Create a cloud server

Last update: May 30 2026

Control Panel

1. In the Control panel, on the top menu, click Products and select Cloud Servers.

2. Click Create server.

3. Fill in the blocks:

   • Name and placement
   • Source
   • Configuration
   • Volumes
   • Network
   • Security
   • Access
   • optional: Additional settings

4. Check the cloud server price. For more details, see the Cloud server payment model and pricing instruction.

5. Click Create.

Name and placement

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

2. Select the location in which the server will be created. The available server configurations and resource cost depend on the location. You cannot change the location after creating the server.

Source

You can create a server from a pre-built image with a pre-installed and configured operating system, an application, own image, network volume, or snapshot.

Pre-built image

1. Open the OS tab.

2. Select an image. Pre-built images are available in all pool segments.

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

4. Optional: if you need a different current or archived OS version, select the required version in the Version field. OS versions marked as GPU optimized contain drivers necessary for working with graphic processors.

Application

1. Open the Applications tab.

2. Select an application. Applications are available in all pool segments.

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

Network volume

1. Open the Volumes tab.

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

Own 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 technical specifications, in which the resource ratio is fixed;
• custom configurations — configurations in which any resource ratio can be specified.

Configurations use different processors depending on the line and pool segment. You can configure the selected configuration. After creating the server, you will be able to change the configuration.

Fixed configuration

1. Open the tab with the line.

2. Click Fixed.

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

   3.1. Expand the block with the configuration settings description.

   3.2. Optional: select the 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. For more details, see the Dedicated cores instruction.

   3.4. Optional: if you want to turn off 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 host a multiprocessor server on a single NUMA node, check the Mandatory hosting on a single NUMA node checkbox. A server with 4 vCPUs or more can be hosted on a single NUMA node. If cloud server resources cannot be placed on one node, the server will not be created. For more information, see the Placing on a single NUMA node section of the Dedicated cores instruction.

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

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

Custom configuration

1. Open the tab with the line.

2. Click Custom.

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

   3.1. Expand the block with the configuration settings description.

   3.2. Optional: select the 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. For more details, see the Dedicated cores instruction.

   3.4. Optional: if you want to turn off 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 host a multiprocessor server on a single NUMA node, check the Mandatory hosting on a single NUMA node checkbox. A cloud server with 4 vCPUs or more can be hosted on a single NUMA node. If cloud server resources cannot be placed on one node, the server will not be created. For more information, see the Placing on a single NUMA node section of the Dedicated cores instruction.

4. Specify the number of vCPUs.

5. Specify the RAM size.

6. If you need to add graphic processors 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 you selected a non-GPU-optimized image in the Source block and the Auto-select GPU image toggle switch is 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 — check the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox. A server with a local disk can only be created from images and applications;
   • network volume — do not check the Local SSD NVMe disk checkbox.

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

Volumes

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

   1.1. Select the type of network boot volume.

   1.2. Specify the size of the network boot volume in GB or TB. Observe the limits for network volumes for the maximum size.

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

2. Optional: to add additional network volumes to the server:

   2.1. Click Add.

   2.2. Select the type of network volume.

   2.3. Specify the network volume size in GB or TB. Observe the limits for network volumes for the maximum size.

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

   After creating the server, you will be able to detach additional volumes from it or attach new ones.

Network

The server can be added to a new subnet or an existing one. A subnet can be:

• private — a subnet without access from the internet or with one static public IP address. The IP address connects to the server that will be accessible from the internet;
• public — a subnet where all addresses are accessible from the internet.

Private subnet

1. Click Private subnet.

2. In the Public IP address for internet access field, select the subnet type:

   • New public IP address — a private subnet with a static public IP address. Only the server to which the public IP address is connected will be accessible from the internet;
   • Without a public IP address — a private subnet without access from the internet. You will not be able to connect to the server from the internet, including via SSH or RDP.

3. To add a server to an existing private subnet:

   3.1. Expand the block with the private subnet settings.

   3.2. In the Subnet field, select an existing subnet.

   3.3. In the Private IP field, specify the server private IP address. For a private subnet with a public IP address, the public address will be automatically connected to the private address;

4. To add a server to a new private subnet of an existing network:

   4.1. Expand the block with the private subnet settings.

   4.2. In the Subnet field, select New subnet.

   4.3. Optional: change the subnet CIDR.

   4.4. Optional: turn on the DHCP toggle switch.

   4.5. Optional: in the Gateway field, change the default gateway IP address.

   4.6. In the Network field, select an existing network where the subnet will be created, or New network. For a private subnet with a public IP address, a router router-<network_name> will be created automatically, where <network_name> is the network name.

   4.7. If you selected New network, enter the network name.

5. To add a server to a new network and a new private subnet:

   5.1. Expand the block with the private subnet settings.

   5.2. Optional: change the subnet CIDR.

   5.3. Optional: turn on the DHCP toggle switch.

   5.4. Optional: in the Gateway field, change the default gateway IP address.

   5.5. In the Network field, select New network to create a new network and private subnet.

   5.6 Enter the network name. For a private subnet with a public IP address, a router router-<network_name> will be created automatically, where <network_name> is the network name.

Public subnet

1. Click Public subnet.

2. In the Subnet size field, select the subnet size.

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 in the server network. With filtering disabled, all traffic will be allowed.

Access

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

   1.1. If the SSH key for the project is not 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 SSH key for the project is added to the cloud platform, select an existing key in the SSH key field. The SSH key is only available in the pool where it is located.

2. Optional: in the Password for “root” field:

   2.1. Copy the password for the root user — the user with unrestricted rights for all system actions.

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

Optional: additional settings

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

2. If you plan to create several servers and want to increase infrastructure reliability, 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 the placement policy on different hosts:

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

   2.4. If the group is 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, enter the tag in the Tags field.

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

   • open the Text tab and insert the script text;
   • or open the File tab and upload the file with the script.

   Script examples and supported formats can be found in the User data instruction.

OpenStack CLI

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

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-built or own image. The <image> parameter is the image ID or name. The image must be 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 disk ID or name. The volume must be 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 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 correspond to 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 — ID for creating a server with a fixed configuration in the Standard line 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 List of fixed configuration flavors in all pools table;
   • <pool_segment> — a pool segment in which the cloud server will be created, e.g. ru-9a. The list of available pool segments can be viewed in the Availability matrix instruction;
   • <net_uuid> — ID of the private or public network to which the server will be connected. You can view the list of networks using openstack network list;
   • <security_group> — ID or name of the security group to be assigned to all server ports. To create a server with a security group, traffic filtering (port security) must be enabled in 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 the additional volume. You can view the list of volumes using openstack volume list;
   • optional: --property x_cloud_smt_enabled=false — turn off Hyper-Threading (SMT). If the parameter is not specified, Hyper-Threading (SMT) will be enabled by default. Only works with flavors that support dedicated cores. You can view the list of flavors in the List of fixed configuration flavors in all pools table;
   • optional: --property x_cloud_numa_nodes=1 — placing resources on one NUMA node. Only works with flavors that support dedicated cores. You can view the list of flavors in the List of fixed configuration flavors in all pools table;
   • optional: --tag <tag_name> --os-compute-api-version 2.52 — tag to add additional information about the server;
   • optional: --tag preemptible --os-compute-api-version 2.72 — tag to create a preemptible server;
   • optional: --user-data <user_data.file> — path to a script with Base64-encoded data. Scripts and tasks from the script will be executed at the first operating system loading. Script examples can be viewed in the User data instruction;
   • <server_name> — server name.

Terraform

Examples of creating a cloud server can be viewed in the Terraform documentation instructions:

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