Mastering OpenStack Administration - Hands‑On Lab

Practical Introduction to OpenStack, includes up-to-date Training Lab (2025.1 Epoxy)

What you'll learn
- Administer a self-hosted OpenStack 2025.1 “Epoxy” Private Cloud using both Horizon/Skyline dashboards and the OpenStack CLI.
- Create and manage projects, users, and role-based access control with the Keystone Identity Service.
- Launch, configure, and monitor compute instances (Nova), manage key pairs, and apply project quotas for compute resources.
- Provision, attach, snapshot, and restore block storage volumes with Cinder to ensure workload persistence and data protection.
- Design, build, and secure project networks with Neutron - configuring routers, floating IPs, and security groups for controlled connectivity.
- Upload, verify, and use production-grade system images via Glance, and build custom application images with cloud-init and instance snapshots.
- Diagnose and repair common infrastructure and tenant-level issues using CLI health checks, logs, and recovery procedures.
- Automate infrastructure deployments with Heat templates, modeling complete stacks of compute, storage, and network resources as Infrastructure-as-Code.

Requirements
- Basic Linux skills: command-line navigation, file editing, and simple shell scripting.
- Familiarity with virtualization (e.g., VMware Workstation Pro or Hyper-V) and cloud computing concepts such as instances, volumes, and networks.

Description
This course focuses squarely onoperatingOpenStack. You’ll learn to administer projects and users, launch and troubleshoot instances, manage networks and volumes, master images, and automate with Heat -all against the current 2025.1 Epoxy release.

Why this course?

OpenStack changes fast; production teams expect admins who can work fluently across GUI and CLI, think “immutable” and “infrastructure‑as‑code,” and fix issues under pressure. This course is built for that reality:

Up‑to‑datewith OpenStack2025.1 “Epoxy.”

Dashboard + CLI fluency:start in Horizon/Skyline, then level‑up to the OpenStack CLI (industry best practice).

Realistic, reproducible lab:a self‑hostedAll‑in‑One VMyou install locally, so every command and screenshot in the lessons matches your environment.

Troubleshooting built‑in:you’ll diagnose and repair “broken‑on‑purpose” scenarios - exactly the situations admins meet in real life.

Future‑ready operations:images as code, cloud‑init bootstraps,Heatfor IaC, and thecattle‑not‑petsapproach.

What you’ll do (high‑level):

Operatea self‑hosted OpenStack Epoxy cloud via Horizon/Skyline and theOpenStack CLI.

Administer identitywith Keystone: projects, users, groups, roles, and RBAC.

Run compute workloadswith Nova: flavors, key pairs, lifecycle, and quotas.

Provide persistent storagewith Cinder: volumes, types/backends, snapshots, and backups.

Design and secure networkswith Neutron: project networks, routers, floating IPs, and security groups for micro‑segmentation.

Manage production‑grade imageswith Glance: trusted sources, metadata, and image hygiene.

Build custom images(snapshots + cloud‑init) and practice animmutable updateworkflow.

Troubleshoot like an admin:CLI health checks, logs, common failure modes, and safe recovery procedures.

AutomatewithHeat templates: model compute, storage, and networking as code and deploy a single‑instance web app stack.

How the Hands‑On Lab works

You’ll deploy asingle‑node (AIO)OpenStack 2025.1 Epoxy lab VM on your Windows machine (demonstrated withVMware Workstation Pro). The course includes astep‑by‑step articleto install the Lab VM and use provided openrc files, helper scripts, and example Heat templates. Once the lab is running, every lesson’s commands and demos runexactlythe same on your side.

Recommended background (already listed as prerequisites):

Linux basics (shell, file editing, simple scripting).

Familiarity with virtualization and cloud concepts (instances, volumes, networks).

Is this course for you?

System Administrators / DevOps Engineersoperating or migrating to OpenStack.

Virtualization prosmoving from VMware or Hyper‑V to open‑source cloud.

Aspiring OpenStack Admins/Architectswho want a solid, hands‑on foundation before tackling large‑scale deployments.

Syllabus snapshot (you’ll progress from GUI to CLI)

OpenStack foundations & the admin role(architecture, governance, releases).

Getting started:set up the Lab VM, navigate Horizon & Skyline, then the CLI.

Keystone identity & RBAC:domains → projects → users → roles.

Nova compute:flavors, key pairs, lifecycle, monitoring, quotas.

Cinder storage:volumes, backends & types, snapshots, backups, quotas.

Neutron networking basics:networks, subnets, routers, floating IPs, security groups.

Glance images:trusted sources, metadata, production images.

Advanced networking & security:multi‑tier designs, micro‑segmentation, floating IP strategy, multi‑NIC instances (Octavia concepts introduced).

Advanced image service:snapshots, cloud‑init, immutable images, and a Kubernetes node image example.

Troubleshooting:service health, error states, network/storage fixes, rebuild/rescue.

Heat & automation:HOT syntax, parameters/resources/outputs, deploy a single‑instance web app stack.

Outcomes you can put to work immediately

Confidentlyadminister OpenStack projects end‑to‑endusing both GUI and CLI.

Design safe, routed tenant networksand expose services with floating IPs.

Harden accesswith role assignments and least‑privilege security groups.

Ship updates the cloud‑native way:rebuild instances fromversioned images, not by hand‑patching servers.

Automate standard stackswith Heat and troubleshoot with a repeatable CLI playbook.

If you’re ready to run OpenStack like a modern cloud - measured, automated, and resilient -enroll nowand start mastering Epoxy‑era administration the hands‑on way.

Who this course is for:
- System Administrators and DevOps Engineers who want to master daily OpenStack operations and confidently manage private cloud projects end-to-end.
- IT Infrastructure Specialists and Virtualization Professionals transitioning from VMware or Hyper-V to open-source cloud platforms.
- Technical learners preparing for OpenStack Administrator or Architect roles who need a structured, hands-on foundation before tackling large-scale deployments.
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