This page describes the process to create a Virtual Machine and get it deployed into the target hypervisor. There are 4 simple steps to take:
- Add a Cloud Node to Abiquo infrastructure.
- Create a Virtual Datacenter.
- Configure the Appliance Library with an image repository and download an image.
- Create a Virtual Appliance, add a Virtual Machine, and deploy it.
 | Prerequisites This tutorial assumes that the Abiquo platform has been installed, the desired Cloud Node has been installed too, and the hypervisor is properly configured. For detailed information, see the installation instructions of the Administrator's Guide. |
Log in
Just log in as a System Administrator using the default account, as explained in Starting abiquo for the first time page:
- Username: admin
- Password: xabiquo
Create the Physical infrastructure
Once logged in, go to Infrastructure view, click the 
button and fill the form to create a new Datacenter:
 | Remote Service Address Although localhost is set by default as the Remote Service address, it is desirable to set it to an accesible (public) host name or IP. Abiquo exchanges these addresses between the distributed components of the platform, so addresses such as localhost or 127.0.0.1 should not eb used in order to avoid inter-module communication issues. |
The default Abiquo installation installs all RemoteServices in localhost. In most cases the default values for all the Remote Services can be used.
| The following Remote Services are only available in Enterprise Edition and will not appear in Community Edition form:
|
Add a Cloud node
Once the datacenter has been created, enter it. Select the Infrastructure tab, and click the 
button to create a new Rack.
Once the rack has been created, use the icon to create a new Physical Machine:
Fill the form as explained in the Creating Physical Machines page, and accept. The Cloud node will be attached to the selected Rack and displayed in the Infrastructure tab tree view.
| Physical Machine creation form
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Download an image
The next step is to download an image to the Appliance Library in order to add it to a Virtual Appliance and deploy it to the just added Cloud Node. To do so, go to the Appliance Library view and follow the next steps to download an image and make it available to the created Datacenter:
Add a Remote Repository to the Datacenter
 | Default configuration The Abiquo sample Remote Repository is created by default after installation, so this step can be ommited in most cases. |
First of all, a Remote Repository must be added to the datacenter. Remote Repositories contain a set of virtual images that can be downloaded to the Appliance Library and associated with a Datacenter. Once an image is downloaded and associated with a datacenter, it can be used in any Virtual Appliance that resides on that Datacenter.
To add a Remote Repository, select the Dacatender, click the button and go to Virtual Image > from Remote Repository option. In the popup that appears, click the button and enter the Remote Repository address.
| Abiquo sample Remote Repository Abiquo provides a sample image repository at: http://abiquo-repository.abiquo.com/s3direct |
Select and download the desired images
Once the Remote Repository has been created, a list with the available images is shown. You can now download an image by selecting it in the image list and clicking the 
button.
| Download a compatible image
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Once the image is downloaded, you will see it in the Appliance Library and it will be ready to be added to a Virtual Appliance.
Create the Virtual infrastructure
The next step is to create a Virtual Datacenter. The Virtual Datacenter adds ans abstraction layer to the physical infrastructure, in order to provide a Cloud Service. Users will not be aware of the underlying physical infrastructure; they will create their Virtual Appliances in a Virtual Datacenter and the Abiquo platform will deploy them to the physical infrastructure based on the Best Fit Resource Scheduler.
To create a Virtual datacenter, go to the Virtual Datacenters view, click the button of the Virtual datacenter menu, and fill thee form:
Enter a name, and select the Physical datacenter and a Hypervisor Type. You can optionally change the default network configuration, but this configuration will not be covered in this tutorial. For more information, refer to VLAN customization section in the Manage Virtual Datacenters page.
| DHCP configuration The DHCP information that will be used to assign IPs to the Virtual Machines of the Virtual Datacenter, can be viewed by selecting the Virtual Datacenter, clicking the  button and selecting the Show DHCP info option.
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Create and deploy a Virtual Appliance
The final step is to create and configure a Virtual Appliance. To create it, select the Virtual Datacenter, an in the Virtual Appliances tab, click the button and fill the form with the desired name for the Virtual Appliance.
Once the Virtual Appliance has been created, it will appear in the Virtual Appliances list. Select and enter it, to add the desired images:
On the left side, a list of all available and compatible images are listed. Just drag & drop all desired images, and save the virtual appliance.
Once the Virtual Appliance has been saved, it can be deployed by clicking the 
button. When the deploy process finishes, the Virtual Appliance will be powered on, and you will be able to manage the lifecycle of all the Virtual Machines in the Virtual Appliance using the control buttons that appear at the bottom right part of the screen:
