Apache CloudStack (Citrix.CloudStack)

2023: Apache CloudStack 4.18

On March 21, 2023 cloudy Apache CloudStack , the 4.18 platform was released, which allows you to automate the deployment, configuration and maintenance of private, hybrid or public - (cloudinfrastructures infrastructure IaaS as a service). The CloudStack platform was transferred to the Apache Foundation by a company Citrix that received the project after taking over the company. Cloud.com Installation packages are prepared for,, and. CentOS Ubuntu openSUSE

Illustration: linuxadictos.com

CloudStack is independent of the type of hypervisor and allows you to use in one cloud infrastructure at the same time Xen (XCP-ng ,/and XenServerCitrix Hypervisor), Xen Cloud Platform (KVM Oracle VM VirtualBox) and. To VMware manage user, base storage computing and network resources, a web interface and a special one are offered. In API the simplest case, based on cloud infrastructure CloudStack, it consists of one control and a set of servers computing nodes on which guest execution is organized in mode. OS More virtualizations complex systems support the use of a cluster of multiple management servers and additional load balancers. In this case, the infrastructure can be divided into segments, each of which operates in a separate one. data center

Issue 4.18 is classified as LTS (Long Term Support) and will be accompanied for 18 months. Major updates:

• Added support for "Edge Zone," lightweight zones usually tied to a single host environment (as of to data March 2023, only hosts with a KVM hypervisor are supported). In the Edge Zone, you can perform all operations with, virtual machines except shared storage and console access operations requiring CPVM (Console Proxy VM). Direct-download of templates and use of local storage are supported.
• Support for automatic scaling of virtual machines (parameter "supports_vm_autoscaling") is implemented.
• An API has been added to manage user data.
• Added a framework for two-factor authentication.
• Added support for authentication using one-time passwords with limited validity time (TOTP Authenticator).
• Added support for encrypting storage partitions.
• Integrated support for SDN Tungsten Fabric.
• Added support for Ceph Multi Monitor.
• An API has been implemented to access the console.
• Improved console sharing.
• An interface with global settings is proposed.
• MTU configuration support for VR (Virtual Router) network interfaces is provided. Added vr.public.interface.max.mtu, vr.private.interface.max.mtu and allow.end.users.to.specify.vr.mtu. settings
• Adaptive groups of binding a virtual machine to a host environment (Affinity Groups) are implemented.
• The ability to determine your own DNS servers is provided.
• Improved tools to support guest operating systems.

Added support for the Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 distribution. The Networker Backup plugin is offered for the KVM hypervisor. It is possible to assign your own tariffs for traffic quotas. KVM has added support for protected the VNC console with - TLS encryption and access based on certificates^[1]

2015: Apache CloudStack 4.6

On December 7, 2015, it became known about the release of the Apache CloudStack 4.6 cloud platform^[2] This version helps automate the deployment, configuration and support of private, hybrid or public cloud infrastructure (IaaS - infrastructure as a service).

Installation packages are prepared RHEL for/and CentOS. Ubuntu

CloudStack is independent of the type of hypervisor and allows you to use Xen both (and), (VirtualBox) and in the same cloud infrastructure XenServer Xen Cloud Platform KVM Oracle VM. For VMware managing the user base, storage, computing and network resources, an intuitive web interface and a special one are offered. API

CloudStack 4.6 Release Process (2015)

In the simplest case, the cloud infrastructure on the CloudStack platform consists of one control server and a set of computing nodes on which the execution of guest operating systems in virtualization mode is organized. More complex systems support the use of a cluster of multiple management servers and additional load balancers. In this case, the infrastructure can be divided into segments, each of which operates in a separate data center.

Among the changes in the composition of Apache CloudStack 4.6:

• Transition to a new release preparation process, which implies maintaining the development branch at the quality level, constantly ready for release (continuous integration and testing instead of separating the stages of increasing functionality and correcting errors);
• Supports the use of SSH to send commands to a virtual router. The ability to import, delete and receive SSH keys through the web interface at the level of individual accounts;
• Support for sending statistics accumulated through StatsCollector to the Graphite server for subsequent visualization;
• The ability to create fault-tolerant virtual routers for VPCs operating in active-pasive mode (interception of control of a spare node after a primary failure);
• The ability to download templates or sections into Cloudstack through a browser;
• Prepare Docker images to run Apache CloudStack modules, which can be used to test, demonstrate, or quickly start working configurations;
• Plugin for the NuageVsp Virtual Network Platform (Nuage Networks Virtualized Services Platform);
• Support for Globo DNSAPI;
• Plug-in for the SAML 2.0 (Security Assertion Markup Language) protocol;
• Managed storage for KVM;
• Improved plugin for CloudByte Storage;
• Advanced networking capabilities for managing a non-virtualized (baremetal) host
• Settings for managing the parameters of the generated passwords;
• Supported hypervisors and operating systems: LXC containers in RHEL, Hyper-V 2012 R2, KVM (CentOS 6.2 +, RHEL 6.2 +), XenServer 6.1, 6.2 SP1 and 6.5, VMware 5.0 Update 3a, 5.1 Update 2a and 5.5 Update 2, Oracle VM 3.0 +.

2014: CloudStack 4.3

On March 26, 2014, the Apache Software Foundation released release 4.3 of the CloudStack free cloud platform. The key innovation is support for the Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor.

Description

Implementing the update, the developers released a version of CloudStack Agent written in C#, while CloudStack is based in Java.

The new Dynamic Compute mode provides automated scaling of virtual machines, and without this feature, CloudStack was clearly inferior. Previously, the user could create a virtual server with only fixed characteristics (for example, two processors and 4 GB of RAM), and when the load increased, he had to completely transfer the entire application system to a more powerful platform.

Added an important ability to work via SSL connection. Future versions promise support for the Docker container engine, modes of increased stability when working in failed networks, and even operation on "bare" servers without an OS.

2013

In early 2013, Citrix transferred the CloudStack project to another non-profit organization, the Apache Foundation. This project is distributed in open source.

2012

Citrix CloudStack 3

On February 13, 2012, at Cloud Connect 2012, Citrix announced the availability of Citrix CloudStack 3, the market leading open source cloud platform that first appeared under the Citrix brand. CloudStack is the world's most successful platform for creating public "clouds" - already 85 large-scale "clouds" are based on it, including the largest brands in the industry. The total profit of these projects is more than $1 billion. With the release of the new version of CloudStack 3, customers of all sizes will be able to get all the benefits of creating clouds like Amazon. For the first time in the market, enterprises looking to build their cloud infrastructures like the world's most successful can quickly and easily transform virtualized data center resources into automated, resilient, self-service clouds.

Citrix CloudStack is a key component of Citrix's cloud product portfolio. This platform will allow Citrix customers to easily create new clouds, connect to existing cloud services, and deliver cloud services with the highest levels of security, performance, and reliability. The cloud era is built on completely different principles than previous generations of IT - in fact, much of what was an exception in the PC era is now becoming the norm. These circumstances force IT departments and companies to overestimate their IT strategies in search of lower cost, increased capacity, and flexibility. Citrix's cloud offerings help customers accelerate innovation by providing access to low-cost computing power, enabling users to work from anywhere, anywhere, and increasing business flexibility.

Since its introduction, CloudStack has quickly become a leading commercial open source platform. It allowed you to create, manage and deliver scalable clouds on an infrastructure-as-a-service basis to a large number of customers such as Datapipe, Edmunds.com, IDC Frontier, Nokia Research and Zynga. With CloudStack, companies can build production cloud environments on a platform designed specifically for cost-effectiveness, elasticity, and scalability. This is not a traditional platform for enterprise server virtualization, on top of which management capabilities like "cloud" are implemented. CloudStack is an open multi-hypervisor platform at all levels that will help customers build public and private "clouds" the way the most innovative "cloud" infrastructures are built - simply, with high levels of automation, elasticity, scalability and efficiency. The new capabilities implemented in CloudStack 3 are aimed at implementing openness, flexibility and completion, and include components such as:

• Cloud-optimized virtualization platform: While the platform retains compatibility with leading hypervisors such as KVM, OVM, vSphere and Xen, it is now integrated with the cloud-optimized version of Citrix XenServer 6. Four of the world's five largest public "clouds" (Amazon, Rackspace, GoGrid, Softlayer) run on XenServer or Xen virtualization platforms. This unification will provide unparalleled levels of scalability, manageability, security, and collective rental capabilities, and will open up integration opportunities that are currently not available in traditional enterprise virtualization solutions from other vendors.
• Integrated network-as-a-service capabilities: Recently, one of the key factors in the choice of providers providing advanced corporate solutions in the cloud is the provision of a network-as-a-service. CloudStack 3 is now integrated with Citrix NetScaler, which now allows approximately 75% of Internet users to access the clouds every day. The CloudStack platform supports NetScaler SDX and VPX modules, and allows network integration to be extended to products such as Citrix CloudBridge and Citrix CloudGateway. All this takes virtual networking to a whole new level, providing increased security, performance and interfacing capabilities for public and private clouds, which are provided as an integrated service within the platform.
• Built-in network services directory: In addition to integration with NetScaler, CloudStack is developing its own flexible network offerings. The platform gives service providers the opportunity to increase the amount of sales of network services by creating customized catalogs of network service options. Citrix is the first cloud platform provider to provide this capability, thus allowing administrators to use the cloud deployment model that best suits their environment and workload.
• Unparalleled simple user interface: Citrix is known for its commitment to providing customers with the simplest possible interfaces, such as those created for end users. The new edition of CloudStack 3 supports this desire with its intuitive interface, which allows even novice users to quickly create, run and manage their own workloads in the clouds. The combination of self-administration capabilities with advanced management and automation functionality makes it possible to provide new IT services within minutes rather than weeks.
• Integration of OpenStack Swift: CloudStack 3 supports Swift, OpenStack's proprietary object-oriented memory technology designed to create scalable backup memory using clusters of standardized servers to store petabytes of data with convenient access.

Citrix Cloud-Ready Products - The Company Is Building the World's Largest Cloud Computing Ecosystem

Citrix also spoke about the Citrix Cloud Community program, which features more than 2,200 Citrix Ready-certified products and services for Citrix cloud solutions. The program brings together hundreds of leading technology companies and service providers who are building the world's largest cloud ecosystem with Citrix. More information is available on the community page.

CloudStack.org - Open Source Cloud User Community

Since the acquisition of Cloud.com by Citrix in 2011, the CloudStack.org open source cloud user community has experienced fourfold growth, with more than 25,000 cloud developers already active in the community. Over the past year, the open source CloudStack product has been downloaded more than 60,000 times, the average monthly number of downloads to date has increased 5 times.

Samir Dholakia, Vice President and CEO, Cloud Platforms Group, Citrix: "If the cloud infrastructure is built correctly, it provides users with a high level of efficiency, unlimited scalability and high speed deployment of new services for end users. This allows you to transform the economy of data centers and implement the "on demand" model when providing IT services. The tight integration with Citrix's cloud portfolio provides CloudStack customers with an unparalleled suite of cloud virtualization, management, and networking solutions that are not only the best in their individual and collaborative footprint, but are also optimized for the hardware and software customers have already deployed. "

Notes