Create a cloud server

Last update: October 05 2026Open in Markdown

Control Panel

1. In the Control Panel, in the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. Click Create server.

3. Fill in the blocks:

   • Name and placement;
   • Source;
   • Configuration;
   • Disks;
   • Internet;
   • Private network;
   • Security;
   • Access;
   • optional: Additional settings.

4. Check the cloud server price. Learn more in the Cloud server billing model and prices guide.

5. Click Create.

Name and location

1. Enter the server name. It will be set as the hostname in the operating system.

2. Select the location where the server will be created. The location determines the list of available server configurations and resource costs. Once the server is created, you cannot change the location.

Source

You can create a server:

• from a pre-made image with a pre-installed and configured operating system;
• application;
• custom image;
• network volume;
• or snapshot.

Pre-built image

1. Open the OS tab.

2. Select an image. Ready-made images are available in all pool segments.

3. If you are creating a server with GPU, turn on the Auto-select GPU image toggle so that when selecting a configuration, an optimized OS image is automatically selected.

4. Optional: if you need a different current or archived OS version, in the Version field, select the desired version. OSs marked as GPU optimized contain the drivers required to work with GPUs.

Application

1. Open the Applications tab.

2. Select an application. All applications, except for ML applications, are available in all pool segments.

3. Optional: if you need a different current or archived version of the application, in the Version field, select the desired version.

Network volume

1. Open the Disks tab.

2. Select a volume. The volume must be in the same pool segment as the server.

Custom image

1. Open the Images tab.

2. Select an image. The image must be in the same pool as the server.

Snapshot

1. Open the Snapshots tab.

2. Select a snapshot. The snapshot must be in the same pool segment as the server.

Configuration

For all lines except Shared and Dedicated, two types of server configurations are available:

• fixed configurations — configurations of lines with different specifications, where the resource ratio is fixed;
• custom configurations — configurations that allow you to specify any resource ratio.

Configurations use different processors depending on the line and pool segment. You can customize the selected configuration. After the server is created, you can change the configuration.

Fixed configuration

1. Open the tab with the line.

2. Click Fixed.

3. Optional: you can customize the configuration if you are creating a server in the multi-zone pool ru-6 segment or in the ru-3b, ru-7a, and ru-7b pool segments:

   3.1. Expand the block with the configuration settings description.

   3.2. Optional: select a processor manufacturer. Manufacturer selection is not available in all pools.

   3.3. Optional: if you do not want physical processor cores to be pinned to the cloud server vCPUs, uncheck the Dedicated Cores checkbox. Learn more in the Dedicated Cores guide.

   3.4. Optional: if you want to disable Hyper-Threading for a server with dedicated cores, uncheck the Hyper-Threading (SMT) checkbox.

   3.5. Optional: if you are creating a server with dedicated cores and want to place a multi-processor server on a single NUMA node, select the Mandatory placement on a single NUMA node checkbox. You can place a server with 4 vCPUs or more on a single NUMA node. If the cloud server resources cannot be placed on a single node, it will not be created. Learn more in the Placement on a single NUMA node section of the Dedicated Cores guide.

4. Select a configuration.

5. If both local and network volumes are available in the selected configuration, select the volume to be used as the boot volume:

   • local disk — select the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox. A server with a local disk can only be created from images and applications;
   • network volume — do not select Local SSD NVMe disk.

   The amount of RAM allocated to the server may be less than specified in the configuration — the operating system kernel reserves part of the RAM depending on the kernel version and distribution. You can check the allocated amount on the server using the sudo dmesg | grep Memory command.

Custom configuration

1. Open the tab with the line.

2. Click Custom.

3. Optional: you can customize the configuration if you are creating a server in the multi-zone pool ru-6 segment or in the ru-3b, ru-7a, and ru-7b pool segments:

   3.1. Expand the block with the configuration settings description.

   3.2. Optional: select a processor manufacturer. Manufacturer selection is not available in all pools.

   3.3. Optional: if you do not want physical processor cores to be pinned to the cloud server vCPUs, uncheck the Dedicated Cores checkbox. Learn more in the Dedicated Cores guide.

   3.4. Optional: if you want to disable Hyper-Threading for a cloud server with dedicated cores, uncheck the Hyper-Threading (SMT) checkbox.

   3.5. Optional: if you are creating a cloud server with dedicated cores and want to place a multi-processor server on a single NUMA node, select the Mandatory placement on a single NUMA node checkbox. You can place a cloud server with 4 vCPUs or more on a single NUMA node. If the cloud server resources cannot be placed on a single node, it will not be created. Learn more in the Placement on a single NUMA node section of the Dedicated Cores guide.

4. Specify the number of vCPUs.

5. Specify the RAM size.

6. If you need to add GPUs to the server, click Add GPU, select the GPU type, and specify the number of GPUs. The selected line will change to the GPU line. If in the Source block you selected an image without GPU optimization and the Auto-select GPU image toggle is turned on, the selected image will automatically change to a GPU-optimized image.

7. If both local and network volumes are available in the selected configuration, select the volume to be used as the boot volume:

   • local disk — select the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox. A server with a local disk can only be created from images and applications;
   • network volume — do not select Local SSD NVMe disk.

   The amount of RAM allocated to the server may be less than specified in the configuration — the operating system kernel reserves part of the RAM depending on the kernel version and distribution. You can check the allocated amount on the server using the sudo dmesg | grep Memory command.

Volumes

1. If you did not check the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox when configuring the server, the first specified network volume will be used as the server boot volume. To configure it:

   1.1. Select the network boot volume type.

   1.2. Specify the network boot volume size in GB or TB. Mind the network volume limits on the maximum size.

   1.3. If you selected the Universal v2 or Fast SSD v2 disk type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After the volume is created, you can change the number of IOPS — decrease or increase it. The number of IOPS changes is unlimited.

2. Optional: to add additional server network volumes:

   2.1. Click Add.

   2.2. Select the network volume type.

   2.3. Specify the network volume size in GB or TB. Mind the network volume limits on the maximum size.

   2.4. If you selected the Universal v2 or Fast SSD v2 disk type, specify the total number of read and write operations in IOPS. After the volume is created, you can change the number of IOPS — decrease or increase it. The number of IOPS changes is unlimited.

   After the server is created, you can detach additional volumes from it or attach new ones.

Internet

Configure public access to the server.

Public floating IP address

The cloud server will be added to the private subnet connected to the cloud router with 1:1 NAT and internet access. Access to and from the internet will be performed via the cloud router. The server will be accessible from the internet via a public floating IP address.

1. In the Internet connection field, select the access type Public floating IP address.

2. Select an available IP address or create a new one.

Direct public IP address

A direct public IP address will be assigned to the cloud server. Access to and from the internet will be carried out directly via the public IP address without a cloud router.

1. In the Internet connection field, select the access type Direct public IP address.

2. Select an available IP address or create a new one.

Public subnet

The cloud server will be added to the public subnet. A port with one IP address from the subnet will be added to the server; you can use the remaining subnet IP addresses for other devices in the same pool. Access to and from the internet will be carried out directly via the public IP address without a cloud router.

1. In the Internet connection field, select the access type Public subnet.

2. In the Subnet field, select an existing subnet or create a new one of the required size.

No internet access

The cloud server will be added to the private subnet.

Access to the server can be obtained via the private network or via the console.

In the Internet connection field, select the access type Without internet access.

Private network

Private network settings are available if in the Internet block you selected Public floating IP address or Without internet access.

A cloud server can be added to an already existing or a new private subnet.

Existing private subnet

1. In the Subnet field, select a private subnet.

2. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

3. Configure the connection to the cloud router. A router is mandatory for a server with a public floating IP address. For a server without internet access, a router is optional — it allows you to connect to other private networks and access the internet, for example, for updates. In this case, the server is not accessible from the internet.

   • If you selected connection without internet access and do not need a router, in the Router field, select Without router;

   • if you selected connection without internet access and need a router, in the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one. For the server to access the internet via the router, select the checkbox Connect router to the Internet;

   • if you selected connection to the internet via a public floating IP address, in the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one. If the selected router is not connected to the internet, it will be automatically connected to the internet after the server is created.

New private subnet

1. In the Subnet field, select New private subnet.

2. In the Network field, select an existing network or create a new one.

3. Optional: change the subnet CIDR.

4. Optional: in the IP address field, change the default IP address.

5. Configure the connection to the cloud router. A router is mandatory for a server with a public floating IP address. For a server without internet access, a router is optional — it allows you to connect to other private networks and access the internet, for example, for updates. In this case, the server is not accessible from the internet.

   • If you selected connection without internet access and do not need a router, in the Router field, select Without router;

   • if you selected connection without internet access and need a router, in the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one. For the server to access the internet via the router, select the checkbox Connect router to the Internet;

   • if you selected connection to the internet via a public floating IP address, in the Router field, select an existing router or create a new one. If the selected router is not connected to the internet, it will be automatically connected to the internet after the server is created.

Security

Select security groups to filter traffic on server ports. Without security groups, traffic will be denied. If the block is missing, traffic filtering (port security) is disabled on the server network. With traffic filtering disabled, all traffic will be allowed.

Access

1. Place a project SSH key on the server for secure connection:

   1.1. If the project SSH key has not been added to the cloud platform, click Add SSH key, enter the key name, paste the public key in OpenSSH format, and click Add.

   1.2. If the project SSH key is added to the cloud platform, in the SSH key field, select an existing key. The SSH key is only available in the pool where it is placed.

2. Optional: in the Password for "root" field:

   2.1. Copy the password of the root user — a user with unlimited rights for all actions on the system.

   2.2. Save the password in a safe place and do not share it in plain text.

Optional: additional settings

1. To create a preemptible server, select the checkbox Preemptible server.

2. If you plan to create several servers and want to increase infrastructure fault tolerance, add the server to a placement group:

   2.1. To create a new group, in the Placement group field, select New group, enter the group name, and select a placement policy on different hosts:

   • soft — soft-anti-affinity. The system will try to place the servers on different hosts. If there is no suitable host when creating the server, it will be created on the same host;
   • mandatory — anti-affinity. Servers in the group must be placed on different hosts. If there is no suitable host when creating the server, the server will not be created.

   2.4. If the group has been created, in the Placement group field, select the placement group.

3. To add additional information or filter servers in the list, add server tags. Operating system and configuration tags are added automatically. To add a new tag, in the Tags field, enter a tag.

4. To add a script that will be executed using the cloud-init agent on the first boot of the operating system, in the Automation block, in the User data field:

   • open the Text tab and paste the script as text;
   • or open the File tab and upload a file with the script.

   You can find script examples and supported formats in the User data guide.

OpenStack CLI

An example of creating multiple cloud servers can be found in the Create multiple cloud servers via OpenStack CLI guide.

1. Open OpenStack CLI.

2. Create a cloud server:

   openstack server create \
       [--image <image> | --volume <volume> | --snapshot <snapshot>] \
       --flavor <flavor> \
       --availability-zone <pool_segment> \
       --nic net-id=<net_uuid> \
       --security-group <security_group> \
       --key-name <key_name> \
       <server_name>

   Specify:

   • source type:
     • --image <image> — to create a server from a pre-made or custom image. The <image> parameter is the image ID or name. The image must be located in the same pool as the server. You can view the list of images using openstack image list;
     • --volume <volume> — to create a server from a network volume. The <volume> parameter is the volume ID or name. The volume must be located in the same pool segment as the server. You can view the list of network volumes using openstack volume list;
     • --snapshot <snapshot> — to create a server from a snapshot. The <snapshot> parameter is the snapshot ID or name. The snapshot must be located in the same pool segment as the server. You can view the list of snapshots using openstack snapshot list;
   • <flavor> — flavor ID or name. Flavors match cloud server configurations and define the number of vCPUs, RAM, and local disk size (optional) of the server. You can use fixed configuration flavors or create a flavor. For example, 1015 is the ID for creating a server with a Standard line fixed configuration with 4 vCPUs, 16 GB RAM in the ru-9 pool. You can view the list of flavors using openstack flavor list or in the Fixed configuration flavor list across all pools table;
   • <pool_segment> — the pool segment where the cloud server will be created, for example ru-9a. You can view the list of available pool segments in the Cloud server availability by location guide;
   • <net_uuid> — ID of the private or public network the server will be connected to. You can view the list of networks using openstack network list;
   • <security_group> — ID or name of the security group that will be assigned to all server ports. To create a server with a security group, traffic filtering (port security) must be enabled on the network. You can view the list of groups using the openstack security group list command;
   • <key_name> — name of the SSH key pair for the service user. If SSH keys are not created, generate them. You can view the list of key pairs using openstack keypair list;
   • optional: --block-device-mapping vdb=<extra_volume> — ID or name of an additional volume. You can view the list of volumes using openstack volume list;
   • optional: --property x_cloud_smt_enabled=false — disabling Hyper-Threading (SMT). If the parameter is not specified, Hyper-Threading (SMT) will be enabled by default. Can only be used with flavors that support dedicated cores. You can view the list of flavors in the Fixed configuration flavor list across all pools table;
   • optional: --property x_cloud_numa_nodes=1 — placing resources on a single NUMA node. Can only be used with flavors that support dedicated cores. You can view the list of flavors in the Fixed configuration flavor list across all pools table;
   • optional: --tag <tag_name> --os-compute-api-version 2.52 — a tag for adding additional information about the server;
   • optional: --tag preemptible --os-compute-api-version 2.72 — a tag for creating a preemptible server;
   • optional: --user-data <user_data.file> — path to the script with Base64-encoded data. Scenarios and tasks from the script will be executed during the first boot of the operating system. You can view script examples in the User data guide;
   • <server_name> — server name.

Terraform

Examples of cloud server creation can be found in the Terraform documentation:

• Create a custom server with a boot network volume and an additional network volume;
• Create a GPU line fixed configuration cloud server with a boot network volume;
• Create a Standard line fixed configuration cloud server and add it to a placement group.