# Initial Deployment Operations
This section describes steps used to create a VM instance with the Create VM
Instance wizard. Operations commonly used immediately following VM instance
creation are described in [Common VM Instance Management Operations](vm-common-operations.md#common-vm-instance-management-operations).
See the video demonstrating the basics of creating and management of
zCompute Instances:
## Creating VM Instances
To create VM instances:
1. Navigate to the **Compute** > **Instances** view.
2. Click **Create**.
The Create VM Instance wizard starts including the following four tabs:
**Compute**, **Storage**, **Networking**, **Config**.
1. **Compute** - defines the VM instances, their type, activation
and quantity.
In the **Compute** tab, configure:
* **Name** - the display name for the VM instance.
* **Create From** - the source of the new VM instance. When you select one
of the source options, the next field is updated as follows:
* **Image** - select an image from available list. See [Image Creation](machine-images.md#newimage-ref)
to create new image.
* **ISO** - select Installation ISO from available list.
* **Volume** - select Boot Volume from available list.
* **Instance Type** - defines the amount of compute resource of the VM instance
(CPU and RAM).
* **Key Pair** - set of security credentials for ensuring the identity of
the user connecting to the VM instance. Select existing key pair from pull
down list or see [Create a new key pair](key-pair.md#kp-newkey-ref) to generate or upload a new key.
* **Tags** - select an existing tag or create a new tag.
* **Options**:
* **Power Up** - launches the VM instance post creation.
* **High Availability** - ensures the VM instance is restarted in case
of failure.
* **Protect from deletion** - protects the VM instance from accidental
deletion.
* **Create Multiple** - drag the button to the right to create multiple VM
instances.
* Click **Next**.
2. **Storage** - defines the storage requirements for the new VM instance.
zCompute block storage provides persistent storage for virtual machines,
(VMs) and is managed through predefined **Volume Types**, which define
performance characteristics and configurations.
Key aspects include:
* **Volume Types**:
Starting in version 23.08, block storage is organized using
**Volume Types**, that include definitions such as media type and
performance.
Other public cloud providers refer to these as disk types.
* **Integration with VMs**:
Block storage volumes are attached to VMs.
These volumes can be configured with parameters such as volume type
and size.
In the **Storage** tab, configure:
* **Boot Volume** - disk size (GB) and Volume Type that will be used for
the boot volume of the VM instance.
* **Data Volumes (optional)** - add new or existing data volumes. To add a
new volume, click **Add** and **+** and configure the following:
* **Name** - volume name.
* **Description** - description of volume.
* **Volume Type** - select the Volume Type from the dropdown list.
* **Size** - volume size (GB).
* **Protection Group** - protection group for the volume.
* Click **Next**.
3. **Networking** - defines the networking requirements for the new VM instance.
For each VM instance, at least one network (Network 0) must be defined.
Other networks can also be added to the VM instance by clicking **Add**.
**For each network configure:**
* **Subnet** - subnet used for VM instance connectivity. Select from the
existing list of subnets or create a new subnet.
* **IP** - IP address for the interface. The IP must be within the entered
subnet.
* **DNS Name** - DNS name for the new instance.
* **Security Group** - security group that will be used to limit/allow
connectivity to the VM instance.
* Click **Next**.
4. **Config** - allows configuration of optional settings for the new VM instance.
**In the Config tab, enter the following optional settings**:
* **Cloud-init** - drag and drop a cloud-init file to be used to initialize
the VM instance post-creation.
* **Instance Profile** - to pass role information to an instance when
the instance starts, select an instance profile from the dropdown.
To create an instance profile, and for further details about
instance profiles, see [Instance Profiles](aws-roles.md#instance-profiles).
* **Metadata** - key-value set for additional metadata configuration.
* Click **Finish** to end the create instance wizard.
## Starting VM Instances
**To start a VM instance**:
1. In the **Compute > Instances** view, select the VM instance to run.
2. Click **Start**.
The status on the selected VM Instance changes to **Spawning**, and
**VM started** appears. The selected VM instance is automatically placed on
one of the nodes in the cluster and starts running, and its status changes
to **Active**.
## Connecting to a VM Instance
Connect and access a VM instance in Active state by using VNC.
**To connect to a VM instance**:
1. In the **Compute > Instances** view, select the VM instance to which to
connect.
2. Click **Connect**.
3. In the displayed VM instance, click **Send Ctrl-Alt-Del**.
4. The VNC window is displayed.
## Attach Elastic IP to a VM Instance
If an elastic IP is required, add it to the VM instance after creation as follows:
1. Navigate to **Compute > Instances**.
2. Select the desired VM instance from the displayed list to open the detailed view.
3. Click the **Elastic IPs** tab.
4. Click **Attach** and select a Elastic IP from the list.
## Secure SSH Access to a VM Instance
**To connect via SSH to a VM instance, enter the following:**
`$ ssh -i @`
Example:
`$ ssh -i id_rsa fedora@192.237.248.66`
In the above example, the private key file is `id_rsa`, the default
username for the image is `fedora` and the Elastic IP is `192.237.248.66`.
## Creating Snapshots of VM Instances
**To create a VM instance snapshot:**
1. Navigate to the **Compute**> **Instances** view.
2. From the displayed list, select the VM instance for which the snapshot is
to be created and click **More**.
3. In the More menu, select **Snapshot**.
4. In the displayed **Create Snapshot** window, enter a name for the new snapshot
or accept the default name consisting of the original VM instance name and
the date-time stamp of the snapshot creation.
5. (Optional) Enter the description of the snapshot.
6. Click **OK**. A new snapshot is created. It is displayed in the
**Compute** > **Snapshots** view.
## Protecting VM Instances
After creating a VM instance, protect it by assigning it to a Protection Group.
### Protecting VM Instances via the Zadara Cloud Services GUI
1. Navigate to the **Compute** > **Instances** view.
2. From the displayed list, select the VM instance to protect and click **More**.
3. In the More menu, click **Protect**.
4. In the **Protect Resource** window, select a protection group from the
dispalyed list and click **OK**.
5. In the **Compute** > **Instances** view, the protection column will be
checked for the VM instance.
### Protecting VM Instances via the Zadara Cloud Services CLI
To protect a VM instance resource, assign it to a protection group as shown
in the example below for ‘VM-1’ assigned to Protection_Group-1’.
1. Retrieve the ID of the VM instance,’VM-1’, together with its project_id.
```console
Zadara @ user1/cloudacc1> `vm list -m columns='^id|^name|^project_id'`
+--------------------------------------+------+----------------------------------+
| id | name | project_id |
+======================================+======+==================================+
| c4d017cf-04f4-4f85-9e21-1d067e1d384e | VM-1 | 08459aa189e849d0a47ddd985db594bd |
+--------------------------------------+------+----------------------------------+
```
2. Retrieve the ID of the protection group, Protection-Group-1, together
with its project_id.
```console
Zadara @ user1/cloudacc1 > *\ `protection groups list -m columns='^id|^name|^project_id'`
```
3. Verify that the VM instance and protection group belong to the same project.
4. Protect the VM instance VM-1 by assigning it to the protection group
Protection_Group-1.
```console
Zadara @ user1/cloudacc1 > protection memberships create 0d6df1eb-0e3b-4b59-9669-ed620b6ad65d instance c4d017cf-04f4-4f85-9e21-1d067e1d384e
=============== ==========================================
Field Value
=============== ==========================================
| id | ff25527a-7b08-4b76-bbc7-b5715f9182c0
| account_id | cloudacc1
| created_at | 2019-02-06T08:36:01.401731
| group_id | **0d6df1eb-0e3b-4b59-9669-ed620b6ad65d**
| project_id | 6666cfcf840f4a788cecfa6a3a00b2ee
| resource_id | **c4d017cf-04f4-4f85-9e21-1d067e1d384e**
| resource_type | instance
| triggered_at | none
| user_id | user1
=============== ==========================================
```
5. The VM instance, ‘VM-1’ will now be protected according to the local backup
schedule found in the protection group, ‘Protection-Group-1’.