Quickstart: Creating a Virtualization Service cluster from the console

Virtual Private Cloud 4.21 and later Bare metal worker nodes only

Get started quickly with OpenShift Virtualization Service by creating a pre-configured cluster using the IBM Cloud console. This quickstart focuses on the fastest path to deploying virtual machines using only the console interface.

Before you begin

  1. Ensure you have the required permissions:

    • Operator role for IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    • Editor or Administrator role for VPC Infrastructure Services

  2. Verify that your VPC infrastructure meets the requirements, or be prepared to create the necessary resources:

    • A VPC in your target region
    • Subnets in at least 3 zones for high availability (256 IP addresses recommended per subnet)
    • Bare metal capacity available in your selected zones (flavors ending in d for local NVME storage)

For detailed VPC setup instructions, see Create or verify your VPC setup.

Create a Virtualization Service cluster

  1. Log in to the IBM Cloud console.

  2. Navigate to Infrastructure > OpenShift Virtualization.

  3. Click Create cluster.

  4. Review the pre-configured cluster settings (automatically configured, cannot be changed):

    • Orchestrator: Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud
    • Infrastructure: VPC
    • Machine type: Bare metal
    • Operating system: Red Hat CoreOS (RHCOS)
    • Networking plugin: Open Virtual Network (OVN-Kubernetes)

  5. Select the OpenShift version (4.21 or later is automatically selected).

  6. Configure Virtualization integrations:

    OpenShift Virtualization operator
    Required. Automatically configured with default settings. Creates and maintains OpenShift Virtualization Deployment.
    Advanced Cluster Management (ACM)
    Optional. Configure this cluster as the ACM hub cluster to control and monitor other Kubernetes clusters.
    OpenShift Data Foundation (ODF)
    Recommended. Provides persistent storage for VMs. Configured with default settings.
    File Storage for VPC
    Beta: Alternative to ODF. Provides file storage backed by VPC infrastructure.

    You must select at least one storage option (ODF or File Storage for VPC).

  7. Select your Virtual private cloud (or create a new one if needed).

  8. Configure the Location. Choose your worker zones and configure your subnets. Select at least 3 zones for high availability. For each zone, you can edit the automatically selected subnet as needed.

  9. Configure the Worker pool:

    • Flavor: Select a bare metal flavor with local NVME storage (e.g., bx2d.metal.96x384)
    • Worker nodes per zone: Specify at least 3 for high availability

  10. Configure Networking (optional):

    • Network settings: Choose private & public endpoints (default) or private only
    • Internal registry: Select a Cloud Object Storage instance

  11. Configure Security settings (optional):

    • Cluster encryption: Enable KMS for encrypting secrets
    • Ingress secrets management: Register Secrets Manager instance
    • VPC security groups: Apply custom security groups

  12. Configure Cluster details:

    • Cluster name: Enter a unique name (e.g., my-vs-cluster)
    • Resource group: Select a resource group
    • Tags: Optional - add tags for organization

  13. Review the Integrations section and verify that the OpenShift Virtualization operator and any selected add-ons are listed.

  14. Review the estimated cost and click Create.

The cluster typically takes 30-45 minutes to provision. You can monitor the progress in the console.

Access the OpenShift console

  1. In the IBM Cloud console, navigate to OpenShift > Clusters.

  2. Click your cluster name to view details.

  3. Wait until the cluster Status shows Normal and Master status shows Ready.

  4. Click OpenShift web console to access the cluster interface.

Verify pre-configured components

  1. In the OpenShift web console, navigate to Ecosystem > Installed Operators.

  2. Verify that the OpenShift Virtualization operator shows a status of Succeeded.

  3. Navigate to Ecosystem > Installed Operators.

  4. Verify that the OpenShift Data Foundation operator has a status of Succeeded. This can take a few minutes to complete.

  5. Navigate to Storage > Data Foundation.

  6. Verify that the storage system shows Resiliency of Healthy.

  7. Navigate to Storage > StorageClasses.

  8. Verify that multiple OCS storage classes are available, including ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd-virtualization, which should be indicated as the default for VirtualMachines.

Deploy your first virtual machine

  1. In the OpenShift console, click Virtualization in the left navigation menu.

  2. Click VirtualMachines.

  3. Click Create VirtualMachine.

  4. Select From template to use a pre-configured template.

  5. Choose a template such as Fedora or CentOS Stream.

  6. Configure the VM:

    • Name: Enter a name for your VM (e.g., my-first-vm)
    • Storage class: Select ocs-storagecluster-ceph-rbd-virtualization
    • CPU: Adjust as needed (default is usually sufficient)
    • Memory: Adjust as needed (default is usually sufficient)

  7. Click Create VirtualMachine.

  8. In the VM details page, click Start to start the VM.

  9. Monitor the VM status until it shows Running.

  10. Click the Console tab to access the VM console.

You now have a running virtual machine on your Virtualization Service cluster!

Next steps

Troubleshooting

Cluster creation fails
Verify that bare metal capacity is available in your selected zones. Try a different zone or contact IBM Cloud support.
Cannot access OpenShift console
Wait for the cluster master status to show Ready. This can take up to 45 minutes.
Virtual machine fails to start
  • Verify that OpenShift Data Foundation is in Ready state
  • Check that you selected a valid storage class
  • Ensure sufficient resources are available in your cluster

For more troubleshooting guidance, see Troubleshooting OpenShift Virtualization.