KASI Science Cloud : VM instances

This document guides the cloud users how to create a basic Virtual Machine (VM) instance, configure remote access, and attach external datastore.

Step 1. Log in to Cloud Dashboard & External Datastore

Fig. 1-1 Cloud Dashboard : https://cloud.kasi.re.kr	Fig. 1-2 External Datastore (1TB per user) : h ttps://210.219.33.249

Step 2. Import Public Key or Create a Key Pair

Go to Project → Compute → Key Pairs of Cloud Dashboard main menu. Import the SSH public key (same one you registered during account sign-up) or create another key pair.

Fig. 2-1 Key Pairs

Step 3. Create a VM instance

(Fig. 3-A) Go to Project → Cluster Infra → KASI Cluster Templates menu.
(Fig. 3-B) Click Lauch Cluster Stack button of KASI-SingleVM template. Choose Next to go to Lauch Cluster menu.
(Fig. 3-C) Put a Stack Name and the Password for user. Select an OS Image (e.g., ubuntu-20.04-cloudimg), Flavor (e.g., C2M2D20 = 2 CPUs, 2 GB RAM, 20 GB OS drive), Network (default: kasi-user-network), and SSH Keys.
Put a Temporary one-time password for root account, and click Launch button.
WARNING: The intial password may be exposed to other users. You MUST change the password to a secure one right after loggin in to the console for the first-time.

Fig. 3-A Cluster Template	Fig. 3-B Select Template	Fig. 3-C Launch Cluster

Step 4. Configure the VM instance for remote desktop & external datastore

(Fig. 4-A) Go to Project → Compute → Instances menu, and check your VM instance is in Running Power State. From the Actions drop-down list, choose Console.
(Fig. 4-B) Click on the black console screen, and log in with root username and temporary password.

First, change the root password and update the OS. Create a user account. Install desktop environment & remote desktop server.

configure VM instance : remote desktop

### Change root password
$ passwd
### Update OS
$ apt update && apt -y dist-upgrade
### Create a user account (recommended) : adduser {username}
$ adduser kasi-user
### Grant sudo privilege to the user : usermod -aG sudo {username}
$ usermod -aG sudo kasi-user
### Install dekstop environment (minimal installation is recommended)
$ apt install xfce4 --no-install-recommends
### Install remote desktop server (RDP)
$ apt install xrdp
### Reboot
$ reboot

(Fig. 4-C) After reboot, log in to the console with the user account, and configure SMB client to mount user's external datastore.

configure VM instance : external datastore

### Install required pacakges : cifs-utils, smbclient
$ sudo apt -y install cifs-utils smbclient
### Create a mount directory
$ mkdir NAS
### Mount external datastore : mount.cifs -o rw,uid={local user},username={NAS user} {NAS address} {mount directory}
$ sudo mount.cifs -o rw,uid=kasi-user,username=kasi-user //210.219.33.249/home NAS
### For more mount options : man mount.cifs
### Check if external datastore is mounted and the user has write permission
$ df -H ; ls -l
### DO NOT forget to log out
$ exit

WARNING: NEVER leave the console screen logged in. Other users CAN access your console.

Fig. 4-A Instance list	Fig. 4-B First-time root log-in	Fig. 4-C User console after configuration

Step 5. Remote access to VM instances via SSH tunneling

Prepare the SSH keys (the same ones you registered in sign-up form). If you want to register another key pairs, e-mail the SSH public key file to Administrator(chr@kasi.re.kr).
(Fig. 5-A) Go to Project → Compute → Instances menu, and find the public IP address (e.g., 210.219.33.X) of project gateway (e.g., User Project Gateway) from the instance list.
Install Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) client software to your local computer, and set up the remote connection.
- (Fig. 5-B) If RDP clients support SSH tunneling – remmina (Linux), MobaXterm (Windows), configure RDP session as follows:
  - Remote host address (10.0.X.X) : VM instance private IP (port 3389)
  - Remote host username : user account you created (recommended) or root
  - SSH gateway address (210.219.33.X) : project gateway public IP (port 7774)
  - SSH gateway username : kasi
- If RDP clients do not support tunneling – CoRD (Mac), Microsoft Remote Desktop (Mac), create a SSH tunneling port first and connect through the local port.
  create local RDP port for SSH tunnel
```
### SSH tunneling : ssh -i {private key} -N -L {local RDP port}:{VM instance private ip}:{RDP port = 3389} {tunneling id = kasi}@{gateway ip} -p {ssh port = 7774}
$ ssh -N -L 12345:10.0.100.42:3389 kasi@210.219.33.122 -p 7774
### Open RDP connection through localhost:{local RDP port}
$ open rdp://localhost:12345
```
(Fig. 5-C) Connect to the RDP host. If everthing (e.g., desktop environment, external datastore,...) works fine, you're all set.

Fig. 5-A Instance list	Fig. 5-B RDP client configuration (MobaXterm)	Fig. 5-C Remote dekstop connected to VM instance

Step 6. Shut off (or Delete) Instance

Reminder : User Agreement #1 you signed

KASI Science Cloud is a shared computing infrastructure designed for on-demand requests from many concurrent research projects. Users should not hold unnecessary resources or leave inactive tasks to preoccupy their group's quota.

If your VM instance is to remain idle for a while, be kind to release CPU/RAM resources for the next user :
- Command line : $ sudo poweroff
- Dashboard (Fig. 6-A) : Shut off Instance from the Actions drop-down list (Project → Compute → Instances menu)
- Your VM instance will be saved and can be restarted anytime by choosing Start Instance from the Actions drop-down list.
If you do not want to keep the VM instance anymore, choose Delete Instance from the Actions drop-down list (Fig. 6-B)
- OS drive of VM will be erased and you have to re-create

Fig. 6-A Shut off Instance	Fig. 6-B Delete Instances

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