Configuring vRack on the Public Cloud using the OVHcloud API
Find out how to activate and configure a vRack on the Public Cloud using the OVHcloud API
Last updated 28th July 2022
Objective
The vRack is a private network that allows you to configure addressing between two or more compatible OVHcloud services. It also allows you to add Public Cloud instances to your private network to create an infrastructure of physical and virtual resources.
This guide provides some basic information on creating and configuring the vRack on Public Cloud using the OVHcloud API.
Requirements
- A Public Cloud project in your OVHcloud account
- An OpenStack user account
- Basic networking knowledge
- Consulting the guide Configuring the vRack on Public Cloud (to understand the different methods to manage the vRack with the Public Cloud)
- Consulting the guide First steps to use the OVHcloud API (to familiarise yourself with the OVHcloud API)
Instructions
Step 1: Activate and manage a vRack
Connect to the OVHcloud API using the following guide First steps with the OVHcloud API.
Once logged in, follow the steps described below:
Create a cart
This call will create an ID for your "Cart". You will be able to add products to it before checking out.
For this case, ordering a vRack is free. Copy your cart ID (cartId), you will need it further down.
Obtaining required information to order the vRack
This call will allow you to obtain the information required to order the vRack. Copy the following:
cartId, duration, planCode, et pricingMode.
Adding the vRack to the cart
This call allows you to add the vRack to the cart by filling in the required information.
For vRack:
cartId : [The ID copied from the first step]
duration : « P1M »
planCode : « vrack »
pricingMode : « default »
quantity : 1
Once you have added the vRack to the cart, you should receive an "itemID". Copy this, it will be useful for making modifications before checking out.
Validating the cart
Once the items have been placed in the cart, you will need to checkout:
This call will validate the cart and create a purchase order ("orderId"). Keep this information, it will be necessary to validate the order.
Validating the final order
To validate the order, you have two possibilities:
-
Go to the URL given when checking out. Example:
url: https://www.ovh.com/cgi-bin/order/displayOrder.cgi?orderId=12345678&orderPassword=xxxxxxxxxx
-
Validate using the following API call:
Even if it is a $0 purchase order, it is necessary to simulate a purchase order payment (orderId). Your order form will then be validated and processing will begin.
Once the free order has been validated, it may take a few minutes for the vRack to be activated.
Step 2: Add your Public Cloud project to the vRack
Once the vRack is active, you will need to integrate your Public Cloud project(s) into the vRack.
Connect to the OVHcloud API using the following guide First steps with the OVHcloud API.
If you do not know your Public Cloud project ID, the following calls will allow you to obtain it.
Identifying the project
This call retrieves the list of projects.
This call identifies the project via the "description" field.
Adding the project to the vRack
Once you have identified the project and vRack, you can associate them with the following API call:
Fill in the fields with the information previously collected:
serviceName : name of the vRack in the form: « pn-xxxxxx »
project : The Public Cloud project ID in the form of a 32-character string
This call initialises the assignment of the project to the vRack, you will need to copy the task ID to verify its progress.
Verifying the progress of the assignment task
You can verify the progress of the assignment task with the help of the following API call:
This call only allows you to verify the status of the task. Once the task is done, you can proceed to the following step.
Step 3: Create a VLAN on the vRack
A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) will need to be created so that your instances can communicate with each other over the vRack.
With the Public Cloud, you can create up to 4,000 VLANs in a single vRack. This means that you can use each private IP up to 4000 times. Thus, for example, the IP 192.168.0.10 on VLAN 2, will be different than 192.168.0.10 on VLAN 42.
This can be useful for segmenting your vRack between multiple virtual networks.
From the OVHcloud API, you can customize the settings: IP range (e.g 10.0.0.0/16), deployment zones, DHCP, Gateway, etc.
On dedicated servers, by default, you are using VLAN 0. The OpenStack infrastructure requires that you specify your VLAN number directly at the hardware level.
Unlike dedicated servers, it is not necessary to tag a VLAN directly on the instance.
For more information on managing VLANs and the vRack with dedicated server, you can consul the following guide: Creating muliple vLANs in a vRack
The vRack is an infrastructure completely managed by OVHcloud, you can only configure it through the OVHcloud Control Panel and the API.
As OpenStack is not located on the same infrastructure level as the vRack, you will not be able to customize VLANs through the Horizon interface or OpenStack APIs.
Once logged into the API, follow these steps:
Obtaining the required information
Public Cloud Project
This call will generate a list of your projects IDs.
This call identifies the project via the "description" field.
vRack
In the serviceName field, enter your Project ID. Save the serviceName of the vRack in the form of "pn-XXXXX".
Creating a private network:
Fill in the field with the previously obtained information :
serviceName : project ID
name : the name you want to give to the VLAN
You can leave the "regions" field blank in order to enable it for all regions.
The VLAN identifier (vlanId) is required if you want to create a specific VLAN.
The creation will take a few minutes.
To verify the details of your VLANs, you can use the following API call:
This call will retrieve the networkId. It will appear as: pn-XXXXXX__vlanId.
For example, for VLAN 42 it would appear as: pn-xxxxxx_42
Creating a subnet:
By default, if you do not specify a subnet, the IP range used is the following:
10.0.0.0/16
If you want to manage the IP assignments yourself, you will need to create a subnet.
To do this, once the VLAN is created, you will need to create the subnet for each affected area using the following API call:
You can fill out the fields like the following:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| serviceName | 'The ID of your project' |
| networkId | 'ID that was retrieved previously. Ex : pn-xxxxxx_42 for VLAN 42' |
| dhcp | Check box for enabling / uncheck for disabling DHCP in the VLAN |
| end | Last address in the subnet in the region Ex : 192.168.1.50 |
| network | Subnet IP block. Ex : 192.168.1.0/24 |
| region | Example : SBG3 |
| start | First address in the subnet in the region Ex : 192.168.1.15 |
This is the step of creating the subnet by region. You can enable or disable private IP address assignment dynamically through DHCP.
You will need to do the same for each region where your instances are present.
Be careful to separate your IP address pools for different regions. For example:
From 192.168.0.2 to 192.168.0.254 for SBG1
From 192.168.1.2 to 192.168.1.254 for GRA1
Step 4 : Adding an instance to the vRack
Two situations may exist:
- The instance does not exist yet.
- The instance already exists and you must add it to the vRack.
Cases of a new instance
Once connected to the API, execute the following commands in order.
Retrieving the required information
Retrieving the project ID:
Retrieving the public networkID (EXT-NET)
Retrieving the network ID from the private network (previously created vRack interface)
The networkID obtained is in the form: "pn-xxxxx_yy" where yy is the VLAN number.
Retrieving the ID of the chosen instance type (flavorId)
You can limit the list by specifying the creation region of your instance.
Retrieving the ID of the chosen image (imageId)
You can limit the list by specifying the creation region of your instance.
Retrieving your OpenStack SSH Key ID (sshKeyId)
If you have not added an SSH key to your OVHcloud Control Panel yet, you can do so using the following call:
Instance Deployment
Once all the elements necessary for the deployment are gathered, you can use the following call:
You will need to fill in at least the following fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| serviceName | ID of the relevant Public Cloud project |
| flavorId | Instance Type ID (e.g. S1-2, B2-7, WIN-R2-15...) |
| imageId | Deployment Image ID (ex: Debian 9, Centos 7..) |
| name | Name you give to your instance. |
| networks | In the "networkId" part, enter the public network ID (ext-net) or your VLAN ID (pn-xxxxxx_yy). You can click the "+" button to add more networks. |
| region | Instance Deployment Regions (for example, GRA5) |
| sshKeyId | Your OpenStack SSH Key ID |
Once the call is executed, if all information is correctly filled in, the instance will be created with one or more network interfaces.
Depending on operating systems, you will need to manually configure your private network interfaces to be considered.
Because OpenStack is unable to prioritise the public interface of the vRack interface, the vRack interface may sometimes pass as the default route.
The direct consequence is that the instance is unreachable from a public IP.
One or more reboots of the instance from the Control Panel can resolve this situation.
The other solution is to connect to the instance via another server in the same private network. You can also correct the network configuration of the instance through Rescue mode.
Cases of an already existing instance
If you need to integrate an existing instance into the vRack, you will not be able to do so from your OVHcloud Control Panel. To do this, you will have to go through Horizon, the Openstack APIs or the OVHcloud API.
The action will simply be to add a new network interface to your server, in addition to the existing one.
For example, if you have a public interface eth0, you will add the interface eth1.
The configuration of this new interface is rarely automatic. You'll need to configure it as DHCP or Statci IP depending on your infrastructure.
The steps below describe how to manage your instances' network interfaces.
Retrieving the required information
Retrieving the project ID:
Retrieving Instance ID:
Retrieving the public networkID (EXT-NET):
Retrieving the network ID from the private network (previously created vRack interface):
The ID obtained is in the form of: "pn-xxxxx_yy" where yy is the VLAN number.
Adding an interface to your instance
Once all the necessary information is retrieved, you can use the following call:
You will need to fill in at least the following fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| serviceName | ID of the relevant Public Cloud project |
| instanceId | ID of the instance concerned |
| networkId | Specify the public network ID (ext-net) or your VL ID (pn-xxxxxx_yy) |
| ip | Set a specific IP (only works for private interfaces) |
Once the call is complete, if all information is correctly filled in, a new interface will be added to your instance.
Your OVHcloud instance will have a new network interface in addition to the public interface (Ext-Net).
In the instance summary, you can see the private IP address that is automatically assigned to your interface.
It is your responsibility to correctly configure the interface through DHCP or by using the proper IP addresses through a static IP configuration.
Removing an interface from your instance
Removing an interface is permanent.
If you remove the "Ext-Net" interface (public IP), this address would be released and recycled. It is not possible to just reassign it.
This action is only to be performed if you want to isolate your server in the vRack (Ext-Net interface) or remove it from a VLAN.
Once all the necessary information is retrieved, you can use the following call to remove an interface:
You will need to fill in at least the following fields:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| serviceName | ID of the relevant Public Cloud project |
| instanceId | Id of the instance concerned |
| networkId | Specify the public network ID (ext-net) or your VLAN ID (pn-xxxxxx_yy) |
Go further
Configuring vRack with the Public Cloud
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