The Apache CloudStack project has had another exciting year – with growth in adoption, functionality and community size.  In the project’s annual State of The Union talk, the current VP of the project, Rohit Yadav, will reflect on the last year of project collaboration, developments in CloudStack and community activity. He will set out how he sees the project developing over the next few years.

This session will give a brief introduction of the new and exciting feature in the latest (upcoming) CloudStack LTS release, ie, 4.19.0. The discussion will include the details on the timeline of the CloudStack 4.19.0 release, overview of some of the marquee, new feature of the release – Object storage framework, KVM ingestion, Hypervisor agnostic simple DRS, CAPC aware CKS, OAuth2, DRaaS with Multi zone disaster recovery, etc and a summary of improvements added since the previous major LTS release of the CloudStack, ie, 4.18.0.

Succesful Open Source companies change their business models and then the
open source license they were distributing their software on. More and more
it feels like Open Source is just a marketing buzzword designed to lure
customers to a particular solution. On the regulatory front, the EU is
implementing the CRA and handling software as it were trucks
manufacturing. Is there any hope left for Open Source? Has it failed in
delivering its premise?
Fear not. Open Source’s not dead. It has already won and it will prevail
again

Why? What? How? During the session, i will share what made us choose CloudStack as our main platform, we base most of our managed services on. In addition i’ll talk about which services we provide based on CloudStack and share how we integrated and use CloudStack today.

Panel group – taking a range of submitted questions from the audience (across any subject). Include red card challenge.

They are just a few clicks in the UI or a single API call, but how do security groups work at KVM hypervisor level? How do they filter traffic and what else do they do in addition to firewalling? What Anti-Spoofing policies are implemented by the security groups?

In this talk we’ll dive into the specifics of the security groups on the KVM hypervisor for both IPv4 and IPv6

In an increasingly interconnected digital landscape, safeguarding data privacy and ensuring robust security measures are paramount. CloudStack offers a dynamic ecosystem for deploying and managing cloud resources. However, to fully harness its potential, it is crucial to address privacy and security concerns effectively.

This presentation explores the realm of possibilities and demonstrates how CloudStack can enhance the privacy and security of your cloud deployments. We will examine practical approaches to protect sensitive data, fortify communications, and secure your infra against emerging threats. Join us on a journey to discover how CloudStack can be your trusted ally in the quest for a more secure and private cloud environment.

In this session Nicolas will present a new feature, targeted for CloudStack 4.19, which allows administrators to migrate Instances from a VMware environment (external or connected to CloudStack) and import them into a KVM CloudStack-managed environment.

About two Years ago, the LINSTOR driver for CloudStack was merged into the CloudStack code base, and it has received updates since then. Rene will give you a quick overview of LINSTOR/DRBD and the driver, followed by more details on recently added features.
One is the ability to optionally store data snapshots on secondary storage, about making deep copies of templates vs. using snapshots, about using LINSTOR/DRBD on XCP-ng hypervisors under ApacheCloudStack, and (if finished by November) about VM-snapshots on LINSTOR/DRBD.

Dive into the seamless integration of the Vates stack as the foundation for your CloudStack deployment. In this workshop, you’ll witness the power and simplicity of XCP-ng and Xen Orchestra. From a blank slate to a fully operational private cloud, we will guide you through each pivotal step. Learn how to streamline your cloud setup process and unlock the potential of a private cloud infrastructure that’s both efficient and easy to manage. Join us to discover how to transform bare metal into a cloud powerhouse in mere minutes.

In this session Wei will present how CloudStack 4.19 adds the capability to easily and quickly perform a light-touch integration of networking appliances with ACS, allowing for operators to offer a broader range of networking services while empowering end-users to effortlessly deploy their own virtualized network functions.

In recent releases, Apache CloudStack has been evolving towards richer support for Software Defined Networking (SDN) solutions. In ACS 4.18, we introduced integration with Tungsten Fabric SDN, which opened ACS to several long awaiting features such as overlay networks, BGP, MPLS and other sophisticated networking capabilities. We now are working towards integrating VMWare NSX 4 with CloudStack, which will enable agile software-defined infrastructure for building cloud-native micro-segmented application environments on VMWare using CloudStack.
In this talk, we will delve into the expansion of ACS’s SDN ecosystem with the integration of VMWare NSX 4, thus enabling operators to make informed decisions regarding the right SDN platform for their CloudStack deployment, we’ll also look into what it takes to create a new network provider in CloudStack.

Pierre, Matthias, and Ousmane will demonstrate the new Backroll version, with a new and easy installation process.
They will also give a demo of the new features of the project and its integration with CloudStack, providing an all-in-one solution.

One of the main shortcomings of CloudStack compared to VMware is the lack of built-in support for disaster recovery. In this workshop we’ll show how you can build a cloud using Apache CloudStack and StorPool storage that features disaster recovery capabilities and off-site backups.

We’ll show a reference architecture of the solution, followed by a live demo on how to set backup policies, backup virtual machines and recover the VMs in a site-down event.

The workshop will allow an open discussion about the practical aspects of implementing a DR service, difficulties to build such solutions and how to address them.

A discussion on the common failures when using CloudStack taking instance deployment as an example. The session includes 15 specific failure scenarios, their causes, and possible mitigation steps.

CloudStack allows you to use older hardware for a longer time in your cloud environment. By using older hardware for a longer time you can save money and the environment by not producing new hardware.

I have been working on the feature hypervisor-agnostic DRS in Cloudstack. We will briefly overview the implementation and discuss the algorithms currently available and how they can improve resource allocation and workload balancing in virtualized environments. Additionally, we will showcase a live demo of hypervisor agnostic DRS in action, highlighting its capabilities and effectiveness.

A makerspace today is focused on turning ideas into physical prototypes by providing resources in terms of tools and infrastructure. In a university, a makerspace provides students with an opportunity to build a portfolio. Students experiment through an entire development life cycle by creating prototypes for each stage of a cycle. It has been shown to be a productive method for learning.

To the best of our knowledge, software development is yet to be included in the makerspace concept. In the case of our software makerspace, it is following the same principles as a traditional makerspace for device and mechanical prototyping, but instead provides software development tools. One such indispensable tool is cloud-based infrastructure. A cloud facilitates rapid prototyping of machine learning tools, microservices, IoT data mining, etc. In this talk, we present our approach to extend the concept of a makerspace to software development using a student developed private cloud. We present the method we used to gather requirements from various researchers and students. We also present the final design and the current implementation of the cloud using Apache CloudStack. Finally, we discuss how other universities could implement their own software makerspace and its benefits.

LINSTOR/DRBD became a primary storage option for ApacheCloudStack nearly two years ago. In this session, Philipp will share insights about the internals of DRBD, the data-path part of the data-storage solution.

Knowing about DRBD’s meta-data, the activity log, and the bitmap will enable you to make more educated decisions when it comes to selecting the right hardware for your next ApacheCloudStack+LINSTOR+DRBD deployment.

When your servers have different storage tiers, what are the advantages and trade-offs regarding putting data and meta-data on different tiers?

Recently, DRBD got a new transport, load-balancing TCP, that joins the existing TCP transport, and the RDMA transport received important updates. Looking beyond DRBD, what is important to know when selecting the RAID level and data alignment? Philipp will conclude the session with comments regarding LVM compared to ZFS.

Are you eager to embark on your journey into the world of cloud computing with Apache CloudStack but don’t know where to start? Join us in this informative session designed especially for beginners. We will guide you through the essential steps of setting up your very first CloudStack environment, from initial installation to basic configuration.

Objective:
This session aims to equip newcomers to Apache CloudStack with the fundamental knowledge and practical skills required to establish their own cloud infrastructure. We’ll address common challenges that beginners often encounter during the setup process and provide valuable insights on how to overcome them.

Key Topics:

Introduction to Apache CloudStack
Prerequisites and system requirements
Step-by-step installation and configuration
Creating and managing virtual machines (VMs)
Networking essentials in CloudStack
Storage options and management
User and role management
Troubleshooting common beginner issues

Audience:
This session is tailored for individuals who are new to Apache CloudStack or cloud computing in general. No prior experience with CloudStack is required, making it suitable for beginners seeking to gain a solid foundation in cloud infrastructure management.

Format:
The session will consist of a combination of presentations and live demonstrations. Attendees will have the opportunity to follow along with the setup process in real-time and ask questions during Q&A sessions.

In this session, we will explore the potential of migrating from VMware vCloud to Apache CloudStack with KVM. VMware vCloud Suite is a robust cloud infrastructure and management solution that combines vSphere and vRealize Suite, providing automation and operations capabilities for traditional and modern infrastructure and apps. However, the transition to Apache CloudStack can offer enhanced profitability and competitiveness.

We will delve into the benefits of Apache CloudStack, including its cost-effectiveness and open-source nature, and discuss how a gradual migration from VMware vCloud can reduce ownership costs, increase profitability, and enhance competitiveness. We will also cover the practical steps and considerations in planning and executing this transition effectively.

This talk is about authentication and authorization – Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and OAuth2 explaining their critical roles in enhancing security and user experience within the realm of Apache CloudStack.
With Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), we strengthen the authentication process, mitigate password-related or usual login vulnerabilities, and ensure compliance with security standards.
On the other side of the authentication spectrum, OAuth2, the industry-standard authorization framework, simplifies the process of granting access to resources. We will discuss how this can be used and how it fits in CloudStack.

In this session, I will demonstrate how to centralize all the Cloudstack related logs in one place using Elastic Search and generate beautiful dashboads in Grafana.

This session will simplify the troubleshooting process involved with Cloudstack and will quickly help to resolve the issue.

Apache CloudStack 4.19 introduces the capability for end-users to copy their root disk or volume snapshots to one (or more) ACS Zones without operator intervention. In this talk we’ll see how this simple yet powerful new feature enables for end-users to control where their data resides and for operators to provide low-cost and robust DRaaS to their customers.

How to minimize the impact when it’s time to implement a cloud solution for automating internal workloads and delivering efficient solutions?
Magali, Joffrey, and Grégoire will present a case study of a successful hardware reuse project, including key metrics:
Business objectives
Performance objectives
Financial objectives

We know existing Userdata support in CloudStack enables users to inject custom scripts or data into virtual machines during provisioning, facilitating automation and customization of VM setup and configuration. The talk is about delevering the extended support of userdata with “Managed UserData” which enables users to register and manage their own UserData script(s) as a CloudStack resource and followed by a demo.

This Panel will discuss the Apache CloudStack project sustainability and vendor contributions in an Apache Governance Model. The participants will present the different points of view from the development perspective, vendor contributions and PMCs. Panellists will share their perspectives on how to help the project grow, increase its visibility and ensure its longevity and healthy development.

In cloud computing environments, VMs require fast access to resources like storage and networking. The hardware that the VMs access is implemented in software and/or by passing through a dedicated hardware device. Software-based solutions consume extra CPU cycles, thus resulting in poor performance. Also, these require to expose a device-model to the guest, thus increasing the attack surface. Conversely, hardware passthrough provides better performance and security but can be expensive in terms of the number of physical resources, since each device is dedicated to a single VM. This talk focuses on how in Vates we are working on sharing hardware resources among VMs by relying on dedicated processors named Data Processing Units (DPU). More precisely, we work on offloading Xen hypervisor of storage emulation by relying on Kalray K200 DPU PCIe controllers, a hardware accelerator based on MPPA architecture.

CloudStack 4.19 introdues a new framework for object storage. In this talk, Vladi will explain what has driven this development, the architecture chosen and current integration points with Object store providers

In an ever growing landscape of thousands of virtualization and cloud native projects it can be hard to understand what projects reliably just work. Fortunately for the growing community at CloudStack that is precisely what we have found.

Are you currently managing Kubernetes clusters in the cloud and considering a transition to on-premises infrastructure using Cloudstack? Join us at the Cloudstack Collaboration Conference for an exciting demonstration of how you can deploy Kubernetes clusters in a declarative manner, leveraging the capabilities of Cloudstack and Cluster API. In this demo, I will showcase a comprehensive solution that combines Packer, Gitlab CI, ArgoCD, Cluster API, and Cluster Autoscaler to create a seamless on-premises deployment strategy adaptable to diverse requirements over Cloudstack Infrasturcture

The current KVM Host HA feature depends on the existence of an NFS primary storage to detect which nodes are online, even if other types of primary storage are used. We extend the HA feature to allow other methods to be used for this. The new implementation adds support for using StorPool Storage for HA heartbeats, removing the need for NFS primary storage. The solution developed by StorPool allows new storage vendors and protocols to be added easily.

Dell PowerFlex is the latest storage platform to offer advanced integration with Apache CloudStack. Powerflex, a software-defined platform,  has built a reputation for performance, agility, and scalability and is already being used in a number of large-scale CloudStack IaaS environments.

Join us to see the live demo of the integration and automation capabilities.

Some of the key features to be showcased are:

• Infrastructure Provisioning and Configuration
• VM operations & lifecycle management
• Infrastructure Management & Monitoring

A first-look at some of the work-in-progress features due in the upcoming CloudStack 4.18 release.

CloudStack 4.17 finally reached a point where upgrades can be performed with zero network downtime. In this talk, Rohit will:

– look at the history of CloudStack virtual router upgrades and how they have evolved towards this point

– look in detail at the new “Live patching” functionality in CloudStack 4.17 which enables zero downtime upgrades

– discuss the limitations of the new functionality

– demo the new upgrade process

The talk will also discuss the design and implementation of other recent changes in the virtual router, such as:

– systemvmtemplate improvements

– turn-key bundling of systemvmtemplates for automatic setup and upgrades

– deprecation of systemvm.iso

And discuss the future roadmap of VR and related next-gen networking features, the new VR agent and further improvements.

In this talk, Rafi will be sharing the vision of StackBill and how we  simplified cloud management with Apache Cloudstack.
Key challenges of Datacenters on becoming a Cloud Datacenter and how stackbill solves it. New Features of StackBill added 2022 which would help datacenter, enterprises and telcos on measuring and maximizing their business.