Manage virtual machines
Existing virtual machines can be managed in various ways, for example, enabling or disabling backups, adding or removing IP addresses, cloning an entire VM, and so on.
Manage VMware VMs in the control panel
After a VMware virtual machine has been created, you can manage it in various ways. All VM management options can be found by clicking on the virtual machine's name in the overview under Compute → Virtual machines in the left-hand menu. VMware VM names begin with wps. Additionally, the Platform column indicates whether a server is a VMware or a KVM VM.
Manage additional disks
In VMware, it is possible to add additional disks to the VM. This allows you to easily create additional storage space without needing to resize the system disk. These disks can be resized after they have been created if necessary.
Create an additional disk in the control panel
To add additional disks, click on the VM to which you want to add the disk. Then, we click on the Disks tab at the top and then on Add additional disk.
In the next dialog box, choose a name for the disk and specify its size. You also need to choose the type of disk you want—Gold or Silver. Gold is a faster disk with a higher price, while Silver is slower but more cost-effective.
Adjust the slider to increase or decrease the size. Once you have chosen the size, type, and name, click Create disk.
When the new disk is created, it will appear in the list of additional disks. Here, you can also see its SCSI ID. Make a note of the SCSI ID since you can use it to confirm that you are working on the correct disk later on.
Once the disk is created, you need to add the disk to the operating system so you can utilize it.
Add an additional disk to the VM's operating system
How you add an additional disk in the operating system differs between different systems. Here, we'll cover Microsoft Windows and Linux.
Once a new disk has been created in the control panel, you need to add the disk in Windows. Start by searching for the Computer Management tool. Open the Start menu, search for Computer Management, and click on it when it appears.
Then double-click on Storage.
In the next window, double-click on Disk Management.
You should now see the new disk. In this example, it's Disk 1. To make sure it's the correct disk, right-click on Disk 1 and select Properties.
Here, the target ID should correspond with the SCSI ID in the control panel. Once you've verified that it's the correct disk, click OK.
The new disk is marked as Offline. Before you can do anything to the disk, you need to set it as Online and initialize it.
Right-click on Disk 1 and then click Online.
Now, right-click on the disk again and click Initialize Disk.
A new dialog box is opened. Here, choose how the disk should be formatted—that is, which partition table type it should have. Leave it as GPT, which is the default. GPT is newer and more modern than MBR. Then click OK.
Now, right-click on the unallocated space in Disk 1 and select New Simple Volume...
A wizard will now start, which you can follow. Here, accept the default values and click Next until you reach the Format Partition step. Here, you can choose your own name for the new partition. The other options can be left as they are; let the file system be NTFS, and let Perform a quick format be checked. Then, click Next.
In the next step, you get a summary of all the choices you've made. Here, click Finish if everything looks okay.
The new disk will then be ready and appear under This Computer.
Once a new disk has been created in the control panel, you need to add the disk to Linux. Start by locating the new disk. The easiest way is to check dmesg. When the new disk was attached to the VM, some log entries were created about it.
The newly attached disk is therefore sdb. You can confirm this by using lsblk to ensure that sdb is not mounted and does not have a file system.
You can also make sure it's the correct disk by comparing the SCSI ID from the control panel with the SCSI ID in the operating system. You can view the SCSI ID in Linux by using lsblk.
In the output above, sdb has 0:0:1:0 in its second field. The third number in this field is the target (the T in HCTL stands for target), which corresponds to the SCSI ID.
Proceed to create a partition on the new disk. This can be done using the interactive tool parted. The program is pre-installed on most Linux distributions, but if it is not, it can be installed with the command sudo apt install parted in Debian and Ubuntu, and sudo dnf install parted in CentOS, AlmaLinux, and Fedora.
Start by launching parted and specify the device as an argument on which you want to create the partition. Be sure to double-check that it is the correct disk—this operation will erase everything on it.
To further ensure that this is a new, empty disk, type print at the prompt in parted.
There is neither a partition table nor a disk label, so you can assume that the disk is empty and unformatted.
The next step is to create a partition table on the disk. Select GPT as the partition table type.
If everything worked correctly, there would be no output. The program will simply return to the prompt.
Next, you need to create a partition on the disk. Here, we start the partition at 1MiB and set the end to 100%, meaning it will occupy the full size of the disk.
There will be no output if everything worked as it should. However, you can verify that everything looks correct by using print.
Everything looks correct, so we exit parted with the command quit.
Now, recheck the disks using lsblk. The new partition should now appear as sdb1.
Now you need to create a file system on the disk. This is done by using mkfs.ext4. By default, five percent of the space is reserved for the root user. If you don't want to reserve any space for root, add the flag -m 0, where zero means that zero percent will be reserved.
To access the disk, you also need to mount it. Before you can mount it, you need to create a mount point for the disk. Here, in this example, we choose /mnt/extradisk1.
Now you add the new disk to the system's /etc/fstab file so that it is mounted automatically at startup. You use the UUID that you saw in the output above. Be sure to replace the UUID with the one shown by mkfs.ext4. Add the following line to /etc/fstab, but remember to replace the UUID with the real one:
Once you have saved the /etc/fstab file with the new entry, you can finally mount the disk.
The disk is now mounted and appears in commands such as df.
Resize an existing additional disk in the control panel
To resize a disk, click the three dots next to the disk's name and select Edit Size.
In the dialog box that opens, adjust the disk size by moving the slider. Once done, click Update.
Note that it is only possible to increase the size of additional disks, not decrease.
After increasing the disk size in the Glesys control panel, you also need to expand the partition size in the operating system.
For the operating system to detect that the underlying disk has grown, you need to rescan the disk. If you check the disk with lsblk first, it will still show the same size as before. Note that in these examples, sdb is the additional disk. If you have multiple additional disks, it could be sdc or sdd instead.
Now, perform a scan of the disk using the following command. Remember to replace sdb in the command below with the device name of the additional disk.
Recheck the disk with lsblk; it should have grown to the size you selected in the control panel. However, note that only the disk has grown, not the partition.
You also need to expand the partition and the file system. Start with the partition. Use the growpart tool, which comes pre-installed with most Linux distributions on Glesys. If it is not available, it can be installed using sudo apt install cloud-guest-utils in Debian and Ubuntu, or sudo dnf install cloud-utils-growpart in Fedora, AlmaLinux, and CentOS.
Note the space between /dev/sdb and 1 below. This specifies partition 1 of sdb.
You also need to expand the file system. This is done using resize2fs, which is already installed.
Recheck the disk with df; it should now reflect the size you selected in the control panel.
Once the size has been changed in VMware, log in via Remote Desktop. You now need to expand the partition of the additional disk.
Search for Computer Management in the Start Menu and click on it when it appears.
Then, double-click on Storage.
Next, double-click on Disk Management.
In this example, the additional disk is the E: partition. The E: partition and the adjacent unallocated space are now displayed. Right-click on that partition and select Extend Volume.
A wizard will now start. In the first dialog box, click Next.
In the next dialog box, the amount by which the E: partition will be expanded is displayed. In the example image below, it will be extended by 20,480 MB, which is the same size as the unallocated space after the E: partition. Once you have verified that the information is correct, click Next.
In the final dialog box, you get a summary of how much the partition will be expanded. Here, click Finish to extend the partition.
You are then returned to the disk overview in the Windows system. The E: partition should now be expanded, as shown in the image below. No unallocated space should remain after the E: partition.
Delete an additional disk
Before deleting an additional disk in the Glesys control panel, you should unmount it in the operating system to avoid any lockups. Here, we'll cover how to unmount a disk in Microsoft Windows and in Linux.
In Windows, you unmount a disk by setting it to Offline. To do this, open Computer Management by searching for it in the Start menu. Then, double-click on Storage and then on Disk Management.
The overview of all the system's disks will open. Here, right-click on the additional disk and select Offline.
In Linux, we first unmount the disk by using umount as root. In this example, the mount point for the additional disk is /mnt/extradisk1.
Next, remove the entry for the additional disk in /etc/fstab so that the system does not attempt to remount the disk on reboot. If the mount point is /mnt/extradisk1, the line to delete will look something like this (note that the UUID will differ):
Delete the disk in the Glesys control panel
Once the disk is unmounted in the operating system, delete it by clicking the three dots next to the additional disk's name and then selecting Delete disk.
In the next dialog box, you need to confirm the deletion (note that all data on the disk will be lost). To confirm, type the disk's name into the text field and click Delete.
All data on the disk will be lost if you confirm the deletion.
Manage backups
When the VM is created, no automatic backups are enabled. This is something you need to enable afterward. In the server's overview, just below the server's resources is the Backups section. Here, you can enable backups by clicking Enable. The price for backups is displayed before activation. The cost is based on the disk size.
When backups are enabled, the entire server is automatically replicated once per day. Backups are retained for 14 days. To restore a server from a backup, you need to contact Glesys support at [email protected].
When backups are enabled for a VM, the following screen is displayed under Backups. Here, you can see the size of the disk being backed up. If you want to disable automatic backups again, click Disable.
The current price for the server, including backups, is displayed at the bottom of the server overview under Cost Summary.
In VMware, it is not possible to create manual backups. However, it is possible to clone a VM.
Clone a VM
In VMware, it is possible to clone a VM. This creates an exact copy of the virtual machine, except that the cloned VM does not have any IP addresses. When cloning the server, you can configure CPU, memory size, bandwidth, and disk size—these are the same options available when creating a new VM. However, the disk size cannot be smaller than that of the original server.
To clone a VM, go to the server's overview. Click on Actions, then on Clone.
In the next dialog box, you configure the cloned server. By default, the configuration is based on the original server. You can configure the number of CPU cores, memory size, bandwidth, and storage size. Remember that the storage size can only be increased, not decreased. Even later, the storage cannot be decreased, only increased.
To make changes, adjust the sliders. Once all selections are made, click Clone.
The cloned VM will now appear in the VM overview under Compute → Virtual machines. It has the same name as the original server, but with the suffix clone.
Assign new IP addresses to the cloned VM
The cloned VM does not have any IP addresses assigned to it. To add IP addresses to the cloned server, follow the steps outlined in Manage IP addresses.
To configure the operating system with the new IP addresses, you need to log in via the console. The VMware console works the same way as for KVM. Therefore, you can follow the subchapter Connect to the VM console for KVM.
If the server is running Microsoft Windows, you can log in via the console directly and configure the IP addresses without needing to restart the server in single-user mode.
Give the original VM's IP address to the cloned VM
If you want to assign the original VM's IP addresses to the cloned VM, there is no need to configure anything in the operating system. The old configuration was cloned along with the server. You just release the IP addresses from the original VM and assign them to the cloned VM.
To release the original VM's IP addresses, navigate to the original VM's overview. Scroll down to the IP Addresses section. Here, click the red crosses next to the IP addresses you want to release. A dialog box will open where we confirm the removal of the address. It is essential to ensure that Keep IP is checked. This will retain the IP address in the project but disconnect it from the server.
Once the IP address has been released from the original VM, navigate to the new, cloned VM (found under Compute → Virtual machines).
In the IP Addresses section for the cloned VM, click Add IPv4 or Add IPv6, respectively.
In the list that appears, locate the addresses that were released from the original VM and add them to the cloned VM. The IP addresses from the original VM are listed under Reserved IP Addresses. Click on the addresses to select them, then click Add Selected.
Manage IP addresses
It's possible to delete and add multiple IP addresses to your VM under the IP Addresses section in the VM overview. Here, you can also see the current IP addresses assigned to the VM. New IP addresses can be added by clicking Add IPv4 or Add IPv6. To remove an IP address, click the red cross to the right of the IP address.
In this example, we choose to add an IPv4 address by clicking Add IPv4.
In the dialog box that appears, you can select from either available IP addresses or previously reserved IP addresses. The reserved IP addresses are displayed at the top.
Select an IP address and click Add Selected.
When you return to the VM's overview, you can see the new IP address in the list.
Follow the same procedure to add IPv6 addresses, but select Add IPv6 in the overview instead.
Find gateway, netmask, and DNS for an IP address
Before adding the IP addresses to the VM's operating system, you need to know the subnet mask and gateway for the addresses. This information can be found under IP addresses in the left-hand menu under Network. Here, you can view all IP addresses, including those assigned to your VMs, as well as reserved IP addresses. Both assigned and reserved IP addresses are listed under the Overview tab.
Click the information icon next to the IP address to display its subnet mask and gateway.
The Glesys DNS servers are located at the IPv4 addresses 79.99.4.100 and 79.99.4.101, and the IPv6 addresses 2a02:751:aaaa::1 and 2a02:751:aaaa::2.
Now you need to configure the IP addresses in the VM's operating system. The process of adding IP addresses varies between different operating systems.
Add the IP addresses in the VM's operating system
The process for adding IP addresses in the VM's operating system differs between different operating systems and Linux distributions. Here, we'll cover Microsoft Windows, AlmaLinux, Ubuntu, and Debian. These instructions will most likely also work for newer versions.
To add additional IP addresses in Windows, open the Start Menu and click Settings. Then click on Network & Internet. Under the section Advanced network settings, click Change adapter options. Now, right-click on Ethernet0 and choose Properties from the menu.
Start by adding IPv4 addresses by selecting Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and clicking Properties. To add IPv6 addresses, follow the same procedure but select Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) instead.
The first IP address assigned to the VM during its creation is now displayed. To add more IP addresses, click Advanced...
A new dialog box opens where you can see the IP addresses and gateways. Start by adding an IP address by clicking Add... under IP addresses.
In the dialog box that opens, enter the IP address and subnet mask you want to add.
Now that you have completed this IP address, you can repeat the process if you have more IP addresses to add.
To save the settings, click OK in the dialog boxes you have opened until you return to the network adapters. The new IP addresses are added immediately.
Test the IP addresses
Now you can verify and test the IP addresses by opening the Start Menu and searching for cmd. When Command Prompt appears in the menu, click on it. Then, list all the VM's IP addresses using the command ipconfig.
Try pinging from the IP addresses. Specify the IP address you want to use as the source with the -S flag.
All of the IP addresses are working.
Start by disabling automatic cloud network configuration to prevent your settings from being overwritten. To do this, create a new file:
Add the following content to the file and save it:
Now it's time to add the IP addresses. But first, you need to identify which connection to add the IP addresses to. This can be done using the command nmcli connection. It will most likely look like the example below, where the connection is named System ens192:
Proceed with adding the IP addresses. Note that you must add all the IP addresses, including the first one that was created when the server was set up. The DNS servers are already configured, so you don't need to modify them.
Addresses are added by using the nmcli connection modify command, as shown here.
To add IPv6 addresses, follow the same process but replace ipv4 in the commands with ipv6. For example:
The IP addresses are now added, and the network has been restarted to utilize the new addresses.
Make sure that the IP addresses are functioning
Use the ip addr command to confirm that the server has received all our assigned IP addresses.
Test by pinging Google’s DNS from all your IP addresses to confirm that they work. Specify the source address using the -I flag. Use the IP addresses you have added for the source address, one at a time. You only need to send two pings, so add the -c2 flag. Additionally, you need to specify the IP version using either -4 or -6 for the respective IP version.
In the example above, all the addresses function as expected.
First, disable automatic cloud network configuration to prevent the settings from being overwritten. To do this, create a new file:
Add the following content to the file and save it:
Next, add the new IP addresses to the file /etc/netplan/50-cloud-init.yaml. When you open the file, the server's existing addresses will already be listed. Therefore, you only need to add the new IP addresses in the same format. In the example below, two additional IPv4 addresses and two additional IPv6 addresses have been added. The server now has three IPv4 and three IPv6 addresses.
However, you should change gateway4 and gateway6 to the new keyword routes to avoid warnings about the deprecated gateway keyword. Additionally, you should enclose IPv6 addresses in quotes to prevent colons from being interpreted as part of YAML syntax.
To activate the settings, use netplan try. With try, the settings will revert to their previous state if you are disconnected and unable to confirm the new settings by pressing the Enter key.
The IP addresses are now added, and the network has been restarted to utilize the new addresses.
Make sure the IP addresses are functioning
Use the ip addr command to confirm that the server has received all your assigned IP addresses.
Test by pinging Google’s DNS from all your IP addresses to confirm that they work. Specify the source address using the -I flag. Use the IP addresses you have added for the source address, one at a time. You only need to send two pings, so add the -c2 flag. Additionally, you need to specify the IP version using either -4 or -6 for the respective IP version.
In the example above, all the addresses function as expected.
Start by disabling automatic cloud network configuration to ensure your settings are not overwritten. Create a new file:
Type in the following content and save it:
Next, configure the new IP addresses in Debian. This is done in the file /etc/network/interfaces.d/50-cloud-init.
When you open the file, the VM's existing addresses will already be listed. You only need to add the new IP addresses in the same format and tidy up the configuration. Use the gateway of the first IP address for each respective IP version.
In the example below, two additional IPv4 addresses and two additional IPv6 addresses have been added. The VM now has three IPv4 and three IPv6 addresses.
Edit the file so it looks like the example below, but change the IP addresses, subnet masks, and gateway accordingly. The network interface remains unchanged—it’s the one the system is already configured with, here ens192.
Keep in mind that the line with DNS servers must be placed as the last entry for each IP version. In this case, we place the DNS servers under the third IP address for both IPv4 and IPv6. Debian uses resolvconf, which has a maximum limit of three DNS servers. In this case, we add a total of four DNS servers, but only the last three will be used by the system.
Now, you need to restart the network for the settings to take effect. This is done with:
The IP addresses are now added, and the network has been restarted to utilize the new addresses.
Make sure the IP addresses are functioning
You can use the ip addr command to confirm that the VM has received all your assigned IP addresses.
Test by pinging Google’s DNS from all our IP addresses to confirm that they work. Specify the source address using the -I flag. Use the IP addresses you have added for the source address, one at a time. You only need to send two pings, so add the -c2 flag. Additionally, you need to specify the IP version using either -4 or -6 for the respective IP version.
In the example above, all the addresses function as expected.
If an issue occurs with the network, you can log in via the console in Glesys Cloud.
Remove IP addresses
To remove an IP address from a VM, select the appropriate VM under Virtual machines in the left-hand menu. Scroll down to the IP Addresses section in the VM's overview. To remove an IP address from a VM, click the red cross next to the IP address you want to delete.
After clicking the cross next to an IP address, you can decide whether to keep the IP address in the project. This enables you to reuse the same IP address on another VM. In this case, we opt to keep it. The IP address will be removed from the VM, but will remain in the project for future use.
Once the IP address has been removed from the VM in the control panel, you must also delete it from the VM's operating system. You remove the IP address from the same file or command where it was added. Refer to Add the IP addresses in the VM's operating system for information on where the IP address settings are located in each Linux distribution.
Adjust the internet connection's bandwidth
It's possible to adjust the server's internet bandwidth under the Network Adapters tab in the server overview. Click on the pencil icon to the right of the network adapter named Network adapter 1, which has Internet listed under Network.
In the dialog box that appears, we can increase or decrease the bandwidth for the network adapter by moving the slider. The price for the bandwidth is displayed in the lower-right corner.
View server statistics
In the server overview, we can view statistics for CPU usage, memory, and disk. The statistics can be found under the Statistics tab.
Manage VMware virtual machines using the API
Several API endpoints are available for managing your virtual machine using the API.
Use the server/edit endpoint to edit resources, backup schedule, bandwidth, description, and hostname.
Use the server/clone endpoint to clone a VM.
Use the server/listbackups endpoint to list the VM's current backups.
Use the server/start, server/stop, and server/reset endpoints to start, stop, and reboot your VM.
Use the server/networkadapters endpoint to list a VM's network adapters.
Use the networkadapter/edit to adjust the bandwidth.
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