Cloud Organization User Guide

Introduction ..........................................................................................................................
How to Login .........................................................................................................................
Resource Management .......................................................................................................
Working with IaaS VM (Blank Server) .................................................................................
Working with PaaS VM .......................................................................................................
Performing Actions on VM ..................................................................................................
User Management...............................................................................................................
Installing Certificates for Console Access ............................................................................
Home Page ..........................................................................................................................
Initialize VM ........................................................................................................................
Working with Custom Templates ........................................................................................
VMware Tools Installation Process ...................................................................................
Note:

All the documentation (portal help documents, template related documents, certificate installation) is
available at the below stated path on your webcloud3 portal for reference.

Browse to Catalog > click on > Support > Click on Request on the Help Documents option.

Click on the link thereafter to open a pdf file

The pdf file opened contains all the related documentation links for use.

Click On this link, and download below file as per your requirement,
 NIC Cloud Services

NIC Cloud Services provide the users the ability to manage servers over the web. It provides the user
with the capability of provisioning virtual servers on demand without worrying about the underlying
physical data center infrastructure. Below is a summary of the features provided in this version of the
cloud service:

 Self-Provisioning

This provides the user with the capability to provision servers over the web. The user may
increase/decrease server hardware configuration with little downtime as per the load
requirements of the application.

 PaaS Services(Platform-as-a-Service)

This provides the user with servers with pre-configured and security hardened operating
systems, viz. Red Hat Linux, Centos and Microsoft Windows. There are various categories of
servers provided, namely Web, Database, Application Server etc.

 IaaS Services(Infrastructure-as-a-Service)

This provides the user with the capability to load any custom Operating System image in the
servers, e.g., Centos, Fedora, Ubuntu etc.

 STaaS Services(Storage-as-a-Service)

This provides the user with the capability to have storage in cloud to store any relevant data.
The same is provided through NFS. The same storage may be shared among multiple virtual
servers.

New Features

a) Multi-Machine Provisioning
This provides the user the ability to provision multiple virtual servers at once. Earlier, only one
virtual server could be provisioned at a time from a given template but now multiple servers
could be provisioned from a template at a time.

b) Custom Template Service

Earlier, the users were limited to only pre-defined templates. Now, the users can create their
own custom templates configured as per their requirement. This will save the user from
additional configuration that was required to be done after deploying each virtual server. Now,
the user may deploy a virtual server, configure and install applications as per their requirement
and then convert that virtual server to a template for new deployments. This would save the
application installation and configuration time significantly.
 c) Approval Services
This provides for an approval workflow for certain category of cloud services. Certain cloud
services require approval from the Organization Administrator thereby giving her/him better
control over the organization. The approvals can be done either through the cloud portal or
through e-mail.

d) Mail Notifications
This provides the user with email notifications for all the operations performed by her/him on
the portal. It also provides notifications upon approval of any pending requests etc. It also
enables Organization Admin to approve requests pending at her/his end over e-mail.

User Roles

 Organization Administrator
The Organization Administrator is the admin/manager for the entire cloud account. She/he may view
resources allocated in the account, manage applications and VMs running under her/his account,
manage approvals for other users, request various cloud services in the catalog. There can be only one
Organization Administrator for a cloud account but there can be multiple Organization Users to manage
each application or project.

Below are the various actions an Organization Administrator can perform:

a) User Management
The Organization Admin can add or remove additional Organization Users to manage
various applications/projects/VMs in the organization. The Organization Users in turn can
manage their own VMs and applications with overall control staying with the Organization
Administrator.

b) Resource Management
The Organization Administrator can view resource utilization for the entire organization.
Additionally, she/he may upgrade/downgrade resources of the VMs. The create/destroy VM
and VM resource upgrade/downgrade operations requires approval from the Organization
Administrator. The Organization Administrator can view all the VMs created alongside
resources allocated to them.

c) Approval Management

The Organization Administrator needs to approve certain requests from Organization Users.
Certain services requests from Organization Users require Organization Administrator
approval. The create/destroy VM, templatization, VM resource upgrade/downgrade by
Organization Users require Organization Administrator approval. In this way, the
organization admin has greater control over the various operations in the cloud
organization/account.

c) Perform VM Level Actions

The Organization Admin can perform various VM level operations e.g.,
create/destroy/start/stop/resource/templatization on any VM in her/his cloud account.
 The sections below describe steps to perform various operations for an Organization Admin. Refer to
individual sections to see detailed steps alongside relevant screen shots to perform various
Organization admin actions.

Below are the various operations that the Organization Administrator can perform:

i. Create/Destroy VMs
ii. View and Manage Resource Allocation
iii. View Organization Users List
iv. Create/Destroy new Organization Users (Requires Approval)
v. Create/Destroy Custom Templates
vi. Manage all the VMs created in the account
vii. Create VMs from Custom Templates
viii. VM level operations like Power On/Power Off/Initialize VM/Reboot/Remote
Console/Clone to Template/Mount ISO/Unmount ISO
ix. Resource Upgrade/Downgrade of VMs
x. Approve Requests by the Organization Users

 Organization Users

There can be multiple Organization Users in a cloud account to manage different
projects/applications/VMs in an account/organization. The Organization Users can manage only
those VMs which are created by them whereas the Organization Admin can manage all the VMs in
a cloud account.

The Organization Users can create/destroy VMs, perform resource upgrade/downgrade and
request other services visible in the catalog. They have full control regarding managing of the VMs
created by them.

Below are the various operations that the Organization User can perform:

i. Create/Destroy VMs (Requires Approval of Organization Administrator)
ii. Create/Destroy Custom Templates (Requires Approval of Organization
Administrator)
iii. Manage all the VMs created by her/him
iv. Create VMs from Custom Templates (Requires Approval of Organization
Administrator)
v. VM level operations like Power On/Power Off/Initialize VM/Reboot/Remote
Console/Clone to Template/Mount ISO/Unmount ISO
vi. Resource Upgrade/Downgrade of VMs (Requires Approval of Organization
Administrator)
Organization Users:

A user department can have multiple sub-teams under it. When a user account is created, a default
organization user is provided. The organization admin can create additional organization level users.
The organization users can be created for managing respective projects/applications/VMs within an
organization.

By default, one organization user is provided at the time of the creation of cloud account.

xxNN-p-default@bhubcloud1.nic.in

e.g., od0110-p-default@bhubcloud1.nic.in

Here we provide a getting started workflow to help you quickly get started with the VM provisioning in
the cloud. Below is the summary of steps:
Quick Start:
Here we provide a getting started workflow to help you quickly get started with the VM provisioning in
the cloud. Refer to individual sections of this document for detailed steps to perform the operations.
Below is the summary of steps:

Login to https://portal.bhubcloud1.nic.in/vcac/org/nic

Go to Catalog->Resource Management

To check for resources available on the cloud account for use

IaaS Category
PaaS Category
Go to Catalog->IaaS for creating blank VMs
Go to Catalog->PaaS for creating PaaS VMs

Deploy VM with necessary configurations

Deploy VM from pre-defined templates

Mount the necessary ISO and perform

Operating System installation
Perform ‘Initialize VM’ if applicable for your
requirement, or setting root/admin password
Perform Network configurations, VMware tools
installation, unmount ISO

Application/Database Configuration on the VM created

Configuration of other services like opening necessary ports, Backup, SMS, SMTP configuration and
Testing, Load Balancer configuration if required, NAS configuration if required

Request for Public IP for web server by email to support@cloud.gov.in

Request for opening firewall ports 80/443 for public access from online firewall portal through NIC Cloud Coordinator

Submit change/new DNS Request by mail to dns-request@nic.in through NIC Cloud Coordinator

Application is Live for use

How to Login

Portal URL: https://portal.bhubcloud1.nic.in/vcac/org/nic

Port Requirements: 443 for Portal and 8444 for console, both of these ports are open
by default from the VPN of the organization administrator and the project administrator.

Enter the User Name od0110-p-default and password and click sign in button.
Home Page looks as below

Catalog Overview

The Catalog tab, enlists all the services available to the user for managing his cloud account. Services
like managing the users in your account, resources available, creating VMs, use of custom templates and
the availability of support documents is all available to the user for use.

The services available in the catalog are in accordance with the Service Requests submitted by the user.
Hence, if only Basic Server was requested, then all of the PaaS services may not be available in the catalog.
Similarly, if Basic Server was not requested, then the IaaS services may not be available in the catalog for the
user.

Also, within the PaaS category, only requested services will be available for use as per the Service
Request submitted.

Below is a summarized overview of the same:

Resource Management

User can review his account by using the ‘Resource Management’ tab made available on his cloud account
in terms of the below parameters for keeping track of the available resources.

a) Get VM List for Business Group User

b) Resource Utilization of User

a) Get VM List for Business Group User: Get VM List action sends the list of details all the VMs
created in your cloud account over an email.

Go Catalog Tab >Resource Management>Click on Get VM List for Business Group User

Enter the email id on which the VM details need to be received and select Submit.
On email, you will get the VM details list as a .csv
Get VM List returns the list of all the VMs created in your cloud account in terms of the VMs configurations
and the owner detail.

b) Resource Utilization of User: This fetches the details of the resources which are used by the
particular project administrator. It enlists the resources reserved and currently running. The
reserved resources counts all the resources used by the project admin in all of his VMs created. The
running resources enlist the resources which are currently active among the VMs created by the
project administrator.

Specify the email address on which you need to get the necessary details
On email, you will get the resource details as a .csv file
Working with IaaS VM (Blank Server)

The Blank VMs or IaaS VMs are blank VMs; they don’t have any Operating System installed. A blank
VM is required if the user wants to install his own OS which is not available by default in the Cloud
Catalog.

Note: Provisioning Blank/IaaS VM need approval from the Organization Administrator.

Go to Catalog Tab > click on > IaaS > Click on Blank Server for Linux or Blank Server for
Windows
After clicking on Request you will get the below screen view

Fill in the Deployment details: Description, Reason for Request and Deployments as in the image.
By default, Deployments is set as 1. A deployment is basically a group of same type of machines.
Kindly set this parameter keeping in mind the resources available for use in your account.

And click on the VM component, i.e., Blank-Server-for-Linux which is highlighted in the image:

Provide the details like VM Name (custom Machine Name), VM Guest OS, and description as
per the requirements.

Below is the purpose of the various fields:

Instances:
 It defines the number of VMs to be deployed. By default its value is 1. Simultaneously, multiple
VMs can also be deployed from the same template. If more VMs are required, increment the
value as per the requirement and the resource availability.

CPUs:
It defines the number of CPUs the VM will have, by default its value is 1, and it can be increased
as per requirement. It is recommended to keep the CPU count as 1 or in even multiples for
optimal performance of the VM, e.g. 2, 4, 6 etc.

Memory(MB):
It defines the amount of RAM the VM will have, by default its value is 1024 MB; it can be
increased as per requirement. It is recommended to increase it in the multiples of 1024 MB for
optimal performance of the VM.
E.g. For 4 GB RAM, 4x1024=4096 MB.

Storage:
It defines the amount of Storage the VM will have, by default its value is 70 GB, and it can be
increased as per requirement by adding more disks in the Storage tab.

Description:
The VM can have an optional description.

Custom Machine Name:

It defines the custom VM name. If the user name is od0110-p-default and the custom machine
name entered is linux, then the VM created will have name: od0110-linux-XX where xx is 2 digit
number. If a new VM is created with the same name linux, the new VM created will then have
name: od0110-linux-XX. Ideally, this is also applicable in creating VMs when using multiple
deployments or multiple instances. E.g. on creating VM with name test and setting 3
instances/deployments will deploy the VMs with name od0110-test-01, od0110-test-02 and
od0110-test-03.

The custom machine name must be in the VM name format mentioned thereafter as a
guideline.
The VM name should be lowercase alphanumeric (only alphabets and numbers), should contain
no special characters or space and should not be more than 5 characters in length

a) VM Guest OS:
It defines the OS the VM will have. Choose the OS type according to the OS to be installed in the
VM.
b) VM Network:
This field defines the network to be attached to the VM while creation. An organization can
have multiple networks allocated to it. The user can choose the network on which to create the
VM at the time of VM creation.

Enter the requested details as per your requirements.

Note: The VM name should be "lowercase" alphanumeric (only alphabets and numbers), should
contain NO special characters or space and should not be more than 5 characters in length

After filling the above details, click on Storage if you want to assign more storage than 70 GB to
your VM.
For adding additional storage click + New button (by default storage is 70 GB)

Add Storage according to your need and Click OK and submit button
This new VM creation requires approval, and will show as Pending Approval in the Requests tab.
After approval by Organization Admin the request will have a Successful status.

Click on refresh button and you can see your process has been successfully completed. To
view and manage the VM created, click on Machine
Post VM Creation Activity for IaaS category VMs:

Once the VM is successfully created under the IaaS category, it is essentially a VM without an operating system.
There are a few tasks for the User to perform on it to make the VM ready for use.

a) Mount ISO

This feature is available for the user, to mount an ISO onto the Blank VM created for OS installation. Once the
installation is complete, the ISO needs to be unmounted. Refer the Mount ISO topic for a detailed view of the
Mount ISO operation.

b) Install Operating System

An Operating System needs to be installed once the VM is created and the ISO has been mounted

Take the console of the VM from Items > Machines tab. Select the VM > Click on Actions> Click on Connect to
Remote Console or Connect using VMRC

The console will show the message of No Operating System

found.
 Click inside the console and press Enter; or perform a Power-Off / Power-On of the VM to begin
installation.

Once rebooted, the mounted ISO will trigger the OS installation on the VM. Select the Install option on your
specific OS mounted on the VM.
Make the necessary system settings along with setting the root password at the time of installation and begin
installation.
Once the installation is complete, the VM needs to be rebooted and is thereafter ready to be used to login via
console
c) Make Network Configurations

On successful OS installation, the VM needs to be brought on the network for which you need to make necessary
network configurations of setting up the IP, gateway and subnet on the OS level for the VM to be accessible on
the network.

When the OS has been installed, one can only access the VM by taking the console via the cloud portal. Taking
SSH/Putty session will not be active until the network configurations are established at the OS level.

Note: Kindly assign the same IP at the OS level which has been assigned on the cloud portal.

Browse to Deployment and Click on the VM name from the list.

Click on the Network tab to view the IP details.

 The IP address allocated to the VM is mentioned therein:

Click on View as per the below screenshot

Therein you can check the Gateway and the Subnet to be allocated at the OS level for network configurations.

Hence, one can make sure about the IP, Gateway and the Subnet of the VM to be able to make necessary
configurations on the operating system installed.

d) Install VMware tools

VMware tool is an important aspect for managing your VM via the cloud portal. In an IaaS category VM,
the VMware tool needs to be installed at the user end.

To install VMware Tools in a Linux guest operating system using Compiler:

 Ensure that your Linux virtual machine is powered on.

 If you are running a GUI interface, open a command shell.

Note: Log in as a root user, or use the sudo command to complete each of these steps.

 Click VM in the virtual machine menu, then click Guest > Install/Upgrade VMware Tools.
 Click OK.

Note: In some cases, verify that the CDROM device is Connected from within the Edit Settings option of the
 virtual machine.

 To create a mount point, run:

mkdir /mnt/cdrom

 To mount the CDROM, run:

mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

 To copy the Compiler gzip tar file to a temporary local directory, run:

cp /mnt/cdrom/VMwareTools-version.tar.gz /tmp/

Where version is the VMware Tools package version.

 To determine the version of VMware tools, run:

ls /mnt/cdrom

You see output similar to:

# VMwareTools-5.0.0-12124.tar.gz

 To change to the tmp directory and extract the contents of the tar file into a new directory called vmware-
tools-distrib, run:

cd /tmp
tar -zxvf VMwareTools-version.tar.gz

 To change directory to vmware-tools-distrib and run the vmware-install.pl PERL script to install VMware
Tools, run:

cd vmware-tools-distrib
./vmware-install.pl

Notes:
o Complete the screen prompts to install the VMware Tools. Options in square brackets are default
choices and can be selected by pressing Enter.
o To compile VMware Tools successfully, you need gcc Compiler and Linux Kernel sources provided by
your Linux distribution. Consult your Linux distribution documentation for details on methods to
install these packages.
o It is normal for the console screen to go blank for a short time during the installation when the
display size changes.
o Some warnings or errors are normal, like when a files does not exist.
o Depending on the Linux distribution, your network service might restart after installation. VMware
recommends that you invoke this command from the console and not remotely.

 If you are running a GUI interface, restart your X Window session for any mouse or graphics changes to take
effect.

 To start VMware Tools running in the background during an X Window session, run:

/usr/bin/vmware-toolbox &
 Depending on your environment, you may need to unmount the CD-ROM. To unmount the CD-ROM, run:

umount /mnt/cdrom

 Depending on your environment, you may need to manually end the VMware Tools installation. To end the
VMware Tools install, click VM in the virtual machine menu, then click Guest > End VMware Tools Install.

 To remove VMware Tools installation packages, run:

cd
rm /tmp/VMwareTools-version.tar.gz
rm -rf /tmp/vmware-tools-distrib

To install VMware Tools in a Windows guest operating system:

 Ensure that your Windows virtual machine is powered on.

 Log in to the virtual machine as a user with Administrative privileges.
 When the desktop is loaded, click VM in the virtual machine menu, then click Guest > Install/Upgrade
VMware Tools and click OK.
 Navigate to CD in the Windows Explorer and double-click setup.exe or setup64.exe to begin the wizard.
 Follow the prompts in the wizard to complete the VMware Tools installation. Select the Typical installation
option.
 When the VMware Tools installation has finished, restart the virtual machine for the changes to take effect.
 g) Unmount ISO

Once the VM is ready with the above parameters, kindly unmount the ISO used to install the OS. A mounted ISO
brings forth a few complications at our Infrastructure, such as inability for VMs to migrate, from its
host/Datastore on which it resides which defeats the purpose of providing High Availability of your machine at all
times. Hence, we would request you to kindly unmount the ISO from your VMs.

Working with PaaS VM

The PaaS VMs are pre-configured VMs with pre-installed Operating Systems. They are configured as
per various guidelines and standards and also have a level of security hardening as per NIC CSD. The
various flavors provided include Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Microsoft Window and Centos Linux.

There are various platforms provided with various common applications configured. For details on
various templates being offered, kindly refer to the Template Documentations at the below path:
Catalog > Support > Documents > Click on the link available > Select Template Related Documents
  RHEL Template Documentations
  Windows Template Documentations
 CentOS Template Documentations

One can proceed for creating PaaS category VMs as per the below process, once the template to be
used is decided as per the documentations.

Go to Catalog > click on > select PaaS >Click on the service as per requirement.
After clicking on PaaS you can see associated Services and click on Request on any one type of
Service for VM creation. The details of the various services are also explained like what version of
the OS and other applications they contain. This case we are selecting Linux
After clicking on Request, one will get the below screen, displaying general information about the template
used and asking for details and configurations for the VM to be created.

Template Description:
Taking the current example of the above screenshot, this template is of RHEL 7.3 with Java version 1.8 and
tomcat 7.0. The template code contains the identifier of the template alongside its creation date as well
as the last patch date.

The General tab requires information about the VM being created.

Fill in the Deployment details: Description, Reason for Request and Deployments as in the image.
By default, Deployments is set as 1. A deployment basically is a group of same type of machines.
Kindly set this parameter keeping in mind the resources available for use in your account.

Select the Sub-tab of the selected deployment (Linux-App-RHEL7.5 in this case)

Below is the purpose of various fields:

a) Instances:
It defines the number of VMs to be deployed. By default its value is 1. Simultaneously,
multiple VMs can also be deployed from the same template. If more VMs are required,
increment the value as per the requirement.

b) CPUs:
It defines the number of CPUs the VM will have, by default its value is 1, and it can be
increased as per requirement. It is recommended to keep the CPU count as 1 or in even
multiples for optimal performance, e.g. 2, 4, 6 etc.

c) Memory(MB):
It defines the amount of Memory the VM will have, by default its value is 1024 MB, and it
can be increased as per requirement. It is recommended to increase it in the multiples of
1024 MB for optimal performance.
E.g. For 4 GB RAM, 4x1024=4096 MB.

d) Storage:
It defines the amount of Storage the VM will have, by default its value is 70 GB, and it can be
increased as per requirement by adding more disks in the Storage tab.

e) Description:
The VM can have an optional description.

f) Custom Machine Name:

It defines the custom VM name. If the user name is od0110-p-default and the custom
machine name entered is linux, then the VM created will have name: od0110-linux-xx. If a
new VM is created with the same name linux, the new VM created will then have name:
od0110-linux-19.
Ideally, this is also applicable in creating VMs when using multiple deployments or multiple
instances. E.g. on creating VM with name test and setting 3 instances/deployments will
deploy the VMs with name od0110-test-01, od0110-test-02 and od0110-test-03.

The custom machine name must be in the VM name format mentioned thereafter as a
guideline.
The VM name should be lowercase alphanumeric (only alphabets and numbers), should
contain no special characters or space and should not be more than 5 characters in length.
 a) VM Network:
This field defines the network to be attached to the VM while creation. An organization can
have multiple networks allocated to it. The user can choose the network on which to create
the VM at the time of VM creation.

Fill in all the details in accordance with your requirements. Refer the below screenshot for example.

Note: The VM name should be "lowercase" alphanumeric (only alphabets and numbers), should
contain no special characters or space and should not be more than 5 characters in length.

To add another disk onto your VM, click on the Storage tab and click on New as per the below screenshot.

Specify the size of the disk to be added and click on OK.

 Once all the configurations are set in place click Submit button.

We can see status in Deployment tab – In Progress request

This new VM creation requires approval, and will show as Pending Approval in the Requests tab.
After approval by Organization Admin the request will have a Successful status.

After an approval it will come in progress as below.

We can see status in Deployment tab- Completed request

Post VM Creation Activity for PaaS category VMs:

Once the VM is created, there are a few post VM creation activities which need to be performed for
optimal performance of the VM.

a) If the VM is not to be used as custom template then it is essential that you perform Initialize
VM on the said VM for optimal performance. Initialize VM changes the root/administrator
password for the VM, installs the antivirus, registers the VM to the patch server and does some
of the configurations.

b) In case the VM is not initialized or is created from a custom template, it is recommended to

change the root/administrator password of the same.

c) In case the VM is deployed using a Custom Template, kindly check Custom Template topic to
refer the section of deploying VMs from custom templates and perform the necessary post VM
creation activity as described.
Performing Actions on VM

Below are the various types of operations that can be performed on the VMs:

b) View and Manage VMs

c) Initialize VM
d) Power Off
e) Power On
f) Reboot
g) Reconfigure
h) Mount/Unmount ISO to CD-ROM Drive
i) Connect to console
j) Destroy VM
k) Working with Custom Templates

Note: Kindly check the progress of each request submitted in the Deployment tab first. It is necessary
not to submit any new requests while there is an existing request which is ‘In Progress’. Submitting
multiple requests continuously may cause the VM to be stuck on the portal and become inaccessible or
unmanageable for use.

c) View and Manage VMs:

To view and manage the VMs, go to Deployment Tab as shown in the image below:
The VM list shows the various details regarding the VMs like Description, IP Address, Power Status,
Date Created, Template or Blueprint from which the VM has been created.

To view the additional details of the VM, click on the VM.

On clicking on the VM, one can view all the configuration related details of the VM as per the above
screenshot. The General configurations, Network details, Storage allocated and the overall Actions
menu are visible for a user to act upon.

The General Tab shows the name, type of the server, Status (on/off), CPU, Memory, Storage,
Owner and the Description of the VM specified by the user.

The Storage Tab shows the allocated Storage on the VM. It gives a view of the number and space of
the disks allocated.
 The Network Tab shows the network details of the VM. The IP address, gateway and subnet are all
the details available in this tab.

Click on View as per the below screenshot

Therein you can check the Gateway and the Subnet to be allocated at the OS level for network configurations.
 The Actions pane on the right provides all the operation which can be performed on the VM. The tasks available
are for cloning to a template, connecting to console, destroying VMs, initialize VM, mount/unmount ISO from
template, power off-on, reboot and reconfigure. The detailed process for each task is described below.

d) Initialize VM
If the VM is created under the PaaS category it must be initialized once it is created, it is essential to
initialize the VM as it involves various system processes like:
Default Password Change
All VMs created have a default password which is same for all the VMs, so it is highly
recommended that the password of the VM should be changed soon after it is created
Installation/Configuration of Database (Only for Windows VM with MSSQL)
Windows VMs also require initialization to install SQL database onto the VM.

Note: Initialize VM is NOT applicable for VM created from IaaS (Blank Server), Custom Template; or If the VM is to
be later used as a template, then also it should not be initialized.

Refer the procedure check Initialize VM topic for a detailed process on the same.
Go to Deployment > click on > Select VM >click on Action Tab after selecting the VM on
which you want to perform the action. Select Actions>Initialize VM as shown in below image

Note: Password length should be minimum 14 characters. It should start and end with an
alphanumeric character and it should contain at least 1 uppercase letter,1 Lowercase letter, 1
special character and 1 digit. Only! @ # ^ % & are allowed special characters.
Click on Submit.

You will see submited task as below.

Note: VM can only be initialized once.

 e) Power Off:

Go to Deployment > click on > Select VM >click on Actions after selecting the VM on which you
want to perform the action. Select Actions >Power Off as shown in below image

Then after selecting the VM Click on Actions as shown in the image, select Power Off
Click on Submit to initiate the Power Off request for that particular VM.

For checking the request status, browse to the deployment. And you may see status as “off”
f) Power On :

Go Deployment > click on > select VM > click on Actions after selecting the VM on which you
want to perform the action.
Actions> select Power On as shown in below image

Click Submit button

For checking the request status, browse to the Deployment Tab for the same.

Reboot
For the Reboot command to work, it is essential that VMware tools be installed on the VM on
which reboot is to be performed.

Go Deployment> click on > Select VM > click on Actions after selecting the VM on which
you want to perform the action. Select Actions>Reboot as shown in the below image.
 Click Submit button

Check status in Deployment> click on > click Machine>History.

g) Reconfigure

The Reconfigure Action can be used to increase or decrease the VM resources like Memory,
Storage, CPU, Network etc.

For reconfiguring any resource, the Virtual Machine should be powered off.

Go to Deployment > click on > select VM > click on Actions after selecting the VM on
which you want to perform the action. Select Actions > Reconfigure as shown in below image.

In the General tab, one will be able to reconfigure the CPU and Memory of the powered off VM, along
with editing or updating the description of the VM for future references.

Note:
  While changing the CPU on the VM, it is recommended to change it in even multiples, and not use odd
integers for assigning the CPU on the VM for optimal performance. E.g. Assign CPU as 2, 4, 6, 8 etc.

 While changing the Memory on the VM, the value mentioned is in MBs and it is recommended to
configure it in the multiples of 1024 MB. E.g. If one wants to assign 4 GB RAM, kindly enter the
value: 4x1024 = 4096 MB; or for 6 GB RAM, enter the value 6x1024=6144 MB.

Taking an example of configuring the VM to be 2 vCPU and 6 GB RAM (i.e. 6x1024 = 6144)

In the Storage tab, one can add and edit the storage component on the VM.

To add new storage click on New, in the storage tab

 Specify the storage to be added on the VM, and click on green tick symbol to add it.

To Edit or delete a particular storage disk from the VM, Select the disk to be edited and then click on Edit.

Note:

 Adding new storage or increasing an existing storage on the portal, does not mean the same will be
configured at the OS level. The added disk will reflect as an unconfigured disk sector at the OS level and
it is requested to configure/format the disk at the OS level.
 It is recommended to Add a new disk from the portal instead of extending the existing disk assigned
to the VM.

 It is recommended not to delete the added storage or shrink the size of the allocated storage, as it may
result in data loss or data corruption of the VM. Any storage deletion should be carried out carefully as
the deleted storage cannot be recovered once it is deleted.
 In the Network tab, one can view and add additional network onto the VM as per there requirement.

Click on New, in the network tab to add a new network card on the VM.

On adding a new network, select the network segment to be added from the drop down menu. After selecting
the specific network segment click on green tick symbol to save it.

Note:

 Adding a new network requires the user to do the necessary configurations at the OS level. The user needs
to enable the new nic adapter added at the OS level and configure the IP, gateway and subnet on the same.
Also the task of creating route at the OS level for the new nic adapter added needs to be configured by the
 user if necessary.
 Kindly use the IP address, gateway and subnet allocated on the portal to be configured at the OS level only.
 Once the necessary reconfigurations are done, click on Submit to make the necessary changes.

Click on Submit

Check the status of the request in the Requests tab.

After approval by Organization admin, the request be carried out. Once the status is successful,
the VM is ready to be powered on with the new reconfigurations in place.

h) Mount/Unmount ISO to CD-ROM Drive

This feature is available for the user, to mount an ISO onto the Blank VM created for OS installation.
Once the installation is complete, the ISO needs to be unmounted. Refer the below steps for the
same.

Mount ISO to CD-ROM Drive

Go to Deployment > click on > Select the VM > click on Actions after selecting the VM on
which you want to mount ISO > Select Mount ISO to CD-ROM Drive as shown in the below image:
 You will be asked to specify the ISO to be selected to mount on your machine

Use the drop-down option to select your preferred ISO shown therein.

NOTE:
If the required ISO is not available on the drop-down menu, kindly get in contact with the Support
team (support@cloud.gov.in), and provide the internet-link of the ISO required for your use. The
Cloud Administrators will download the specified ISO from the link and make it to be available for
you in the drop-down menu for use.

Select the necessary ISO and click on Submit.

Here we will be selecting RHEL

Next page will as below

Click on Submit.
Unmount ISO to CD-ROM Drive

To unmount an ISO, it is mandatory to power off the VM.

Select the VM from the Deployment > click on > select Machines Tab and select the necessary
VM. Click on Actions and select Power Off.

Once the VM has been powered off, again click on Actions and select Unmount ISO from CD-ROM
Drive option and click on Submit.

Click on Submit.
j) Connect to console

Apart from accessing the VM through SSH/PuTTY or Remote Desktop, the VMs can also be accessed
using the Remote Console and Standalone VMRC Console.

Note: The console operations will work only if the certificates are installed. Refer to the
“Installing Certificates” Section for the detailed procedure for installing the certificate.
Accessing VM Console:
There are two ways to access VM console:
 Browser Console or Remote Console
This console can be used to view the VM console in the web browser window.
Go to Deployment > click on > select Machine Tab>select VM > >Connect to Remote Console

Select the Machine and Click on Actions and Click on Connect To Remote Console

Upon Clicking the VM Console will open in a new window:

  Standalone VMRC console
This console can be used to view the VM console using the standalone VMRC application.
Click on Deployment and then on Machine

Select the Machine and Click on Actions and Click on Connect Using VMRC:

Click on Connect to console using VMRC:

Make sure that the standalone console application has been installed. Upon clicking the console
will open in the standalone console application:
i) Destroy VM

Go Deployment> click on > Select VM > click on Actions after selecting the VM on which you
want to perform the action. Go to Actions> select Destroy VM as shown in below image.

Note: Please note that VM deletion should be carried out carefully, as once the VM is deleted it
cannot be recovered.
 Click on Submit button.

To destroy VM, user needs approval from Organizaional Admin

After providing approval, you can check status on Deployment tab

Working with Custom Templates

The custom templates feature lets users to deploy multiple VMs of similar configuration quickly. For
example if an application has multiple nodes, then one node can be configured, post this it may be
converted to a template, which may then be used to deploy other nodes with similar
configurations. Other nodes will not require the same configuration to be done again and again.

Below are the various operations relating to custom templates:

b) Create VM from Custom Template

c) Create a new Custom Template
d) Destroy an existing Custom Template

For creating a custom template, there are certain prerequisites or steps which need to be
performed before going ahead with Custom Template creation.

 For PaaS category (RHEL or CentOS) the source VM should not be Initialized if it is to be converted to
a Custom Template. VM initialization causes a number of parameters to be configured, such as
Antivirus installation, RHN registration, setting the root password. If the VM is initialized, these
parameters need to be reverted back, to proceed for custom template creation.

 For Windows VMs created under the PaaS category, VMs must NOT be initialized prior to
proceeding for creating Custom Template. The custom template feature as of now is NOTsupported
for an initialized Windows VM.

 For IaaS (Blank Server), Initialize VM option is NOT applicable for VMs under this category. Kindly
fulfill the below requirements before proceeding for creating Custom Template.

Refer the document by clicking here for a detailed document for the same.
User Management

a) Change My Password

Go to Catalog Tab > click on >Resource Management > Click on Change My Password

Click on Request on the Change My Password.

Refer the Password Policy specified therein to set the password and then click on Submit.

Click on Submit
Installing Certificates for Console Access

Certificates are required to be installed to access the VM console and interact with it. Below are the
steps required to install the certificates:

A. Installing VMRC Console Certificate

B. Install VMRC Standalone Console for desktop based console application

A. Installing VMRC Console Certificate: Steps for Installing VMRC Console Certificate

Download the certificate and the setup from the webcloud3 portal:

Go to Catalog-> click on >Support->Help Documents and Click Request

Select the VMRC and Certificates link to download the necessary files for the same.

Then Click Below Link , the file will be downloaded automatically,

This will lead to a download of a zip file containing the certificates and the setup for console.
Extract the zip file:

Install NIC web cloud certificate file bhubcloud1.cer on windows desktop

: Double click on certificate bhubcloud1.cer

Select bhubcloud1>Right Click > Install Certificate

Select the option of Local Machine and then select Next

Select Place all certificates in the following store and then click on Browse.

Select the folder for Trusted Root Certification Authorization and then select OK
Click on Next

Click on Finish
For Chrome Web Browser

No additional configuration is required; restart the browser to access the console.

For Mozilla Firefox

For Mozilla Firefox, one additional step of adding the certificate to the trusted list is
required.
Go to the Options menu of the browser. Click on Privacy and Security and drag down till we
got Certificates Next Click on the View Certificates Tab on the bottom:
In the window that opens, click on the Authorities Tab and then click on Import:

Select the bhubcloud1.cer certificate to upload:

 Check on the “Trust this CA to identify websites” and Click Ok

Click OK again to complete the process.

1. Install VMRC Standalone Console for desktop based console
application Follow the below steps for accessing VMRC Console.

Double Click on VMRC_Setup.msi file to begin install:

The installation wizard will open. Click Next

Accept the license agreement and click on Next

Click on Next
Uncheck both tab and click on Next

Click on install
Click on Finish to complete the installation
Home Page

Below are the various widgets:

a) Message Board
The Message board displays any messages published by the cloud team for various cloud users
like any updates, any security advisories, any new services etc.
The below screenshot shows that there hasn’t been any such message published as of now.
b) My Recent Requests
This widget displays the recent submitted requests alongside their status by the user. It shows
the last 10 submitted requests.

Click on Inbox

c) My Open Requests
This tab displays requests that are still in process and are yet to complete. It also shows those
requests which are pending approval. This tab also displays only the last 10 requests, to see all
the requests go the Inbox. Clicking on the Filter By>Select Active from dropdown list.
d) My Tenant Requests
This widget shows all the requests whether submitted by the Organization Admin or any other
user in the organization. It shows requests by all users i.e. all end users and the Organization
Admin. Click on Owned By>Select My Tenant.

e) My Inbox
This widget displays those requests that are pending approval by the user. The user needs to
approve those requests.
Initialize VM

Initialization of a newly created VM is required to be performed for a number of parameters to be

configured. These parameters depend on the type of VM deployed and utilize custom scripts on the guest
operating system for necessary initialization.
Depending on the type of Operating System, below are the parameters configured when we initialize a
VM:

Blank VM (IaaS Category)

 Initialize VM is not applicable in case of any VM deployed under the Blank Server category or IaaS
category.

Note: Initialize VM is not applicable for VM created from Custom Template; or If the VM is to be later used as a
template, then also it should not be initialized.

Select the necessary category (In terms of RHEL/CentOS or for Windows VM) for detailed steps for
initializing a VM

3. PaaS (RHEL or CentOS)

1) Steps to Initialize PaaS VM (RHEL and CentOS)
2) Initialize VM Verification for Successful Completion
3) Initialization FAQ for PaaS (RHEL and CentOS)

 PaaS (Windows)
a) Steps to Initialize PaaS VM (Windows)
b) Initialize VM Verification for Successful Completion
 c) Initialization FAQ for PaaS (Windows)






PaaS (RHEL or CentOS)

For VMs deployed under the PaaS category of RHEL or CentOS, the initialization requires the below steps
to be performed.

Steps to Initialize PaaS VM (RHEL and CentOS)

Follow the below steps to Initialize a VM created under the PaaS category – RHEL or CentOS

1) On the portal, Browse to the following path:

Deployment> click on > Machines > Select the necessary VM > Click on Actions

2) Click on Initialize VM from the drop down menu from the Actions tab.
3) Set the password as per the guidelines specified thereafter.

Password Policy:

Password length should be a minimum of 14 characters. It should start and end with an alphanumeric
character and it should contain at least 1 Uppercase letter ,1 Lowercase letter 1 special character and 1 digit.
Only ! @ # ^ % & are allowed special characters.

4) Enter the password as per the policy and click on Submit button
 5) Click on Submit

Initialize VM Verification for Successful Completion

Following are the parameters one can check at the Guest Operating System level to verify if the Initialization
has been completed successfully.

RHEL VM
S. No. Services Remarks
1 Setting “root” Password Login on VM through GUI or CLI

We have agentless antivirus so no extra installation is required

2 Antivirus Installation here.

CentOS VM
S. No. Services Remarks
1 Set “root” Password Login on VM through GUI or CLI
We have agentless antivirus so no extra
2 Antivirus Installation installation is required here.
Initialization FAQ for PaaS (RHEL and CentOS)

1. What if the Initialization request fails?

If the initialization fails, below would be the reasons for the same:
 The VM was already initialized at an earlier stage.
The password policy was not met at the time of Initialization. (Kindly check the Request Failure message
mentioned on the Request ID from the Requests Tab on the portal)


PaaS (Windows)

For VMs deployed under the PaaS category of Windows VMs, the initialization requires the below steps
to be performed

Steps to Initialize PaaS VM (Windows)

Note: A one time login and logoff is required on Windows VMs from default password before proceeding
for initialization.

Follow the below steps to Initialize a Windows VM created under the PaaS category

Select the VM for Initialization

Go to Deployment > click on > Machine > Select the necessary VM

# Take console of the selected VM. This is a necessary step for Windows VM initialization

On your selected VM, Click on Actions > Connect to Remote console or Connect using VMRC

In the below example we are using Connect using VMRC

After clicking on ‘Connect using VMRC’, it will open a new tab. Click on “connect to console using VMRC”

The console will open up as shown below

Login with the default password and allow the configuration of the user profile to

complete. For the default password, kindly contact Cloud Support (support@cloud.gov.in)
d) Once logged in successfully, kindly logout of the VM and close the VM console to proceed for
VM initialization.
6) Browse to the following path:

Deployment > click on >Machine>Select the necessary VM > Click on Actions

e) Click on Initialize VM from the drop down menu from the Actions tab.

8) Set the password as per the guidelines specified thereafter

 Password Policy:

Password length should be a minimum of 14 characters. It should start and end with an alphanumeric
character and it should contain at least 1 Uppercase letter , 1 Lowercase letter 1 special character and 1
digit. Only ! @ # ^ % & are allowed special characters.

9) Enter the password as per the policy and click on Submit button
 10) Click on Submit

Initialize VM Verification for Successful Completion

Following are the parameters one can check at the Guest Operating System level to verify if the Initialization has
been completed successfully.

Windows VM
S. No. Services Remarks
1. Setting the “Administrator” Verify the same by taking console or RDP of the VM
Password
2. SQL Installation Go to Run (Windows key+R) > type “services.msc” > Click
(Applicable for VM deployed ‘OK’ and SQL server service should be visible in listed
for Windows OS with MSSQL) service.
3. Antivirus Installation Its agentless Antivirus in our environment

4. Windows Activation Go to My Computer > Right click > Click Properties and
see the Windows Activation status.

Initialization FAQ for PaaS (Windows)

1. What if the Initialization request fails?

If the initialization fails, below would be the reasons for the same:
  The VM was already initialized at an earlier stage.
 The password policy was not met at the time of Initialization. (Kindly check the Request Failure message
mentioned on the Request ID from the Requests Tab on the portal)

2. What if Initialization is successfully, with the password set, but the Antivirus is not installed?
In case the antivirus is agentless so no additional steps are required.

2) What if the Initialization is successful, with the password set, but MSSQL installation is not successful? In
case SQL Server installation is interrupted or could not be completed, please remove half-installed SQL and
reinstall SQL Server. The installable files are at C:\SQL2012SP3EXP
Working with Custom Templates

The custom templates feature lets users to deploy multiple VMs of similar configuration quickly. For
example if an application has multiple nodes, then one node can be configured, post this it may be
converted to a template, which may then be used to deploy other nodes with similar configurations. Other
nodes will not require the same configuration to be done again and again.

Select the necessary category for detailed steps for the complete process:

Prerequisites
IaaS category Source VM
PaaS category Source VM (RHEL or CentOS)
Steps to create Custom Template
Create VM from Custom Template
Post VM Creation Activity
Delete Custom Template
 Prerequisites

 For PaaS category (RHEL or CentOS) the source VM should not be Initialized if it is to be converted to a
Custom Template. VM initialization causes a number of parameters to be configured, such as Antivirus
installation, RHN registration, setting the root password. If the VM is initialized, these parameters need to
be reverted back, to proceed for custom template creation.

 For Windows VMs created under the PaaS category, VMs must NOT be initialized prior to proceeding for
creating Custom Template. The custom template feature as of now is NOT supported for an initialized
Windows VM.

 For IaaS (Blank Server), Initialize VM option is NOT applicable for VMs under this category. Kindly fulfill the
below requirements before proceeding for creating Custom Template.

IaaS category Source VM

For creating custom templates from an IaaS category VM deployed among user machines, kindly keep note of the
below prerequisites before deploying it into a template.

A) Unmount any mounted ISO

B) Install VMware tools on the source machine
C) Power Off VM

Basic prerequisites diagram for IaaS (Blank Server)

a) Unmount ISO
Kindly unmount any ISO mounted on your IaaS category VM (mounted for operating system installation on
the VM) before converting it into a custom template. Kindly use the Unmount workflow after powering off
the VM under the Actions menu on your machine under the Items > Machine tab.

b) VMware tools Installed

VMware tools is an important aspect for creating custom templates. Absence of the same causes the customization
of the guest OS to be unsupported and in turn cause VM creation to fail from the custom template created.

In IaaS category source VM, the VMware tools needs to be installed at the user end before using that VM for
creating template.
 c) Power Off VM
Kindly Power off the VM after completing above steps to proceed for Custom Template creation.

Once the above IaaS category prerequisites are met click here to check the steps for creating a Custom Template.

PaaS category Source VM

Initialize VM should not be carried out on your VM created under the PaaS category (RHEL or CentOS). If the
VM has been initialized, kindly fulfill the below prerequisites before deploying it into a Custom Template
Below mentioned step (d) in NOT applicable for VMs deployed under CentOS PaaS category.

3) Unmount any mounted ISO

4) VMware tools is installed
5) Remove the Antivirus from the source Virtual Machine
6) Unregister the Virtual Machine from RHN Satellite (Not applicable for CentOS machines)
7) Powered off VM

Basic prerequisites diagram for PaaS

A) Unmount ISO
Kindly verify if any ISO is mounted on your source machine for any purpose (example: VMware tools
installation CD mounted, an ISO mounted for troubleshooting purpose) before converting it into a custom
template. Kindly use the Unmount workflow after powering off the VM under the Actions menu on your
machine under the Items > Machine tab.

B) VMware tools Installed

In PaaS category source VM, the VMware tools is pre-installed on your source VM at the time of creation. It
is recommended to kindly verify if its service is running at the OS level. Kindly use the below commands to
check the status:

RHEL 7.1 or CentOS

#systemctl status vmware-tools.service
 RHEL 6.x
#system status vmware-tools.service
RHEL 7.3
#/etc/init.d/splx status

If VMware tools is not installed on the VM, kindly contact support for detailed procedure for the installation.

C) Remove the Antivirus from the source Virtual Machine

The antivirus features installed and configured on VMs as agentless no need to be uninstalled before
converting the VM into template.

Steps to Create Custom Template

After meeting all the prerequisites as per the above guidelines, following are the steps to create custom templates:

Basic diagram of Clone to Template and Create VM from Custom Template

Clone to Template:

Kindly keep in mind the below points for creating Custom Templates:

 An organization can have at most 3 templates at a time.


 If the storage size of the template is more than 150 GB, then approval of the Cloud Administrator is
required, otherwise the templates get created without approval.

Approval Policy:

There is an approval hierarchy set in case of creating Custom Templates. It depends on the size of the template
being created, and also on the user creating the template (organization admin or organization user).

 Case 1 : Template size less than 150 GB



The organization admin creating a custom template with a size of less than 150 GB would not
  approval. The custom template will be created on the go, if all the requirements are
require any
fulfilled.

The organization user will need an approval from his organization admin once submitting the request
for creating a custom template. On his approval the request will be completed.


 Case 2 : Template size more than 150 GB

The organization admin will require the approval  of the Cloud Administrators on submitting a request
 of creating a template for more than 150 GB size.

The organization user will first require an approval from his organization admin. Once approved, the
request will be routed to the Cloud Administrator for approval.

Size Below 150 GB Size Above 150 GB

Org Admin
No approval required Requires Cloud Administrator Approval
Request

Org User Firstly, Org Admin Approval

Requires Org Admin Approval
Request Secondly, Cloud Administrator Approval

Browse the path: Deployment > click on > Select VM > Click on Actions after selecting the VM on
which you want to perform the action. Select Clone to Template as shown in below screenshot:
B) Enter the Template Name and Description and click on the Submit button

Create VM from Custom Template

This feature is used to deploy VMs from an already created custom template created by the user. Below are
the steps for the same:

Browse to Catalog Tab > click on > PaaS > Click on Request on “Create VM from Custom Template”
 B) Fill in the deployment details as shown in the below screenshot

Click on VM-From-Custom-Template

3. Fill in the requested details of CPU, Memory, Additional Storage, VM name, VM network and select the
Custom Template name from the drop down option from which you want the VM to be created.
4. For allocating additional storage, select the Storage tab and add the necessary storage.

5. And click Submit button as shown in the below screenshot

 1. Post VM creation Activity

The “Initialize VM” feature is not supported on the VM created from user’s Custom Templates. Therefore a few
tasks need to be performed on the VM, which encompasses our below post VM creation activity.

PaaS (RHEL) VM IaaS and CentOS VM Windows VM

Diagram depicting Steps for Post VM Creation Activity

For Linux Based VMs:

Below are the steps for the activity which needs to be performed on the Linux based VMs, which are deployed
from a custom template:

2. Set the password

The VM created will initially be accessible with the root password set on your source VM from which
the template is created. It is recommended to change the root password for the new VM created from
the Custom Template.

3. Install the Antivirus at VM

User is not required to any installation of antivirus since its agentless deployed Virtual Machines

For Windows VM:

Below are the steps for the activity which needs to be performed on the Windows VMs, which are deployed from a
custom template:

Set the password

The VM created will initially be accessible with the root password set on your source VM from which
the template is created. It is recommended to change the root password for the new VM created from
the Custom Template.

Windows Activation
Kindly run the below commands from your VM for successfully activating your Windows Operating System
by opening the command prompt with administrative privileges

  cd c:\windows\system32
  cscript.exe slmgr.vbs /skms 10.25.117.10
 cscript.exe slmgr.vbs /ato



Install the Antivirus at VM
User is required to coordinate with the NDCSP team (ndcsp-support@nic.in) for the installation of antivirus
on deployed Virtual Machines

SQL Server Installation (For VMs with MSSQL only)

For SQL Server installation, the installable files are available at C:\SQL2012SP3EXP
Kindly run the setup file for the same for successful installation.

2. Delete Custom Template

As there is a maximum limit of 3 custom templates permissible on an account for use, there will be a need to
delete existing templates as well. Below are the steps for the same.

Go to Catalog Tab > click on > PaaS > Click on Delete Custom Template

Select the necessary custom template name from the drop down menu observed, and click on Submit.
Checklist:-
This section provides a checklist for the user’s convenience to keep track of the steps to follow.

S. No. Tasks/Activities Remarks

1 Identify and select the correct VM
2 Meet all the Prerequisites as described for PaaS or IaaS
3 Clone to Template
4 Create VM from Custom Template
5 Post VM creation activity

Patch Management:
We are not using RedHat satellite, NDC BBSR having Symantec Patch management for Patching solutions. Please
contact Cloud support for any queries regarding Patch management

Note: if you have any concerns or questions around on anything,

Please use > Catalogue > Send Email to Cloud support (or) drop an email to
support-ndcbbsr@nic.in
Browse to Catalog > click on > Support > Click on Request on the Send Email to Cloud Support option.
Click on Request

Select Query Type from Dropdown

Fill the detaiis and submit

You will see below screen and mail will be sent ro Cloud support team.

END OF THE DOCUMENT