How To Get Started With OpenStack
Try OpenStack
Option 1: Public Clouds
To see how an OpenStack Cloud operates, you can quickly try one of the many OpenStack public clouds in production across the world, including Cloudwatt, DreamCompute, eNocloud, HP, Rackspace, and Ulticloud . A quick swipe of the credit card will show you OpenStack in action.
Option 2: Local Dev Environment: devstack.org
With some technical skills, DevStack is a great option to install and run an OpenStack cloud on your laptop (or even inside the VM on a cloud). DevStack is ideal for potential users who want to see what the Dashboard looks like from an admin or user perspective, and OpenStack contributors wanting to test against a complete local envirnment.
Learn About OpenStack
OpenStack Documentation
Detailed OpenStack documentation, developer and administrator guides
OpenStack User Stories
Read about other users, like Cisco Webex and the San Diego Super Computer Center, who are solving real world problems with OpenStack today.
OpenStack Summit Videos
Experience the April 2013 OpenStack Summit in HD, with over 100 sessions from leaders throughout the cloud computing industry.
Books
Several members of the community came together to produce the "OpenStack Operations Guide", now available electronically and in print. A portion of the proceeds benefit the OpenStack Foundation.
Deploy OpenStack
When choosing an open source cloud operating system, a vibrant commercial ecosystem is key to the long term viability of your platform choice. With OpenStack, there are over 180 participating companies and we encourage you to dig in and find the right path for you.
Distributions
To start, there are many ways to install and deploy OpenStack through software distributions, each of which add their own value to the cloud operating system. Software distributions powered by OpenStack include Cloudscaling, Debian, Fedora, Piston Cloud Computing, Red Hat, SwiftStack, SUSE, Ubuntu and Stackops. To verify an OpenStack distribution, look for the logo on the right.
Some Popular How-To Guides
Ubuntu
- OpenStack Folsom Install Guide for Ubuntu 12.10 Multi node OpenStack, Folsom, Quantum, Nova, Keystone, Glance, Horizon, Cinder, OpenVSwitch, KVM, Ubuntu Server 12.10
- OpenStack Folsom Install Guide Bare-metal server installation to a fully functioning "vanila" OpenStack cloud
- OpenStack Folsom Install Guide for Ubuntu 12.04 RabbitMQ, MySQL, Keystone, Glance, Nova, Cinder, Horizon, Quantum with OVS Plugin & Agent
- OpenStack Install and Deploy Manual - Ubuntu
- Installing OpenStack on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS in 10 minutes
- Rackspace Private Cloud Getting Started Guide
- Video: OpenStack Essex Installation Walkthrough from Scratch Part 1
Red Hat Enterprise Linux / Fedora
- Getting Started with OpenStack EPEL
- Installing on Fedora or Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
- Red Hat OpenStack Preview - Getting Started Guide
openSUSE / SUSE
Companies Who Can Help
There are many service companies that bring OpenStack expertise to the table such as B1 Systems, Cloudscaling, CloudTP, Grid Dynamics, Metacloud, Mirantis and Rackspace. If you are looking for someone to guide you through these choices, help you execute your cloud strategy and provide support, this is a great place to start. Several of these companies such as Mirantis and Rackspace also provide OpenStack training courses for cloud administrators.
OpenStack Tools
Once you have your OpenStack cloud up and running, you'll want to explore the many tools available to help you manage it. These are tools that talk to the OpenStack API and can be found by looking for the "Built for OpenStack" logo. Popular tools for managing OpenStack clouds include Enstratus, New Relic, Rightscale, Scalr and Zenoss.
Next Steps
Do you have more questions?
OpenStack strives to be an extremely helpful community. Try the new Ask.OpenStack.Org Q&A site.
