Linux VM when you are done using the console, and then log out of the openstack dashboard. If you ssh into your VM, you should logout when you are done. Please do not leave processes running unless needed for a class project.