Introduction
Apache CloudStack 4.20 introduces several exciting new features that enhance its functionality and user experience. This blog post will closely examine some of the minor, yet important features included in this latest release. These features include support for network data in Config Drive, the ability to enable security groups in existing advanced zones, a user-friendly password reset option, and various UI improvements.
These updates are designed to streamline operations, enhance security measures, and provide users with greater flexibility and control over their cloud infrastructure. In the following sections, we will explore each feature in detail to understand how they can help users manage their CloudStack environments more effectively.
Support for network data in Config Drive
Config Drive is a feature that allows you to pass configuration to an Instance during the boot process. This configuration is passed to the Instance in the form of a virtual CD-ROM that is attached to the Instance during the boot process. This virtual CD-ROM is then used to configure itself during the boot process by tools such as cloud-init.
CloudStack has supported Config Drive for a long time. However, as part of the configuration passed to the Instance, only metadata and userdata was supported but not network data. With the latest release of CloudStack 4.20, support for network data in Config Drive has been added. This can remove the dependency on the Virtual Router for network configuration and allow the Instance to configure its network interfaces during the boot process using the network data passed in the Config Drive.
To use the network data in Config Drive, you must create a Network offering in which DHCP & DNS services are enabled and the provider is ConfigDrive.
Once you have created the Network offering, you can launch an Instance in the Network created using the Network Offering. The Instance will then be able to configure its network interfaces using the network data passed in the Config Drive.
At the time of writing, networks in a VPC don’t support ConfigDrive for DHCP & DNS.
Security Groups in Shared Networks for Advanced Zone
CloudStack has had support for Security groups in an advanced zone for a long time. However, this had to be enabled during Zone creation and could not be changed later. Also, this Advanced Zone with Security Groups enabled doesn’t support Isolated networks.
Now you can enable Security groups for an existing Advanced zone. This allows you to use Security groups in your Zone without enabling them during Zone creation.
To use this feature, open the “Network service providers” tab of the Guest Physical network of the zone and enable the “SecurityGroupProvider”. Once you have enabled this, you can now create Shared networks with Security groups in your Advanced zone.
Login Account Password reset feature
This feature allows the User to reset their password using email if they have forgotten the password. This feature is disabled by default and can be enabled by setting the Global setting user.password.reset.enabled to true and configuring the SMTP server settings for password reset. This requires a restart of the Management server once the Global settings have been configured. You can check the Global settings which needs to be configured here in the documentation: https://docs.cloudstack.apache.org/en/latest/adminguide/accounts.html#password-recovery-for-users-forgot-password
UI Improvements
There were some UI improvements in the CloudStack 4.20 release. Some of the improvements are:
- New version of CloudStack available – Whenever a new release of CloudStack is available, it’s notified in the footer to the Root admins.
- Notifications if the Network or a VPC needs a restart – If a Network or a VPC needs a restart, it shows up in the notification drawer. And on the listing page, we have an alert icon to show which networks or VPCs need a restart.
- API docs – This is a new page which shows the APIs available and its documentation to the logged in User and its documentation.
Conclusion
In summary, Apache CloudStack 4.20 brings a host of valuable enhancements that significantly improve user experience and operational efficiency. The introduction of network data in Config Drive empowers instances to configure their network settings during boot, reducing reliance on the Virtual Router. Allowing security groups in existing advanced zones offers more flexibility in network management, making it easier to adapt to changing requirements. The new password reset feature enhances security, providing users with a straightforward way to regain access to their accounts. Additionally, the UI improvements facilitate a smoother workflow, ensuring that essential notifications and API documentation are readily accessible. These updates collectively contribute to a more robust and user-friendly CloudStack environment, enabling users to manage their cloud infrastructure more effectively and efficiently.
Vishesh Jindal is a software engineer at ShapeBlue. He has experience in developing and managing cloud infrastructure. He has a particular interest in databases and has worked extensively on them.
When Vishesh is not working, he enjoys watching anime, playing DOTA, or working on an open-source project.
ShapeBlue
