๐Ÿงฐ How to Install OpenStack on Ubuntu: Complete Step-by-Step Guide

Openstack Ankit Sharma November 30, 2025 2 mins read

Deploy OpenStack on Ubuntu using Sunbeam or DevStack with this reproducible, beginner-friendly installation guide designed for learning, labs, and cloud PoCs.

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1. Why Ubuntu for OpenStack?

Ubuntu is the most widely used Linux distribution for OpenStack deployments because of its:

  • Long-Term Support (LTS) releases

  • Strong package ecosystem

  • Seamless integration with Canonical’s Sunbeam and automation tools

  • Easy setup for both PoC and production-grade clouds

It provides an ideal environment whether you're learning OpenStack, testing NFV workloads, or building a private cloud.

2. Prerequisites

To follow this guide, prepare the following:

  • Operating System: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (fresh installation recommended)

  • Minimum Hardware:

    • 4 vCPUs

    • 8 GB RAM

    • 100 GB disk

  • Internet access

  • sudo/root access

3. Option 1: Install OpenStack with Sunbeam (Recommended)

Sunbeam is Canonical’s modern, production-ready installer for OpenStack. It offers fast, clean deployments suitable for PoC and enterprise scaling.

โœ… Step-by-Step Installation

 
# Step 1: Install OpenStack snap sudo snap install openstack # Step 2: Prepare the machine sunbeam prepare-node-script --bootstrap | bash -x && newgrp snap_daemon # Step 3: Bootstrap the cloud sunbeam cluster bootstrap --accept-defaults --role control,compute

This sets up a single-node OpenStack cloud.
You can expand later to multi-node setups using Sunbeam's scale-out commands.

4. Option 2: Install OpenStack with DevStack (For Labs & Learning)

DevStack provides a lightweight, developer-focused OpenStack environment.
Not recommended for production, but perfect for training, CI pipelines, or demos.

๐Ÿ› ๏ธ Step-by-Step Installation

 
# Step 1: Install dependencies sudo apt update && sudo apt install git -y # Step 2: Clone DevStack git clone https://opendev.org/openstack/devstack cd devstack # Step 3: Create config file cat <<EOF > local.conf [[local|localrc]] ADMIN_PASSWORD=secret DATABASE_PASSWORD=secret RABBIT_PASSWORD=secret SERVICE_PASSWORD=secret EOF # Step 4: Run DevStack ./stack.sh

After a few minutes, DevStack installs a fully functional OpenStack environment.

5. Post-Install Checklist

After your cloud is installed, perform the following tasks:

๐Ÿ”— Access Horizon Dashboard

Open in browser:

 
http://<your-ip>/dashboard

๐Ÿงช Validate Services

Run:

 
openstack service list

๐Ÿš€ Create Initial Resources

  • Networks (public & private)

  • Images (upload via Glance)

  • Instances (launch via Nova)

๐Ÿ” Secure with SSL

Tomorrow's blog will cover enabling HTTPS via TLS certificates.

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Ankit Sharma

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