Creating a VM from a public Linux image

If you do not have the Yandex Cloud command line interface yet, install and initialize it.

The folder specified in the CLI profile is used by default. You can specify a different folder using the --folder-name or --folder-id parameter.

1. View the description of the CLI command to create a VM:

   yc compute instance create --help
   

2. Prepare a key pair (public and private keys) for SSH access to the VM.

3. Select a Linux-based public image from Yandex Cloud Marketplace, e.g., CentOS 7.

   To get a list of available images using the CLI, run this command:

   yc compute image list --folder-id standard-images
   

   Result:

   +----------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+--------+
   |          ID          |                NAME                 |          FAMILY          |     PRODUCT IDS      | STATUS |
   +----------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+--------+
   ...
   | fdvk34al8k5n******** | centos-7-1549279494                 | centos-7                 | dqni65lfhvv2******** | READY  |
   | fdv7ooobjfl3******** | windows-2016-gvlk-1548913814        | windows-2016-gvlk        | dqnnc72gj2is******** | READY  |
   | fdv4f5kv5cvf******** | ubuntu-1604-lts-1549457823          | ubuntu-1604-lts          | dqnnb6dc7640******** | READY  |
   ...
   +----------------------+-------------------------------------+--------------------------+----------------------+--------+
   

4. Select a subnet:

   yc vpc subnet list
   

   Result:

   +----------------------+---------------------------+----------------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------------+
   |          ID          |           NAME            |      NETWORK ID      | ROUTE TABLE ID |       ZONE        |      RANGE      |
   +----------------------+---------------------------+----------------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------------+
   | e9bnlm18l70a******** |   default-ru-central1-a   | enpe3m3fa00u******** |                |   ru-central1-a   | [10.128.0.0/24] |
   +----------------------+---------------------------+----------------------+----------------+-------------------+-----------------+
   

5. Create a VM in the default folder:

   yc compute instance create \
     --name first-instance \
     --zone ru-central1-a \
     --network-interface subnet-name=default-ru-central1-a,nat-ip-version=ipv4 \
     --create-boot-disk image-folder-id=standard-images,image-family=centos-7 \
     --ssh-key ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub
   

   Where:

   • --name: VM name. The naming requirements are as follows:

     • The name must be from 3 to 63 characters long.
     • It may contain lowercase Latin letters, numbers, and hyphens.
     • The first character must be a letter and the last character cannot be a hyphen.

     Note

     The VM name is used to generate an internal FQDN only once: when creating a VM. If the internal FQDN is important to you, choose an appropriate name for the VM at the creation stage.

   • --zone: Availability zone corresponding to the selected subnet.

   • --network-interface: VM network interface settings.

     • subnet-name: Name of the selected subnet.
     • nat-ip-version=ipv4: Public IP address. To create a VM without a public IP address, disable this parameter.

     If you want to add multiple network interfaces to the VM, specify the --network-interface parameter as many times as you need. You can add up to eight network interfaces to a single VM.

   • --create-boot-disk: VM boot disk settings:

     • image-family: Image family, e.g., centos-7. This option allows you to install the latest version of the OS from the specified family.

   • --ssh-key: Path to the file with the public SSH key. The VM will automatically create a user named yc-user for this key.

     When creating a VM from a Yandex Cloud Marketplace public image, make sure to provide an SSH key to the VM. By default, SSH access with a username and password is disabled for such images.

     If you want to add several users with SSH keys to the VM at the same time, specify these users' data using the --metadata-from-file parameter. You can also use metadata to install additional software on a VM when creating it.

When a VM is created, it is assigned an IP address and hostname (FQDN). This data can be used for SSH access.

You can make a public IP address static. For more information, see Making a VM's public IP address static.

If you don't have Terraform, install it and configure the Yandex Cloud provider.

1. In the configuration file, describe the parameters of the resources you want to create:

   resource "yandex_compute_disk" "boot-disk" {
     name     = "<disk_name>"
     type     = "<disk_type>"
     zone     = "<availability_zone>"
     size     = "<disk_size>"
     image_id = "<image_ID>"
   }
   
   resource "yandex_compute_instance" "vm-1" {
     name                      = "linux-vm"
     allow_stopping_for_update = true
     platform_id               = "standard-v3"
     zone                      = "<availability_zone>"
   
     resources {
       cores  = "<number_of_vCPU_cores>"
       memory = "<RAM_GB>"
     }
   
     boot_disk {
       disk_id = yandex_compute_disk.boot-disk.id
     }
   
     network_interface {
       subnet_id = "${yandex_vpc_subnet.subnet-1.id}"
       nat       = true
     }
   
     metadata = {
       ssh-keys = "<username>:<SSH_key_contents>"
     }
   }
   
   resource "yandex_vpc_network" "network-1" {
     name = "network1"
   }
   
   resource "yandex_vpc_subnet" "subnet-1" {
     name           = "subnet1"
     zone           = "<availability_zone>"
     v4_cidr_blocks = ["192.168.10.0/24"]
     network_id     = "${yandex_vpc_network.network-1.id}"
   }
   

   Where:

   • yandex_compute_disk: Boot disk description:

     • name: Disk name.

     • type: Disk type.

     • zone: Availability zone the disk will be in.

     • size: Disk size in GB.

     • image_id: ID of the image to create the VM from. You can get the image ID from the list of public images.

       You can also view image IDs in the management console when creating a VM or on the image page in Cloud Marketplace, under Product IDs.

   • yandex_compute_instance: VM description.

     • name: VM name.

     • allow_stopping_for_update: Allow a VM instance to stop to make changes. Set true if you plan to change the network settings, computing resources, disks, or file storage for your VM using Terraform. The default value is false.

     • platform_id: Platform.

     • zone: Availability zone the VM will be in.

     • resources: Number of vCPU cores and RAM available to the VM. The values must match the selected platform.

     • boot_disk: Boot disk settings. Specify the disk ID.

     • network_interface: VM's network interface settings. Specify the ID of the selected subnet. To automatically assign a public IP address to the VM, set nat = true.

       If you want to add multiple network interfaces to the VM, specify the network_interface section as many times as you need. You can add up to eight network interfaces to a single VM.

     • metadata: In the metadata, provide the public SSH key for VM access. For more information, see VM metadata.

       If you want to add multiple users with SSH keys to the VM at the same time, specify these users' data in a file and provide it under metadata. You can also use metadata to install additional software on a VM when creating it.

   • yandex_vpc_network: Description of the cloud network.

   • yandex_vpc_subnet: Description of the subnet your VM will be connected to.

   Note

   If you already have suitable resources, such as a cloud network and subnet, you do not need to describe them again. Use their names and IDs in the appropriate parameters.

   For more information about the resources you can create with Terraform, see the provider documentation.

2. Create resources:

   1. In the terminal, change to the folder where you edited the configuration file.

   2. Make sure the configuration file is correct using the command:

      terraform validate
      

      If the configuration is correct, the following message is returned:

      Success! The configuration is valid.
      

   3. Run the command:

      terraform plan
      

      The terminal will display a list of resources with parameters. No changes are made at this step. If the configuration contains errors, Terraform will point them out.

   4. Apply the configuration changes:

      terraform apply
      

   5. Confirm the changes: type yes in the terminal and press Enter.

   All the resources you need will then be created in the specified folder. You can check the new resources and their configuration using the management console.

When a VM is created, it is assigned an IP address and hostname (FQDN). This data can be used for SSH access.

You can make a public IP address static. For more information, see Making a VM's public IP address static.

Create a VM using the create REST API method for the Instance resource:

1. Prepare a key pair (public and private keys) for SSH access to the VM.

2. Get an Yandex Identity and Access Management token used for authentication in the examples:

   • Guide for users with a Yandex account.
   • How to get a token for a service account.
   • How to get a token for a federated account.

3. Get the ID of the folder.

4. Get information about the image to create your VM from (image ID and minimum disk size):

   • If you know the image family, get information about the latest image in this family:

     export IAM_TOKEN=CggaATEVAgA...
     export FAMILY=ubuntu-1804
     curl \
       --header "Authorization: Bearer ${IAM_TOKEN}" \
       "https://compute.api.cloud.yandex.net/compute/v1/images:latestByFamily?folderId=standard-images&family=${FAMILY}"
     

   • To learn more about the image, see the list of public images.

5. Get the subnet ID and availability zone ID. Specify the ID of the folder where the subnet was created in your request:

   export IAM_TOKEN=CggaATEVAgA...
   export FOLDER_ID=b1gvmob95yys********
   curl \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer ${IAM_TOKEN}" \
     "https://vpc.api.cloud.yandex.net/vpc/v1/subnets?folderId=${FOLDER_ID}"
   

   Result:

   {
     "subnets": [
      {
        "v4CidrBlocks": [
          "10.130.0.0/24"
        ],
        "id": "b0c6n43ftldh********",
        "folderId": "b1gvmob95yys********",
        "createdAt": "2018-09-23T12:15:00Z",
        "name": "default-ru-central1-a",
        "description": "Auto-created default subnet for zone ru-central1-a",
        "networkId": "enpe3m3faglu********",
        "zoneId": "ru-central1-a"
      },
      ...
     ]
   }
   

6. Create a file, e.g., body.json, with the body of the request to create a VM:

   {
     "folderId": "b1gvmob95yys********",
     "name": "instance-demo-no-pwauth",
     "zoneId": "ru-central1-a",
     "platformId": "standard-v3",
     "resourcesSpec": {
       "memory": "2147483648",
       "cores": "2"
     },
     "metadata": {
       "user-data": "#cloud-config\nusers:\n  - name: user\n    groups: sudo\n    shell: /bin/bash\n    sudo: 'ALL=(ALL) NOPASSWD:ALL'\n    ssh_authorized_keys:\n      - ssh-ed25519 AAAAB3N... user@example.com"
     },
     "bootDiskSpec": {
       "diskSpec": {
         "size": "2621440000",
         "imageId": "fd8rc75pn12f********"
       }
     },
     "networkInterfaceSpecs": [
       {
         "subnetId": "b0c6n43ftldh********",
         "primaryV4AddressSpec": {
           "oneToOneNatSpec": {
             "ipVersion": "IPV4"
           }
         }
       }
     ]
   }
   

   Where:

   • folderId: Folder ID.

   • name: Name to assign to the VM when you create it.

   • zoneId: Availability zone matching the selected subnet.

   • platformId: Platform.

   • resourceSpec: Resources available to the VM. The values must match the selected platform.

   • metadata: In metadata, provide the public key for accessing the VM via SSH. For more information, see VM metadata.

   • bootDiskSpec: Boot disk settings. Specify the selected image ID and disk size.

     You can also view image IDs in the management console when creating a VM or on the image page in Cloud Marketplace, under Product IDs.

     The disk size must not be less than the minimum value specified in the image details.

   • networkInterfaceSpecs: VM's network interface settings.

     • subnetId: ID of the selected subnet.

     • primaryV4AddressSpec: IP address to assign to the VM. To add a public IP address to your VM, specify:

       "primaryV4AddressSpec": {
         "oneToOneNatSpec": {
           "ipVersion": "IPV4"
         }
       }
       

     To add multiple network interfaces to a VM, provide an array with the required number of objects containing network interface settings in the networkInterfaceSpecs parameter. You can add up to eight network interfaces to a single VM.

   Read more about the request body format in the API reference.

7. Create a VM:

   export IAM_TOKEN=CggaATEVAgA...
   curl \
     --request POST \
     --header "Content-Type: application/json" \
     --header "Authorization: Bearer ${IAM_TOKEN}" \
     --data '@body.json' \
     https://compute.api.cloud.yandex.net/compute/v1/instances
   

When a VM is created, it is assigned an IP address and hostname (FQDN). This data can be used for SSH access.

You can make a public IP address static. For more information, see Making a VM's public IP address static.