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) Log in to Cloud Dashboard with the provided account information
(Fig. 1-2) Also confirm the same account information works for 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

User passwords do NOT synchronize automatically between the two systems, i.e., you should manage the password for each system manually.

Step 2. Import Public Key or Create a Key Pair

(Fig. 2-1) Go to Project → Compute → Key Pairs of Cloud Dashboard main menu.
Import the SSH public key (which you pasted to the account sign-up form) or Create another key pair.
It is recommended to set the Key Pair Name identical to your Cloud username.

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) Find KASI-SingleVM template and click Lauch Cluster Stack button. Choose Next to go to Launch 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 logging in to the console for the first time.

Fig. 3-A Cluster Template	Fig. 3-B Select KASI-SingleVM 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 Running in Power State. From the Actions drop-down list, choose Console.
(Fig. 4-B) Click on the black console screen, and type in root as username and temporary password you set in the previous step.

Change the root password and update the OS. Create a user account (recommended). Install desktop environment and remote desktop server.

(Cmd. 4-1) 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 -y install xfce4 --no-install-recommends
### Install remote desktop server (RDP)
$ apt -y 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.

(Cmd. 4-2) 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={user id},gid={group id},username={NAS user} {NAS address} {mount directory}
$ sudo mount.cifs -o rw,uid=kasi-user,gid=kasi-user,username=kasi-user //210.219.33.249/home NAS
### For more 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

You can also mount the external datastore to your local desktop as a network drive : e.g., \\210.219.33.249\home (Windows file manager, address bar), smb://210.219.33.249/home (macOS finder, Go → Connect to Server)

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

Fig. 4-A Find your VM instance	Fig. 4-B First-time console log-in (as root)	Fig. 4-C Complete VM configuration and LOG OUT

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 use another key pair for remote access, e-mail the SSH public key file to Administrator(chr@kasi.re.kr).
(Fig. 5-A) Go to Project → Compute → Instances menu, and find from the instance list :
- private IP address (e.g., 10.0.X.X) of your VM instance
- public IP address (e.g., 210.219.33.X) of project gateway (e.g., User Project Gateway)
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 (root is NOT recommended)
  - 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 in your local desktop first, and connect through the local tunneling port.
  (Cmd. 5-1) 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
### SSH tunnel should be kept alive during remote access
### Open RDP client and set the server address to localOpen 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 Find public IP of project gateway instance	Fig. 5-B RDP client configuration (MobaXterm)	Fig. 5-C Remote dekstop connected to VM instance

Step 6. Shut off (or Delete) Instance when you're done

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.

Shut off Instance, once your daily activities are over and VM instance is to remain idle :
- by the shell command (e.g., $ sudo poweroff) or
- (Fig. 6-A) by Dashboard action : Shut off Instance from the Actions drop-down list (Project → Compute → Instances menu)
- OS drive of the VM will be saved and can be restarted anytime by choosing Start Instance from the Actions drop-down list.
Delete Instance, if you do not want to keep the VM's resources anymore :
- (Fig. 6-B) choose Delete Instance from the Actions drop-down list.
- OS drive of the VM will be erased and you have to re-create the VM instance from Step 3 above.

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

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